A Semi-wasted Morning Ending in Donuts

Our Internet kept dropping because our modem was too old (we've only had it a bit over a year, but Comcast upgraded or something since then). After dropping Simon off at school this morning, I went to Comcast to switch to a new modem, but Google sent me to a non-existent location prompting me to call customer service to find out where they actually were.

I had to go through all the "Press 1 for ____" and "Enter your 10-digit phone number for this account" and "Does your phone number end in 2000?" (it doesn't, that is not what I entered, the robot asked me this twice). I had to go through many of those prompts two or three times before actually getting to speak to a person, who also wanted me to tell her all that info yet again. All I wanted to know was where the freakin' building was! She looked it up for me and Jonas, Charzie & I were on our way. Seriously, I think I sat in that parking lot for 20 minutes trying to talk to someone! I'd come that far and there was no turning back. I wanted my Internet! Amazingly, the kids were great even though I felt like I was on the verge of a panic attack.

There's just something about being sort of lost and having kids in the car that makes me feel on the verge of panic. I mean, I wasn't really lost, I knew where I was and how to get home and all; I just felt like I was wasting soooooo much of our morning looking for this stupid building so we could have our stupid Internet working so we could watch our stupid shows and I could stop using all my stupid data on my stupid phone. Stupid.

ANYWAY, we got to the actual building and I saw & talked to an actual person right away. I was sure to let him know about my predicament and told him I know it's not his fault, but whoever is in charge of that sort of thing, you know, letting the biggest & most popular search engine know that your building is no longer where it once was, should get on fixing that.

As I was receiving our new modem, Charzie informed me she had to go potty. Not to be outdone, Jonas decided he needed to go, too. And since we were in a building where we had never been before, I knew Jonas needed to mark his territory with a poop. He did. They both did. I guess it was fun for them. I assure you it was not fun for me, especially the part where Charzie wanted to touch every crack/hole/weird thing on the bathroom floor. Kids are gross. I knew it was best for us to all wash hands together, otherwise we'd be washing them over and over and over and over. Again, kids are gross.

I was stressed. It was snack time. I had seen a Mel-O-Cream Donuts near the non-existent Comcast location. We had donuts for snack. Now we're home. I got out some markers and a big roll of paper for the kids. I'm ready for a nap, but I should probably check whether they actually colored on the paper or on the walls first...

Me vs The Snake

A snake was in our yard the other day. A big ol' black snake in our back yard. No biggie, right? I'd just keep the kids in the side and front yard til he went away. (I say "he" because as we all know yucky animals like snakes, tarantulas, hairless rats & dogs are always a "he" while pretty animals such as bunnies, ponies, kittens & dolphins are always "she." You know you do that too.) Well, I'd already told the boys that they could go swimming and had already invested way too much time putting their trunks and sunscreen on them not to do that. Oh, and the snake was guarding the water spicket, did I mention that? Yeah.

So to turn the water on to fill up the baby pool I had to get by the gigantic black snake. I tried tossing toys at him to get him to move. Unphased. Seriously, I threw probably 10 toys at that snake and he didn't care. Then I poked him with a stick. A loooong stick that Simon found. The snake recoiled enough to where I was able to turn on the hose. Once the hose was on, of course I sprayed that nasty thing til he slithered back to the woods. Yeah!

Now, I don't have anything against snakes in general. I'll touch them if I'm at a petting zoo or if it's someone's pet. I even bought the boys a book about a snake at a yard sale Saturday. But I don't appreciate a snake trying to take over my backyard and keep my kids from swimming in the pool when they've been asking whining to do that allll day (and you know that was the snake's plan). So if you're a snake and you're reading this blog, congratulations, you can read! And stay off of my lawn! (Also imagine I'm shaking my fist at you as I say that and then mutter something about kids [or snakes] these days.)

Funnier in Retrospect OR A Laugh at My Expense

It's funnier in retrospect, but I was not amused at the time... "What?" you ask? Simon pooping on his toys.

