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May 27 News from the library"AAAArrrrrgggghhhh!" ~Charlie Brown
Please hear my Charlie Brown-esque vocal stylings from wherever you are out there. Oh the pain.
I had like 150 emails in my inbox today. Granted, most of them were crap, but still, they have to be deleted. And that takes time. I have a limited time on the library computer so I am not getting to blog walk. I have no idea what is happening in everyone's lives. I. Feel. So. Disconnected. sniff sniff. Please know that I am missing all of you and hopefully, I will be back online regularly soon. I am currently having bigger fish to fry, as there seems to be some mysterious leak from the kids' shower. Moola may have to go to a plumber instead of Mr. Gates. Seems as though I'll be visiting the library a bit longer. I retrieved my dead tower from my Geek...and it is sitting there, sadly by the computer desk.
Meanwhile, we had a lovely Memorial Day weekend. Doing pretty much nothing, which is great by me. We went downtown to visit the local farmer's market, which was fun. We cooked out. We took a bike ride, visited the pool. It was good. The weather was nice. Hubby and Jacob went fishing yesterday and it seems that the Ospreys were catching all the fish. Which was good consolation for Jacob...if you can't catch fish, at least you can see some really cool birds...ospreys, great blue herons, egrets, etc.
Our Iowa house closed last week. SO YAY!! The kids finished their dreaded end of the year standardized torture...er, testing, last Thursday. So aside from the dead computer and the mysterious shower leakage, we had quite a bit to celebrate...gotta keep it all in perspective, ya know!
 As I sit here, I have received a call from Jacob's assistant (trust me, I wouldn't have answered my cell--which is on vibrate, by the way--in the library if I didn't see that it was HER!), who has told me that Jacob is "done" with field day. You'd think the kid would love having a day where he doesn't have to sit in class or have much homework to speak of, but NOOO, he hates field day. It means competition and that means personal angst for my boy. So, it looks like my computer time is going to be shorter than usual. DANG. The boy comes first.
I bid you all a fond farewell, until my next library outing. Might even get back here again this week! We'll see about that.
May 21 My blue has turned to black."Life is better than death, I believe, if only because it is less boring, and because it has fresh peaches in it." ~Alice Walker
Okay, I think I've recovered sufficiently since Monday afternoon to be able to discuss this with you now.
It seems that my computer has died a sad, slow, terrible death.
As have all my iTunes and my digital photos from the last year and a half.
Hard drive: Dead.
Motherboard: Dead.
GRIEVE with me, people!!!
My Geek says he can build me a new tower. I say, I can probably buy a new machine for what he's asking to rebuild my old one. The Loser that I am, never backed up my hard drive...my friends Bill and Jim are cringing right now--many others of you are as well--but probably because YOU haven't backed your stuff up either and the thought of it strikes FEAR into your hearts! My Geek also said that perhaps a power surge is the culprit. (We did have some bad storms last week) Yes, I did have my 'puter on a surge protector, but my Geek says that a surge protector alone doesn't necessarily do the trick. Yes, Bill, it was the dreaded KERNEL_STACK_whatever_you_said message. I just want to bang my head against the wall for not having backed up my stuff. And then cry because of the stuff that is gone. Rest assured it will not happen to me again...at least the "losing all my stuff on the hard drive" anyway.
It's really strange though. It's like someone has actually died. I have walked around in a fog for the last two days. It's been really depressing. I've been trying to decide if I should tell my Geek to rebuild it or just give me back my dead tower. I don't know. Haven't decided. Either way, I'm getting my dead hard drive back and I'm going to let my brother see if he can retrieve anything off it. My Geek says he has tried several avenues of retrieval, but to no avail.
So, that's the latest on that front. My advice for ALL OF YOU today...Get yourself a thumb drive or an external hard drive TODAY and back your crap up. Do it. Don't delay. Don't let this happen to you. UGH.
On a brighter note, the library is my new hangout. One can do some serious people watching here. There are some sights to see, let me tell you.
Thanks in advance for your condolences. In lieu of flowers, donations can be sent to: Joell's new computer fund.
Love to all my people.
