Instead of wasting time working today I spent some time formatting the remaining files of grandma's diaries that I have here at work and posted them here, with an index finally to go with it. There's still seven or eight more at home, but I have a system down now where it doesn't take too long to convert each one, although it's just mindnumbingly tedious enough it might be a little while before I get completely caught up. Grandma kept meticulously diaries for nearly 50 years, and Mom inherited them along with the rest of her stuff and thought it would be fun to type some of them up. No one else could both read her scratchy handwriting and interpret a lot of the names and events that she makes reference to, so if she decides to stop we're out of luck. Mom's formatting is very utilitarian and hard to read, and I thought they might benefit from having a similar layout to my own weblog, although some of the entries are so short, particularly the first couple of years, that it's hardly worth it. But once you're into the '50's you start to develop an over-arching rhythm to daily life in the Pearce household, where grandma was in the early stages of M.S., grandpa was carting the kids to church and the laundry to the laundromat seemingly all the time, and Mom was only in grade school. It's kind of an eye-opener as to how things were with both Pat and Mary Ellen in their formative years, and how difficult things were for everyone both after Grandpa died in 1958 (which I don't have up there yet) and when Mom and Dad decided to get their own house. Grandma was never one to complain, and her diaries bear that out in that there's very little negative to say about anything, very little about her own condition or state of mind. Just an endless stream of miniscule facts that taken as a whole make up an intricate depiction of mostly routine daily life. Since grandma hardly ever left the house, everybody came to her, and she kept track of all the comings and goings meticulously. I would think that somebody who doesn't know the family would find it marginally interesting, especially if they were given some kind of guide as to who's who. Some pictures would help, too. So there's still plenty left to do, but it's a good start and at least an attempt at a tribute to someone who was so influential in my own life.