That's right, Friday morning Simon pooped on some of his toys. And, no, he did not dump in his dump truck (although he did pee on a bulldozer). It was one of those mornings where I was extra tired and camped out on the couch kinda dozing while the boys played and watched some TV. Yes, I sometimes use TV as a babysitter, go ahead and judge me and make yourself feel superior; if you were pregnant and also had a clingy 18 month old and a 2.5 year old who regularly screamed in the middle of the night and got up waaaaaay too early, you'd have TV days as well... or you have a nanny or can ship the kids off to their grandparents' for the day...

Anyway, I had just started feeling well enough to get up off the couch and do something productive when I realized the boys were playing a little too quietly together in their room. Anyone with kids can tell you that other than bedtime and naptime, too quiet equals bad news. As soon as I walked into the boys' room Simon hid. There was a mess, but their room didn't seem too messy. And Jonas was just sitting on the floor playing with some stuffed animals... Then I smelled it... POOP! My initial thought was that Jonas pooped in his diaper (because in our house, if anyone poops, Jonas will also poop not wanting to be outdone). I checked, no poops in his diaper. Simon's been going pantsless around the house to make it easier for him to use the potty by himself, so I knew there was no poop in his pants... and that there must be a turd somewhere in the room! The search began.

I asked Simon if he pooped. First he said no but then quickly recanted. I asked him where and he pointed to the area between his Bounce-n-Spin Zebra and their chest of drawers. He had stacked his puzzle rack (with puzzles still in it) on top of a container for their zoo toys. On the very top puzzle was a turd! Why did he poop there? How did he poop there? Then I noticed another turd in the bear cave of their zoo toy. OK, how did he do that? It turned out that he had stacked the puzzles on the zoo container to stand on and reach something on top of the chest of drawers. While he was standing and reaching he must have just let the turds fly as he grabbed the object of his interest (a piece to one of his Matchbox cars). One turd landed on the puzzle and the other landed in the zoo which had fallen over at just the right angle to catch some poo in the bear cave.

Oh, I was livid. I made Simon watch me clean it up and then put the all the zoo pieces and puzzles in the garage. (Oh, and in the course of cleaning the poop, Jonas got into the toilet bowl cleaner. Thankfully, I was able to yank it out of his hands just as he was about to shove it into his mouth!) The rule is if Simon pees or poops on his toys, they are going into the garage until he can go on the potty and treat his toys properly. As I was gathering the rest of the puzzles I saw a puddle of pee on and around his bulldozer toy, which was about three feet from where the turds were. So not only did he poop on some toys, he went over either before or after to pee on another. After a cleaning, that toy also went to the garage.

The kid has bladder and bowel control, he just does not want to go on the potty. Well, he'll tell me he wants to be a big boy and that he wants to pee and poop on the potty and get a treat (always emphasizing the treat part), but he doesn't actually do it. He'd much rather crouch in a corner to poop or let it fly as he's running across the room (something he also did last week). Maybe he'd be more keen to the potty stuff if Jonas were to pee & poop on the potty, too. As obsessed as Jonas is with the potty right now (seriously, if he hears the word "potty" or he sees Simon pee on the potty, Jonas will dart over and act like he's peeing and pooping on the potty!) and as crazy as I feel, I just might try that. I mean, I'm already cleaning pee & poop up all the time as it is, so why not?

Illusive Sleep

Simon is a terrible sleeper. Anything that disrupts his daily schedule also messes with his nighttime sleep. Missing a nap messes with his sleep. Going to bed too early messes with his sleep. Going to bed too late messes with his sleep. When he's sick, it messes with his sleep. Simon has a cough, and of course, it's messing with his sleep.

Last night was like having a newborn again. No wait, like having Newborn Simon because Newborn Jonas came home from the hospital and slept 6 hours his first night! (It didn't continue that way, but he ususally slept 4 and 5 hour stretches the first few months... until he got sick...) Last night, like when Simon was an itty bitty baby, this guy was up every 2 hours. Every. 2. Hours. Thankfully, he only woke Jonas up once and Jonas went right back to sleep. But at 4:50 this morning I suggested to Chase that he bring Simon into our bed, then Chase could get some sleep on the couch.

