Floor Plans - The Albea Family

     This is part of an on-going series about the homes of my family and ancestors. Today's house was owned by my maternal grandparents, Roy and Betty (Huyler) Albea.  Located on Larkspur Terrace in Decatur, DeKalb, Georgia, this is the house where I attended weekly Sunday dinners during my childhood.  I believe the family moved to this house in 1963. According to Zillow.com, the house sits on 43,560 feet and was built in 1957.

     The house wasn't quite big enough for a family of eight and, according to my mom, her parents slept on a fold-out couch in the living room for a while. In old photos I can see that the living room used to have plain white walls, but I always knew them to have wood paneling. There also used to be a door on the back wall of the living room that lead directly to the kitchen, but it was walled up at some point, well before I was born. My grandmother began to collect VHS movies for all the grandkids and had perhaps 200. My cousins and I would spend a lot of time in what used to be my mom's bedroom watching movies.  The backyard had a fence around it and we were allowed to play there with the two dogs, Putty and Caesar. My grandmother had a somewhat elaborate garden in the back, righthand side of her yard that included a banana tree; other flowers were arranged throughout the front and back yards. On Easter we had egg hunts in the front yard - adults vs kids. No hiding eggs in the sticky bush (yukka plant)!

     Here's the floor plan that I drew from memory, which mom assures me is very accurate:

Organizing with Thoughtboxes

     Yesterday, my sister sent me a link to a new site that she thought I might like: ThoughtBoxes (www.thoughtbox.es). This website describes itself as "a simple tool that helps to organize your thoughts so you can make things happen" where, "You can keep track of just about anything, and share your thoughts with friends." After only using this website for less than an hour, I really like it.

     I signed up for the free account, which allows you to create two "trains of thought" (the paid version cost $25 and is unlimited). Within your "trains of thought" you create "boxes" and within those you create "thoughts." Pretty much, you're creating bulleted lists. I've just started to create one about a genealogy research trip I'm planning for this spring. You can click here to see it, or view the screenshot bellow:

     All of the boxes and thoughts can be edited or moved at any time. So if I wanted my Things to Take box to be in the left hand column, I could move it there. If I wanted to move St Michael's Church to the top of the Lexington County box, I could.  And, when I've completed the item, I can simply click the checkmark by each thought to indicate that it's complete.
     A great feature on this site is the ability to share my trains of thought. If you click on the link above, you'll be able to see the list, though you cannot edit it. And I can privatize individual boxes, while still sharing the majority of the train of thought.
     Now, this website is very new; according to their facebook page they went live on Dec 16th. I hope that as the site matures more features will be added. This is a great idea, but it's very basic right now. As it is, I don't see any reason to pay $25 a year for this site. However, if they added some of the following features, I'd highly consider it:

• Another Level of Thought. For example: above I have the Lexington County Library as a thought in my Places: Lexington County box. I would love to be able to add multiple thoughts under the library, such as an address and books I intend to look for. Maybe this level could be called details? I really think this is a necessary addition.
• More Characters. Right now there is a limit to how many characters you can type for the title of a train of thought or a box. I'd love to see this expanded.
• More Information. I'd love to be able to add a description or summery to each train of thought that wouldn't have to go into a box. This would sit right under the title of each train of thought.
• More Creativity. I'd love to be able to choose from a wider variety of colors or images when designing each train of thought. Right now I can't even upload my own avatar, let alone individual avatars for each train of thought or box. And could I pick my own background color or fonts?
• Updated: I discovered that I can add a photo to a thought using basic html code (img src="address"):
  
• More Socializing. I'd like to see multiple levels of shared lists. It would be nice if I could co-create a list with others and have anther option where people could add comments to my list. Also, team up with facebook and twitter so that I can share my thoughts with friends. Can I add photos from Flickr or Picasa? Maps from Google?

     Even without these improvements, I think the folks behind Thoughtbox have a great idea. I'll continue to work on my trip itinerary and hope to see the site flourish in the future. 

Interviewing the Aunts, Pt 2

     A little bit ago, I talked with my aunts June and Charlotte and asked them questions about the family and their childhood. In the following video they talk about their family in Elbert County, their grandparent's home and my Aunt Charlotte recalls when the family survived a tornado.

Replacement WWII Medals

     My grandfather, Thomas Craft, did not want to fight in World War Two. At 25 years old he was married with two children and a farm. He tried to avoid service because his crop was due to come in soon, but was drafted in the end. On 31 Jul 1945 he was enlisted into Cannon Company, 7th Infantry, 3rd Infantry Division at FT McPherson, GA, and served as a Truck Driver Light in Germany. Lucky for my grandfather, he came late to the war and was quickly home again, not quite one year later. Unlucky for him and his family, his crops were stollen while he was away.

    When I first started researching my grandfather's WWII service, I requested his free service records from the National Archives. I received back his separation paperwork, which listed all sorts of information. Included in the document was the fact that his "decorations and citations"were "World War 2 Victory Medal, Occupation Ribbon (Germany)" and that he had a "Lapel Button Issued." I asked my dad and my aunts about these items, but no one knew anything about them.

     I started doing some more research and discovered that these (lost?) awards could be replaced. I followed the instructions on the National Archives website and very easily ordered the awards (again, for free). They arrived in the mail yesterday.

     My grandfather's medals include: World War II Victory Medal, Army of Occupation Medal & Germany Clasp, Honorable Service Lapel Button WWII, and Marksman Badge & Rifle Bar.