A new year already? Wait, where did the old one go? I had lots of unfinished business in 2009, so I guess it’s time to get organized. As a matter of fact, organization is tops on my to-do list for this year.

I’m forever getting distracted as I go about my genealogical business, often duplicating, complicating, or worse of all, neglecting genealogical sources. And that “pending” folder in my file cabinet?… is about to become a drawer unto itself. I had a research plan at one time and I know I should focus on one family group at a time, but sometimes a shiny object whizzes by…

Ok, OK, so that’s not how it goes, but what you see in the picture is what I saw happening outside by back door this morning. It’s pouring rain. And there are DUCKS on my deck. I KNOW! In SEATTLE? We call them 7-11 ducks, because they’re not the least bit bashful about pecking on the back door to get our attention.

So what’s that got to do with family history? It reminded me of some of my Dad’s favorite expressions, grandad’s, too.

When it comes to family history, I’m a firm believer in good ol’ fashioned legwork. I’ve done my time behind the microfilm and microfiche readers, gotten my hands dirty in some musty old archives, scratched around in boxes and boxes of old photos and documents. But I won’t look a gift Web site in the mouth.

Do you get that reference? Do you know what it means to look a gift horse in the mouth? There’s a Web site for that… called The Phrase Finder. It can come in handy when you’re trying to decipher a 19th century letter.