Simon was very comforted by having Mommy right next to him... but he wouldn't go back to sleep. The kid has been up since before 5 this morning... just like when he was a newborn. At 6:40 he got mad because I wouldn't keep switching spots with him, but Chase came in and relieved me so I could get some rest.

Needless to say, there are some tired people in our household today. Tired and cranky. Plus, Jonas is working on the dreaded 1-year molars and those wonderful teething tablets have been recalled!

Oh, and to top it all off, this morning Simon pooped on the floor right next to his potty. At least Jonas was napping and didn't pick it up this time. (Did I not mention that? Last week Jonas picked up a Simon turd...)

Wasp Gang: The Sequel

The wasps are back and out to get me... again. Not thinking, I left my windows down when I went home for lunch. When I opened my car door to head back to work, one flew right at me from inside the car! I squealed (of course), then it just sort of hovered around my door. I'm sure it was teasing me because I could almost hear it laughing. Just as I was about to swing my bag at it and run/cry, it flew away. Surely it went to plot revenge or at least report to the rest of the wasp gang. Since there was only one (as far as I could tell), it must have been a spy. The gang of wasps will probably try to eat my baby now that they know I'm pregnant.

Wasps, if you're reading this, you've got less than three weeks for your attack, then you'll have to find someone else to torment because we're moving.

Oh, the Excitement

All excitement is not fun...

This weekend we went to the Give Me an Answer conference in Louisville, KY. The main theme was Spiritual Warfare and (Christian) Missions. Great speakers, as usual. The conference part was fun, but students calling and texting Chase all hours of the night was not.

After the conference ended on Saturday, it was up to my parents' for my dad's 50th birthday party.

This is my dad. He's 50 now.

Lily came to celebrate. She belongs to my cousin Sara.

Sunday, it was back to Louisville for my first baby shower at Chase's sister Paige's. Baby R2 has all kinds of baby stuff now.

We played "Hot Potato" with a baby toy (octopus) while Amy Grant's Baby, Baby played in the background. Then we played Laura's game... "Sniff the Diaper." Well, I'm not sure if that's what it's called, but that's what we did! She had melted different kinds of candy bars in diapers; we had to determine what candy bar it was by sniffing the diaper. Yes, it looked like poo.

Paige and her husband David were kind enough to let us spend the night Sunday so that we weren't rushing back to Illinois. We had the opportunity to visit with Caleb, Keli and Baby Nella on Monday morning. Nella was born on Friday, February 8 at 7:39 pm.

This is Nella with her engagement gift from Baby R2. We've arranged their marriage.

This is the engagement photo.

We left the Billingsleys' about noon or so to beat the big ice storm that was heading towards Southern Illinois. Apparently noon wasn't early enough. Worried about the treacherous hills and curves that lead to our home no matter which way we would take, we stayed the night with our awesome friends Kyle & Chelsea, whose home was much easier to get to.

This morning we woke up to a layer of ice, snow and thicker ice. Chase has some pictures up on his blog. I was supposed to have a baby doc appointment, but I got a call early this morning saying the office would be closed. The church office where I work was closed as well. The power went out at the Bass' and the BCM this morning. We went to the grocery to get some food that needed no preparation, just in case we didn't get power back, and headed to the BCM since it was mostly main roads and little to no hills. I had called our landlord who said he wouldn't attempt getting to our place until later in the afternoon.

After napping, gassing up the car and picking up a couple more groceries, we did finally make it home about 24 hours after we expected. As you can tell, there was much excitement this weekend, some fun, some not so fun. We do have power, water, food, cable, Internet, etc.

As busy as we've been, there hasn't been time to have an Abraham Lincoln's birthday party. We'll just have to celebrate by ourselves and so will you. Have a happy Choppy Day!