 May 16 Blue is not my favorite color."Hardware: where the people in your company's software section will tell you the problem is. Software: where the people in your company's hardware section will tell you the problem is." ~Dave Barry, Claw Your Way To The Top
Hello friends.
I have three words for you....BLUE. SCREEN. OF. DEATH. Wait, that's FOUR. Sorry.
Two more words...PUBLIC. LIBRARY.
SIGH.
I awakened yesterday to the blue screen of death. Perhaps you know what I'm referring to? It was quite shocking and depressing FO SHO. For a moment, I just froze in my tracks, staring at the screen and wondered what in the world I was going to do with myself!! (Think Cameron Diaz in My Best Friend's Wedding singing karaoke. Yeah. It was sad. So sad. And it didn't get any happier at the end of the song like it did in the movie either.) I didn't have time to deal with it right then, and I didn't want to call INDIA. Because you KNOW that's where all the Dell computer help people are. I needed someone to speak clearly to me and not insult me by asking if my computer was, in fact, plugged in and turned on. SHEEESH. {Now don't be thinking I'm all racist, because I'm NOT. Ask anyone who knows me for real. Y'all all know what I am talking about!!} Instead, I opted to call Delaware, home of my personal computer guru, my baby bro, Scott. He gave some helpful advice and after administering said advice, and before I could complete his given suggestion, the blue screen of death popped up AGAIN. When I told him what the screen said (something like KERNAL_INPUT_SOMETHING_SOMETHING), he said, and I quote, "Bill Gates doesn't even know what that means!" Now, that one did really crack me up. No offense to Bill, I'm sure. He said the good news is that I have a software problem, probably, and NOT a hardware problem. He is suggesting I try a system restore and if that doesn't work, call Rent-a-Geek (or some such place as that). He says people who really know anything about fixing computers don't work for the customer service help line at Dell. They write programs or have a computer repair business of their own. Good point. Apparently, baby bro feels strongly about these things.
So, here I sit. At the local public library. Feeling a little weird about typing this from a public computer. And yet, feeling compelled to do so, because I don't want y'all to think me MIA. Say a prayer y'all. And have a great weekend.
May 14 Gettin' My Gump On.
Jenny: Hey, Forrest, were you scared in Vietnam? Forrest: Yes. Well, I, I don't know. Sometimes it would stop raining long enough for the stars to come out. And then it was nice. It was like just before the sun goes to bed down on the bay... There was over a million sparkles on the water. Like that mountain lake. It was so clear, Jenny. It looks like there were two skies, one on top of the other. And then in the desert, when the sun comes up... I couldn't tell where heavens stopped and the earth began. It was so beautiful. Jenny: I wish I could have been there with you. Forrest: You were.
SHOUT OUT! So, Toni's having her baby today! So exciting. C'mon Diego! Just want to give her a little HOLLLAAA! MOTHER'S DAY I enjoyed a nice Mother's Day with the fam. Posted some pics in my albums. It was very stormy in the morning, but cleared off and turned into a beautiful day. Emma created an amazing card/booklet for me called "My Marvelous Mom"...
Here is an excerpt: "If my mom were a flower, she would be a sunflower because she is bright and positive like a sunflower. If my mom were a song, she would be a rock song because in my mind I can see her dancing all around the kitchen with me. If my mom were a TV show she would be a comedy because she is hilarious and always cracks me up."
Not trying to toot my own horn here, but isn't that just the best? Just the sweetest gift EVER. When I am 95 years old, I will probably STILL have it hanging on the fridge. My boys also got me a fabulous gift...a massage from a fabulous spa. Oh yeah, baby. I am making my appointment SOON...mark my words. The rest of the day, after receiving my fabulous prizes, consisted of a day trip to Charleston, yummy lunch at Bubba Gump Shrimp (yes, it's a real restaurant...see the pics...quite tasty and totally Forrest Gump-ed out), and a nice, though incredibly BREEZY, stroll around the Battery. Love that place. It was a nice day. I am thankful, loved and blessed. LUBIE Some of you have asked about Lubie aka the Lube-ster, or "Lubie Doobie", as I like to call him. Ha ha. I crack myself up. Sad, I know...anyway...during his brief life with us, Lubie has become a bit of a hermit. He likes the safety of his cage. I took Lubie to the bird-sitter a couple of weekends ago and was chatting with the bird lady. She reached in there, (gently) yanked Lube out of his safe place and started kissing him on the head! I was like, HOW did you do that?? She said he has become "cage protective" and so we need to just take him out every day for a bit to get him used to being handled. We thought we were scaring him and stressing him by trying to get him out of his cage, so we had just been putting our hands in the cage, petting him and talking nice to him and hoping that would get him used to us, but NO. Bird lady says, Get him outta there! And so, we have. He still doesn't like getting out of his cage too much but we're getting him out each day and hoping for the best. And here is his favorite place to hang out: Isn't that great??! Jacob seems to like it. It's pretty hilarious. It makes Jacob happy because he had gotten to the place where he figured Lubie hated him and would never come out of his cage. Now, Jacob is reaching in there and getting Lubie out himself and is enjoying Lubie a lot more, I think. There is the whole "crap hazard", but we can deal with that.
