May isn't that long after January!

Yeah...call me horrible! The last post was January 21st. A lot has transpired since then.

Right now I am sitting at a Fairfield Inn in Kansas City MO, watching the Royals-Tigers game on TV. I was going to go to the game tonight but the weather is kinda iffy...storms in the area. So I'm planning on going tomorrow night.

So, what's been happening since January 21st? Mostly depression. I mentioned that my aunt wasn't doing well in the last post. She took a turn for the worse the 30th and 31st of January. She still refused to see a doctor or go to the emergency room or have someone stay with her. Mom, Dad & I went and spent the day with her on the 1st. It was tough. She wasn't moving well at all and was in a lot of pain. She did agree to have a neighbor come in and check on here through the day. Monday the4th she was pretty bad so the lady called 911. When they got there, my aunt refused any treatment. We went down as fast as we could. Did some more work and tried to make her comfortable. We left about 5:30 pm. The neighbor came in about 7 pm and left about 8:30. When she went the next morning to check on her, she found her dead. Coroner said she died between 9 and midnight. There was no funeral, as she requested. We did have Mass for her and Uncle Kent at St. Leo's in Murray.

Now we are in the process of being named executors of her estate. Her will named Uncle Kent, but he died last May and she never had a chance to change it...nor had she changed a lot of her legal documents. We have a big job ahead of us. It's been tough.

Work has been a challenge as well. We have some new programs and applications being developed and used and they have been a handful! My group is also two people short and with the current shortfall, there is a hiring freeze. So we aren't getting someone new anytime soon.

Hockey season was promising. The Preds made the playoffs against all odds and did fairly well in the first round versus Detroit. Unfortunately they lost in six games. They have good prospects for next year. The Black Hawks tried their best to make the playoffs. They had a great run at the end, but fell short. It seems they have gotten back to basics since Dollar Bill, the owner, died. His son Rocky Wirtz has taken over and the old Hawks are coming back. Games are selling out again and low and behold! They will be on TV next year! Dollar Bill wouldn't televise the games.

Fr. Bernard is retiring June 30th. We do not know who will replace him yet. We are planning a nice get-together on the 29th after his last Mass as pastor. We are also planning Oktoberfest. Remember the date--October 11 in Germantown!

I am working on the German Research class through BYU. I have two more lessons left to finish and then take the final. With the completion of this class, I should have my English Certificate. Only two more and I'll have the US one. Have also been working on my own trees. I wrote to the Archdiocese of Bamberg in Germany a few months back. I engaged them to do some research since they hold the Catholic church registers for Bavaria. Last week I received the results. They traced the Schramm family back to about 1765 with Heinrich Schramm and Katharina Wachter. The Kohles family didn't go back that far since they were Lutheran, so I have to write to the Lutheran Archives in Nurenberg.

I also dipped back into philately a bit. I purchased an updated US album and some older US stamps. Still trying to fill blanks in the albums. For Bavaria I need 26 more stamps and I'll have them all!! Thing is ...one of them is $44,000!!! Only 6 exist. I am collecting US, Bavaria, Lithuania, UK, Ireland and Slovenia.

A few weeks ago, Elena Nakrosis, Knights of Lithuania National President, called me and asked me to become President of St. Casimir Guild. The Guild is the main US fund-raising organization for the Lithuanian Pontifical College in Rome. It is an ancillary organization of the K of L. The current president's circumstances changed and she didn't have enough time to spend on it. After thinking about it and talking with the two past presidents, I decided to accept it. The college also has a new rector, replacing Msgr. Bartkus. His name is Rev. Petras Siurys. From what I understand, he doesn't know English. This should be interesting!! The main tasks in this job are raising funds mostly through Mass stipends. People request Masses said for various purposes at $10 each. They funds are collected and sent to Rome. Also, we will raise funds at the National Convention. There is usually a project which the college needs to be accomplished. Last year was an upgrade to their computer lab. I'm still in the dark on a lot of things...I'll have to get with the past president and have her explain more. Plus, we need some new ideas and new avenues of support.... Yes, I have ideas!!!

So, now I am back to the present. I planted my garden yesterday after tilling it Sunday. Mom and dad came by me for Mother's Day. We went to 8:30 am Mass, then I made grilled salmon and smoked sausage, green beans, grilled red potatoes with onions and garlic, salad and carrot cake and ice cream for dessert. They spent the night and left Monday morning. Check the garden pics at www.mbellpics.blogspot.com

So now, in Kansas City for the Conference in the States. I'm staying at the Fairfield Inn at 30th and Main Street. It's about a mile from the Hyatt where the conference is. The Hyatt was booked when I tried to make my reservations. I walked there to register and pick up my bag and stuff. It's a good mile hike. This Fairfield is great! The staff is great and they have renovated and it is 100% non-smoking! Earlier I watched the Pistons/Magic basketball game downstairs with Vince, the front desk guy. He was great... He suggested I walk to Gates BBQ for dinner. I did and it was pretty good. For steak he suggested Hereford's. I'll probably do that Friday, as I plan to go to the Royals game tomorrow night.

So my schedule for tomorrow is:

8:00 am Keynote address Emigration to the Mouth of the Missouri and Beyond by Robert M. Sandfort, Ph.D.

9:30 am Exhibit hall opens with scads of vendors of books, forms, maps, software, travel, hotels, etc.

11:00 am What's New at Ancestry.com That's one of my main websites for research

12:15 pm LUNCHTIME

2:30 pm Homestead Records Project My O'Malley's were supposed to have a homestead in Cherokee Co KS

4:00 pm Homestead Records: A Day in the Life of our Ancestors

Ballgame at 7:10 pm.

So now you are caught up. Stay tuned for updates. I plan on updating for this while trip. I need to get in the habit.

Signing off from KC MO! At least the song stopped running through my head..."I'm goin' to Kansas City, Kansas City here I come..."

On to Wednesday!! Royals won tonight 3-2.

mhb