Robots & Baby

Normally, I'm a pretty big fan of robots. I mean, what's not to like about them? They're smart, look cool and are the future. But I'll tell you when I'm not a fan, when they're used for evil instead of good.

Good ways to use robots:
-as butlers
-to do your laundry
-to feed your dog
-to grab things out of your reach
-to check on the elderly
-to take pictures on Mars
-to play chess
-to mine for coal
-to guard your home
-to read to the blind
-as entertainment

Evil ways to use robots:
-to destroy the earth
-as assassins
-as telemarketers
-to steal old people's medicine

See, with so many good uses for robots, why do some people feel the need to use them maliciously? Most importantly, why must robot telemarketers interrupt my lunchtime nap?! Forming a baby in my womb is pretty tiring work, and getting up four times in the middle of the night to go to the bathroom makes me feel less rested. Taking a lunchtime nap helps, but not so much when a robot telemarketer wakes me up!

Oh well, I guess we've got to take the bad with the good sometimes.

Speaking of forming a baby in my womb, I went to my first doctor's appointment on Thursday morning. Well, I didn't actually meet with the doctor but an OB nurse. We mostly went over family history, as in family history of diseases and such. Then they took my blood...

Now, most people don't like having blood drawn but can handle it okay, but not me. It's awful and terrifying and 99.9% of the time I pass out and/or throw up. It doesn't hurt that bad (uncomfortable more than anything), but the whole idea of it is just really really really disgusting. Thinking about it now gives me the heebie jeebies! But I just wanted to say that even though the nurse missed the first time, I did not throw up or pass out! That's pretty much due to Chase being there to distract me. I did feel icky afterwards though. If all goes well, they should only have to draw blood one more time and I've got about 20 weeks until that point.

Oh, and if you ask what we're going to name our baby, this is the response you will get: R2D2 Jesus. The first name is after a great robot used for good and the middle name is biblical. This name could be for a boy or girl!

Airport Sleeping

After a delayed flight, a half hour or so on the tarmac causing a missed flight, two hours in line to get a new flight, some meal vouchers, spending the night in the Atlanta airport and actually getting to ride the plane when flying stand-by, Chase and I are in New Orleans. (All those people in line missed their flights because of delays, too. That picture was taken a little before midnight.)

Here I am being sad that we missed our flight and had to stand in line:


Well, worse things could have happened. We're ready to get a little rest and start our vacation.

Wasp Gang

Let me just start out by saying that I am afraid of wasps. Wait, no, not afraid- terrified. A wasp coming anywhere near me induces a great amount of anxiety. Now that you have this bit of information, let me go on to say that a gang of wasps has chosen our trailer as their hang out. Yes, I know that the correct grammatical term for a group of wasps is a swarm, but I say “gang” for a reason…

So, I came home for my lunch break and left my windows down in the car (important later). As I was stepping up to the front door, I noticed a wasp between our screen/glass door and the other door. I thought, If I open the screen door, it’s going to swing back and bump me, make the wasp mad, and the wasp will sting me.

Me- 0: Wasp Gang: 1

So I stood there for a minute trying to decide what to do. I opened the door and tried to get the wasp to fly away. It wouldn’t. The thing just clung on. I tried tapping on the screen a little- no effect, blowing on the wasp- no effect. Then I realized that the wasp was actually caught between the glass and the screen! Ha-ha! I’d be able to get inside without being stung! I did.

Me- 1: Wasp Gang- 1

I got inside and shut the main door incase Waspie was able to escape. I sure didn’t want this guy inside with me! I ate some lunch, got some stuff together, wrapped a birthday present to mail to Keli, and had to go back out. But wait, I thought, the wasp might be between the doors now and either sting me or fly inside to sting me later! Luckily, the screen door didn’t shut all the way and Waspie was able to escape and fly away. Yippee!

Me- 2: Wasp Gang- 1

I went outside, locked the door, unlocked the door, went back inside, grabbed my phone went back outside, and locked the door again. Then I saw it; a wasp was flying around the driver-side door. Noooooooooo! I had to devise a plan.