WOOHOO! I haven't really shared much about this in the blog, but some of you know that we've been the owners of two homes, lo these many months. Yes, I've referred to them as our summer home and our winter home--tongue in cheek, of course. Our Iowa home was rented for approximately 5 of the months since we moved last summer, but the rent didn't cover the total mortgage...but was a HUGE help. Thanks to our great realtor, Terri, we are under contract and set to close May 22. Wish I could say we are making a bundle, but hey, in this market, one takes what one can get, right? We are very grateful!! We are happy that we are about to own only ONE home. Can I get a collective WOOHOO??!! BRAG PHOTO As promised, here is a photo of my new niece, Olivia Sinclaire Hobbs, born May 4. I stole it off my brother's blog. Granted, he DID text me a pic of her, but her eyes were all closed and stuff in that one. This one is MUCH cuter! Can't wait to get my hands on her and just sqeeeeeze! Yummy! Hope to see them the first weekend of June. Isn't she lovely?? Congrats to Scott, Lisa, Victoria and Joseph!
"That's all I have to say about that." ~Forrest Gump
May 08 Dang, I'm IT.
Well, it has finally happened. I've been tagged. One of my myspace friends, Sarah, did it to me. SO here's what I'm supposed to do:
This is going to be hard, and probably very boring, but I'll do my best. 1. I am a terrible liar. I can't even lie at the museum and say my kid is 12 instead of 13 just to get the discount. It just goes against everything in me. My husband tells me I am "too honest"...He says it like it's a bad thing. <insert incredulous look here> 2. When I was a kid, I liked to eat croutons with dressing on them...forget the salad. Just give me the crunchy stuff. Looks like my carb addiction started at an early age. (I am an avid salad eater now.) 3. I love it when things are symmetrical. 4. Rules were made to be followed. If the road sign says "No Left Turn", it's there for a reason. 5. I enjoy mowing the grass. Of course we do only have a very tiny yard. My opinion might change if we had some acreage. 6. I am a Preacher's Kid. 7. I wrote poetry as a kid/teenager...still dabble occasionally. 8. I enjoy using the words "rock on", "sketchy" and "coolio" in conversation. 9. When I was about 4, the rear window of our family's station wagon was busted out by a rock, circa 1974, and my older brother had me convinced that I had done it. When, in fact, HE was the guilty party all along. I believed it until I was probably about, well, let's just say I was grown. Can you feel the love?? OH yeah, AND he often told me I was adopted. But I'm not bitter or anything. 10. I am completely and totally obsessed with the Outlander series of books. Well, let's just say I'm probably obsessed with books in general...The way they smell. The way they feel in my hands. They way they look all lined up on the shelf. Let's face it. I'm a book-a-holic. Lock me up at a Barnes and Noble and just leave me there. 11. I secretly dream of doing something arty in life--photographer, singer or novelist. 12. I was a child bride. Married my high school sweetheart a month after my 20th birthday.
