Sheltons

I've been gone from my blog for awhile with several trips, a nasty cold, and all the catching up that has to be done when recovering from trips and a cold. I now find myself in the busiest part of my professional year -- lecture proposal time. This year it is coupled with NGS Conference time since it is just four short hours to drive to the 2009 Conference in the States in Raleigh.

I am not so fortunate as to be speaking at the Conference however it has several other "advantages" that are causing me to prepare. My husband and I lived in Raleigh prior to moving to Metro DC so we are looking forward to going back and seeing friends (which means seeing who's in town) and eating at some favorite restaurants (which involves checking if they are still open and determing when we can tear ourselves from the Conference long enough). Also, just after leaving Raleigh I really discovered my husbands NC roots (isn't that typical). I am hoping to squeeze in some research while there and that's what this post is about.

Sheltons
That sums up all of my husband's (currently) known NC ancestry. It's not one line, it's his maternal grandmother's entire maternal side. Every Shelton married a Shelton. I have never been cursed with such 'onenameness' in my research before. I know such things happen but why did they have to happen in a line I'm researching!
Since I did not discover the full extent of my husband's Shelton connection until I left NC, I have not had a chance to properly research this line. I've used what books I've had available to me and hunted up information on the Internet but even when I was in SLC I was stumped at where I would go next in my Shelton research. I ended up not attempting any Shelton hunting while there. I have to be honest and say I think I was scared. It feels like a wall of Sheltons that I have to break through and I haven't brought the proper tools.
I know what the solution to this feeling is, a research plan. I'm hoping to get one good day of research done while in Raleigh and that's certainly not enough time to overcome a wall of Sheltons. I just have to bite the bullet and sit down with what I have, what I can find online, and what I want to find and organize both my thoughts and as many Sheltons as I can. I dream of beautifully prepared research plans, and I even enjoy planning, but I still find it difficult to make myself sit down and get started.
Other commitments (mainly professional and volunteer at the moment), sunny days, and impending cherry blossoms only serve to distract me from good intentions. I have been trying very hard to work on my book more often (every day with exceptions for trips to NARA and piled up housework). Much of the writing I've done lately has been related to creating a research plan so I've been looking for examples to inspire me. So far I've only found one weak example. I decided I should create my own examples yet I still haven't sat down and done it. I'm hoping pouring out my soul on my blog might just force me to finally create that research plan. I certainly wouldn't want to be asked "how's that research plan on the Sheltons coming?" and have to admit I still hadn't started it!