Me-2: Wasp Gang- 2

I put my stuff in the passenger-side and walked around to the driver-side. I studied the wasp’s flying pattern. Then I ducked and weaved, jumped into the car, started the ignition and rolled up all the windows. Ha-ha, Waspo, you can’t get me!

Me-3: Wasp Gang-2

As soon as I rolled up the window, Waspo clung on. I tried rolling it up and down ever so slightly to get him to fly off. Eventually he did.

Me-4: Wasp Gang-2

That’s when I checked my rearview window and saw… There was a wasp inside the car! Curses!

Me-4: Wasp Gang- 3

Of course I started flipping out. I slammed on the breaks (still in the trailer park with no one behind me, mind you). I could hear the little guy buzzing and slamming up against the rear window, so I rolled all the windows down and kept checking the rearview mirror. Finally, I saw him fly out. Phew, safe again.

Me-5: Wasp Gang- 3

So then I was driving along on my way to the Post Office, when all of a sudden, just like out of a movie, I checked my rearview mirror just before turning onto the road leading to the Post Office and I saw this wasp fly straight up and hover where he was exactly in the center of my mirror. Of course I squealed like a little girl. I could hear his wings flapping right behind me as he was flying around my head!

Me- 5: Wasp Gang- 5 (This wasp gets a bonus for waiting until just the right moment to get maximum fear out of me, plus he reminds me the boss in a video game.)

I quickly rolled down all the windows, but this guy wasn’t going anywhere! I got to the Post Office as fast as I could, grabbed my stuff and got away from the car as fast as I could hoping that he’d fly out while I was inside.

Me-5: Wasp Gang- 6

After mailing Keli’s present and buying stamps, I went back to the car. I saw no sign of the wasp and got back in the car.

Me-6: Wasp Gang- 6

I made it back to work with no sign of the Boss Wasp. I thought I’d leave the windows down just incase, though. When I was getting out of the car, I heard it- the sound of Boss Wasp’s wings flapping against glass. I bolted out of there.

Me-5: Wasp Gang- 7 (I lost my point from the last round.)

There you have it. A gang of wasps is terrorizing me! Now feel free to laugh at my expense.

I Almost Peed My Pants, But I Didn't

The only other time I've locked my keys in my car is when I was at an Illinois State Trooper's house. Said Trooper was able to get into my car and there was much rejoicing. In case you haven't caught on by now, tonight makes the second time in my life when I've locked my keys in my car. This time, I was an hour away from home, and Chase was (and still is) in New Orleans with some college students on their spring break mission trip.

This story actually goes back to last Tuesday when I told my friend Bethany that I'd be around this week while Chase was gone since I had to work. She invited me to come to a missions fair at a church in Harrisburg. I said sure!

When I told Chase about how I was going to meet Bethany and her husband Matt at the missions fair, he said, "Good! You can represent BCM!" I had no idea what this thing even was and I was going to represent BCM? Okay.

Flash forward to last night. After work I stopped by the BCM building to pick up some CDs that had pictures of international ministry stuff on them, and I got a couple t-shirts, some bookmarks with BCM info on them, a display board, and some fliers and brochures about upcoming collegiate conferences. I stayed up making a slideshow on the lappy to bring for the BCM "booth." (The slideshow was super easy to make in iPhoto; it just took a while to get usable pictures off of the four CDs I had.)

I left for work this morning a little after 9:00 with the car loaded up with stuff for this booth for this fair that I didn't really know anything about other than two of my friends would be there. I didn't even know where the church was, but a lady I work with lives in Harrisburg so I figured she'd be able to tell me. She didn't really know, so we looked it up in the phonebook and checked Google Maps. I printed off directions from work since I was leaving from work to go to the fair.