The lucky Kristi - cause she's my bff. Amy - cause she's my SIL. Toni - cause if she does it, it will be something HILARIOUS. Bill - cause I know he'll read this and at least think about it. Jim - cause I tagged Bill and they go together like "rama lama lama ya dingity dingy dong." Or like bread and butter, if you prefer. They both sound wrong, but you know what I mean. ;-) Cindy - cause she is also hilarious. Sarah S - cause she's my other myspace buddy named Sarah--and just my BUDDY in general. Jordan - cause she's my niece and she might actually do this. Kat - cause she's my cafemom friend, and a fellow South Carolinian. Lastcrazyhorn - cause she is a very cool chick and I'd love to read what she has say. (I was going to tag Lena, but she got tagged recently, so she is off the hook.)
May 06 She is...
And so it was, 10 years ago today, on an early Wednesday morning at 4:56 am, my sweet Emma Katheryn came to be with us. My sweet dainty 10 pound Emma.
Yummy birthday breakfast
Happy 10th Birthday Emma! YOU ROCK!
May 05 Now Hear This!My niece is here! Congratulations to my brother and sis-in-law, Scott and Lisa, on the birth of their baby girl, Olivia, who joins big sis, Victoria and big bro, Joseph. She was born Sunday afternoon. All is well. Brag photos to come... Big HUGS and KISSES from Aunt Joell...
May 02 Have a Coke and a smile
"Before you put on a frown, make absolutely sure there are no smiles available." ~Jim Beggs "A smile is the universal welcome." ~Max Eastman
Some of my sweet blogland friends have so kindly asked as to the state of Big Red. So nice of y'all to care about her like that! Well, my new friend, Gene, aka 'mechanic dude', finally found a starter that would fit my car...took him three tries. Apparently, my car has to have "special" parts. Red is special like that. I would like to say that this week, I have had my little Pollyanna-ish-rose-colored-glasses outlook on life confirmed, yet again. First, we had CVS girl, Alicia. Now, we have Gene. Not only did Gene fix my Big Red, BUT, he also drove Red to my house after it was fixed and carried me BACK to his garage so we could settle up. How nice was that? I love when people do nice things that they really don't HAVE to do. B & E Automotive, you ROCK. I was having a conversation about this very thing with my sis-in-law, Amy this morning...no, not the pregnant one, the other one. (Baby STILL has not arrived...they will induce next Wednesday if nothing happens before then.) She was telling me about quite the OPPOSITE experience she had at a Mickey D's in her town the other day. It seems that she approached the drive-thru window, where not one of the drive-thru "ladies" uttered the first word to her. They did not SPEAK. They did not smile at her, did not thank her or tell her to have a great day. Not only that, but as the one drive-thru girl put her hand--with her unnaturally long bright green air-brushed fake-fingernails--out the window to take Amy's debit card, she looked at my SIL like a deer caught in the headlights, with her mouth hanging open like she was about to catch some flies or something!!! Amy said she was so hypnotized by the bright-green-air-brushed-Guinness-Book-of-Records-length nails, that she couldn't bring herself to say anything to the girl...or her manager who was pre-occupied with a milkshake machine crisis. So as she drove away, she looked at the number on her receipt and promptly called the manager of the place, who then proceeded to make various excuses for the behavior of her employees. Is it so much to ask for people to just offer you the minimum courtesy?? I think not. It's really not so hard to just smile and say hello to someone...even when you don't feel like it. A: It will make you feel better if you do. And B: People will want to patronize your business! Come ON! It's just good customer service. That's all I'm saying. Just SMILE people!! It's NOT that hard. Really, it's not. That's all I have to say about that. Moving on... We are off to visit the in-laws this weekend. So this morning I have been busy running errands and doing laundry and such. AND while multi-tasking just a few minutes ago here at my desk (IM-ing with my friend, paying bills, blogging and talking to my sis-in-law on the phone--the pregnant one--all at the same time!), I spilled my (cold) COFFEE all over my shirt and my jeans. Now, of course this would be the time where all my pants, well the ones that currently FIT ME anyway, have been laundered and are drying. SO, I changed my shirt. And remained in my coffee laden pants. My pants seem to be drying now, but I carry with me the aroma of COFFEE. On my pants. My pants have coffee breath. Not cool. And now, I must take Lubie to the birdie-sitter, in my coffee pants. Nice. I love my java...but I don't love it enough to wear it as my Ode De Parfum! Oh well. No choice at the moment. And so, again, the Pollyanna in me finds the silver lining--at least the coffee didn't spill on my keyboard.
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