The Blog Name Speaks for Itself

Well, here it is, late January 2012. (Happy New Year, by the way.) At least I'm better blogging than journaling, where I hadn't gotten a round tuit in more than a year.

A few weeks ago, everyone was posting about their resolutions. Mine were:

• to blog more often (believe me, this IS more often!); 
• to eat healthier (I'm a junk food junkie who has singlehandedly been keeping fast food and vending machine franchises in business)
• to save more money (following resolution #2 will automatically result in a successful resolution #3)
• to get organized, and clear some clutter.

I know these are vague goals; I wrote them down for myself in much more managable bites. But that would bore you, because — let's face it, you've got your own stuff to deal with.

So. How's it going, you may ask? (Well, even if you didn't.) So far:

• I've avoided the vending machine and drive-thru; 
• I've actually cooked some meals for myself (to those who know me, that is almost a miracle)
• I'm working with my financial planner on some long-range stuff
• I've kept the kitchen sink empty and the counter cleaned up after I eat, so stuff isn't scattered all over
• I'm eating healthier (Whoa! A refrigerator with food in it!)
• I'm taking calcium (those little caramel chewies are DELISH!)

So what does this have to do with genealogy? Nothing at all. They say that, to make a permanent change, you have to do something for about three weeks before it becomes habit. Once I tackle these for a few weeks, I'll be "programmed" and I'll add a few more things. By next December, I should have a bunch of new behaviors, so by the law of averages, a few of them ought to be genealogy-related. 

Oh yeah, genealogy events are on the list too: NGS, some area conferences and seminars, and a planned Midwest GeneaBloggers meetup. Not this time for RT, Jamboree and FGS. Yes to a few webinars, and to my Friday night date, GeneaBloggers Radio.

I also resolved to spend less time on Facebook, and more time checking out Google circles, Pinterest and some other things. If I get a Round Tuit, that is.

Welcome to Round Tuit Genealogy

Truth be told, I'm in it for the beads :)  
Thomas MacEntee says the Geneabloggers get beads.
I want beads too! So I'm blogging.

___________________________________

I write in my journal too infrequently to think that I can blog regularly — I've been known not to write for a year or more; hence the name of my blog. It's a family story; the kind that goes on so long, we nearly forget the point. The kind my siblings tell; the kind that make their spouses groan.

See, Dad always said, "I'll get around to it." Usually this involved building something. For an electrician, he was one heck of a carpenter; one heck of a (fill in any trade here). He built two bedrooms, a bath, a walk-in closet and a ton of storage space in the unfinished attic of my childhood home. He built little wooden boats for my niece and nephew to float on the pond in the park. He built a picture frame, a bar in the basement, shelves for his workshop... so many things. No elaborate plans, either. A quick pencil sketch on a piece of scratch paper, and that was it. And darned if his projects didn't turn out exactly as he envisioned. 

He was not one to boast of his handiwork, but not content to do a less-than-perfect job. He'd actually cringe if he saw construction that didn't measure up to his standards. 

An uneven wall? "Pitiful; just pitiful."  

Or a building on which he worked more than 60 years before. I don't recall exactly what he hated about the building, but we'd hear about it every time we passed it. He'd almost cover his eyes, it pained him so much. Which could prove dangerous, since he was the one driving.

Where was I? (Oh, right; Dad...Perfectionist...Get around to it.) Anyway, Dad's insurance agent once handed out a little promotional wooden disc that was stamped "Round Tuit." Dad collected a bunch of them and passed some down to us. When he died in 2010, I think we buried a Tuit with him... an inside joke, as it were.

Not only did I inherit one of Dad's precious Tuits, but also his procrastination and pack rat tendencies (which, if we genies call it "archiving," gets us a reprieve. Or so I'm told). If Dad's perfectionism kept him from calling the Maytag repairman when it was something he could fix just as well (and for a lot less), it was Dad's procrastination that kept us going to the Laundromat for years. 

Being frugal ("Cheap is the word you're looking for") was second nature to him, being a child of the Depression. Dad's pack rat tendencies included such items as four electric motors and a set of wheels from a supermarket cart. Because he was going to build a (fill in the blank again), once he could get a Round Tuit.

So that's the story of how this blog got its name. It may be about family, sometimes. It may be about genealogy, most times. And I'll blog whenever I get a Round Tuit. 

(Hey, you Geneabloggers going to FGS — can I get beads now?)