What's on my mind tonight

My family research is more than names & dates. I think that sometimes we are in the rush to get our lines to go back as far back as we can that we forget to take the time to learn more about the people our ancestors were and the times they lived in. One of my goals this year is that I plan to take time to record family stories, either electronically or on paper before this oral history is lost forever. There are not many left older than me but I have cousins who knew family I did not. I hope to visit with them in person or through emails and get stories and remembrances that they have. Another thing I plan to do is try to find at least one additional record on each of my direct ancestors, choosing a record which will hopefully tell me more about them than I already know. Census records can include interesting information such as your ancestors' occupation, education level and property value. Wills and probate records can provide you with all sorts of fascinating information including debts, friends and even the bed covers and pots and pans your ancestors owned. Tax rolls, immigration records and land records are other good sources for information about the lives of your ancestors. We can also chart our ancestor's life against a historical timeline and learn more about wars, plagues, crop shortages, big storms and other noteworthy things that our ancestors may have experienced.
One example is the other night as I researched the records on http://www.ancestry.com/ for a great great great grandfather of mine I found that the Wisconsin Janesville City Directory 1884 to 1885 was listed and that it gave me his address during that year. I passed near Janesville and never even knew he lived there being I just found his name this year at http://www.ancestry.com/ and using their census reports.
I need to come up with a list of places I want to visit in the future as I pass through the states my ancestors lived. If any one out there wants to share their methods I would love to hear from you. I also would love to search local antique stores in that area looking for postcards from the 1900's or earlier that may show the area. I could also go on http://www.ebay.com/ to search for these postcards, but I love antique stores the best. These are just a couple of things on my mind tonight. Have a great night and keep digging for your roots.