Google had some streets that I needed to drive down labeled as numbers when those streets weren't labeled at all when I got to them! So, I was driving around this town I've never really been to before looking for a church. I eventually found it. I called Bethany to say that I was there and to ask which building to go in since the church had three. She didn't answer her phone. A couple parked and got out of their car, so I asked them if they were going to the missisons fair. They said they were, so I asked where to go in. They told me and asked if I needed any help carrying anything. I did (since it took me two trips to get it all into my car), and they helped me.

Now, I was sort of in a hurry since I was running a little late. Not realizing it, I dropped my keys in the car as I was grabbing my purse and computer bag...

The fair was pretty neat, but I didn't really get to see the other booths since I was stationed at one. There was some music and a speaker, then at about 7:45 PM it was time to go.

A pastor from another church and his wife, who I'd met before, offered to help me carry my stuff back to the car. I figured I'd look for my car key while I was inside where it was light.

I checked my purse- not there.
My keychain (which has a jillion keys on it)- not there
Computer bag- not there
Plastic grocery bag- not there
Purse again- still not there
All pockets- not there

I started getting this sense of dread: they had to be in the car.

We decided to walk to the car even though I couldn't find my keys. We thought they'd be there. We didn't see my key. People got flashlights, but we still didn't see my car key. People were checking under the car- the street- the sidewalk- in bushes and leaves- still no key. I emptied my purse and bags out three times in search of this key- still not there. There were probably 10 people in search of my key! Then we thought we'd spotted my key in the back seat! But it turned out to be part of the seatbelt. Right after I'd emptied all of my bags out for the fourth time, someone spotted my key! And there was much rejoicing.

Someone called the police for me to see if they could come and break into my car. They aren't allowed to for insurance purposes or something. So, someone called a towing company to come do it. My friends Matt & Bethany came back in case I needed a ride if they tow guy couldn't get into my car.

When the tow guy showed up after about 45 minutes, he sure had an audience! About five minutes and $30 later, I was in my car and on my way home... with one problem: I wasn't quite sure how to get home from there...

I knew I had to go north to get to the main road and then west. I mean, I found the church by driving around with a general direction in mind, but I didn't know what roads I had been on since Google Maps wasn't detailed enough.

It was dark. It was foggy. I somehow ended up in a cemetery... Yeah, creepy.

I found my way out of that cemetery and to the main road that I needed. An hour later, I was home and about ready to pee my pants (not for being scared, it was because I'd had to go for about two hours at that point). I didn't pee my pants, though. I'd made it in time.

Yes, this is a long post, but it's also been a long day. I left my home at about 9:00 AM and returned at 10:00 PM. I'm going to bed.

I Guess I Can Sleep When I'm Dead

Chase and I have been sick these past few days. Now that I seem to be getting better, I haven't been able to sleep, which is why I'm up at 1:00 in the morning typing this blog. I didn't sleep well last night and thought that surely I'd be so tired by bedtime that I'd just fall asleep. Nope. I laid in bed for almost an hour before getting up to watch some Conan O'Brien. Well, I've been out of the Cone Zone for a half hour now, but I still don't feel sleepy. Tired? Yes. Sleepy? No. Any suggestions for getting to sleep?

Down to One

Down to one? One what?

Guess.

One roll of toilet paper?

Nope.

One slice of bread?

No.

One clean pair of underwear?

Nope, give up?

Yes.

It's one car. Silver Taurus (with the new-used transmission bought on our honeymoon and the chipping paint on the rear bumper) isn't, ummm, working, but it does have current tags on the license plate now!

What?

After sitting in the waiting area for over an hour yesterday after work, I got to see a nurse practitioner. She told me my eardrum is "perforated." That means either (a) it is easier for me to tear my eardrum off or (b) there is one or more holes in my eardrum. I'm gonna go with (b), although it is probably easier to tear it off now that there is holes in it... At least it's not totally busted. I also got to spend lots of moneys on prescription ear drops and antibiotic pills! Yippee!

Oh, and the best part is I get to go back today and see a real doctor. Apparently the lady I saw wasn't allowed to make referrals and can't clean my crusty perforated eardrum, so since I don't have a family doctor (which I got a bit of 'tude for), I get to go back to a real doctor who will decide if I need to see an ear nose & throat doctor who would be able to clean my ear out if the need be. That happens in less than an hour. (I'm multitasking at work right now).

I guess the acronym for an ear nose & throat doctor is ENT. That's how the lady kept referring to it. I thought she was saying EMT and was confused as to why I would need to see an EMT. Miranda helped clear that up for me, and yes, I'm still partially deaf... what?

Mediacom: Bane of My Existence or Just Annoying?

Mediacom, I'm still shaking my fist at you! We had service for, oh, about a day before it went out again. Supposedly they're going to fix it for good this time, but it won't be until Friday. Hmmm, why wouldn't they have done that in the first place? I think it's to specifically cause frustration in our lives. Yup. That's the most logical answer. Any other possible reasoning behind Mediacom being the bane of my existence is welcome.

So we had a fantastic weekend in Nashville, TN. Saturday, we visited with our friend Dominic, met his girlfriend, and saw his house that he loves working on. Then we saw Guster at the Ryman. It was such an awesome performance and included some sweet country-style cowboy suits. Ray LaMontagne opened up for them. I didn't care one way or the other for him until he started yelling at some guy in the audience for laughing. That dude's got issues, and his music was sort of boring. Maybe I would have found it more interesting if I'd known some of the songs. We missed the Fruit Bats. I would have liked to see them. We caught the last song, and some of the Gusters were playing with them.

Sunday we went to Jordan & Rachel's church and had some lunch at this pub and visited a sweet toy store. Then we hung out for a while until it was time for The Format. I don't remember the first opening band's name, but they were mediocre. Anathallo was pretty fun and did a sweet performance. I think they had a glockenspeil like the one we have! Rainer Maria was alright, but I was ready for The Format while they were playing... and my back was hurting. The Format gave a fabulous performance. I liked their set-up, too! They had a backdrop and some free-standing cut-outs that was like their album art.

We took pictures and pixel-e video at both concerts, but I can't put them up now due to lack of Internet access at home (my fist is still shaking, Mediacom!). Maybe Friday...

Free Software Isn't Always Good Software

Bad news: I want to throw my computer out the window. Stinkin' DVD burning software keeps locking up! Grrrrrrrr!

Good news: I figured out how to play the beginning of the 1812 Overture on my glockenspeil.

We just might get a Mac.

Goings On

There is no real train of thought to this entry.

Funding for our Poland trip is coming along wonderfully. This trip is becoming more real to me and I’m starting to get very excited.

Work is going pretty well. I’ve rediscovered some Photoshop tricks when making graphics for our newsletter and web site. Maybe I’ll post one once it’s finished.

I had a crazy dream last night about playing in a rock band, but I wasn’t playing a regular instrument. I was playing this harp thing with beads on it and was using percussion mallets to play. It sounded pretty awesome.

I’m going to teach a postman how to use Blogger today during my lunch break.

Last night someone was revving their engine over and over and over again from around 10:40 until past midnight. They were doing it again a little before 7:30 this morning. I’d really like to know what makes them think it’s appropriate or even okay to do that at those times. Seriously, I’m not being sarcastic. I’d actually like to know. I can’t seem to come up with any valid reason for it to go on at those times, so maybe someone can help me out here...

Motivation Lacking

Right now, I'm really lacking motivation. I'd really like to be out at a lake or beach finishing one of several books I've started, but I'm cooped up in an office. I thought I was gonna have a mini-breakdown yesterday. We finally bought an external drive for our computer so I could finish some wedding videos for some friends. It came yesterday (when it should have been Monday or Tuesday at the latest). I thought all I was going to have to do was render the video, export it and then burn it to DVD. I couldn't finish it before because we lacked the space on our computer. (The editing has been finshed since November or December.) Well, the program still says that there's not enough disk space when I know that there is. Gah! I think the program is just craptastic (it's called ulead something or other). I think I have a later version that came with our DVD burner. Hopefully the update will fix the problem... if not, I think I'll just cry.