Carol's random babble

Last Friday was a strong thaw. Most of the snow in the yard melted - and in places it was knee deep. At Mom's on Saturday, I found a caterpillar on the sidewalk. It had evidently been fooled by the warm temperatures into coming out of hibernation, but then froze again. I picked it up and brought it home to show Cayla. It woke up for awhile, but after Cayla saw it, I took it outside so it can hibernate again. (I'll try to remember to post a picture later. Computer isn't cooperating.) The other thing about Friday was the intense fog. Kent took me to work and when he picked me up, we went to Walmart. We drove home on P59, at about 30 mph. Visibility was about 20 feet, I think. It was a harrowing ride, but we made it home safely.

A member of Geeks! posed the question: What is your favorite dish to eat? My response: Two meals I miss from when I lived in Chicago: From the cafeteria where I worked: a buffalo chicken sandwich, fries, egg custard and Dr. Pepper. The bite of the buffalo chicken and Dr Pepper were offset by the cool taste of the custard. From a salads-to-go delivery service that stopped at my building: a Hotsy-Totsy salad (and Dr Pepper). The salad was pasta with chunks of hot chicken (not buffalo but something along those lines) with broccoli, and peppercorn dressing. I moved from Chicago in 1996 and still remember how much I liked those meals. ;-) Honestly, I have thought about those particular meals since we left Chicago, including several times lately. I've considered trying to make the salad, but I'm not sure how to do the chicken. It wasn't buffalo chicken, I think the description said something about some oriental name but it's been so long I can't remember. I can't reme...

I worked a day shift Friday. It was difficult because we got back from Waterloo around 2:15 a.m. and I had to be at work at 9. But I made it. On Fridays, I do a page for the Sunday business section. I had someone come in after the page was done who wanted something added to the page. I told him the page was done and I could get it in for next Sunday. He suggested it might go in the Sports section. Perhaps it might. It won't go in before Friday anyway. Whatever. Because I was at work all day, exhausted from the trip to Waterloo, and busy, I forgot that I hadn't picked up the prescription for Mom's pain pills from the clinic. They aren't open until Monday. (Side note: I stopped to pop a mini-bag of Orville Redenbacher popcorn - lime and salt flavor. It smelled like Froot Loops for a little when it was cooking. The lime taste isn't very strong to me.) We did a little grocery shopping Friday night - Kent had brought me to work and picked me up. I had to get stuff for Je...

Donna drove to Waterloo to pick up Richard. We opened presents - Kent got us (girls and me) cell phones. I was stunned. We went to dinner at Hong Kong Buffet. Before dinner, Kent and I (and the girls) went to Community Pizza to pick up a pork tenderloin sandwich for Mom and took it to her. Donna got her a chocolate shake from Hardee's. The buffet was nice - I hadn't been there in a long time. They had some (Americanized of course) Chinese food, salad stuff (including shrimp), crab legs and a lot more. I took some pictures while we were eating. Amanda kept hiding her face. She continued that when we went back to Mom's for pumpkin pie. I got fed up with her resistance and told Kent to take me to work and then come back for the girls. Amanda took a picture of herself with her cell phone camera and texted an apology to me later. Work was okay. I made up the obit that hadn't been entered into the system for Thursday and got all the obits caught up. I did a couple of pages, b...

I didn't have to work Wednesday - it's my normal day off. Apparently they could have used my help, as there was no obit clerk scheduled. So on Thursday I had to do a little catchup work. One obit that ran in Thursday's paper wasn't in the billing system, so I had to enter it as if it ran in Friday's paper, but made sure not to put it on the page for Friday. Wednesday was pretty quiet. We didn't do any Christmas Eve stuff. Cayla made sure she stayed up until Suzanna got here, because I told her she couldn't open anything from Suzanna unless Suzanna was here. So we stayed up until 2 a.m. I went to bed after presents were opened, around 2:30 a.m. Suzanna gave me a $35 gift card for Walmart.

I haven't blogged and wanted to catch up, so I'm starting with Tuesday. I had the weirdest dream. Well, in the top 20, maybe. I live in a one-story house with a basement. It has a garage, and there's a breezeway in between. The yard is a good size, and fairly level. There is no ditch. In my dream, the house was two stories, with a deck all the way around or nearly all the way around the house at the second story, which was apparently the main level. There was a ditch next to the street in the front, but apparently not all the way around. This is important to the dream. There was something about a fence near the stairs up to the deck, which is also important. The deck was redwood, which is not important, just a detail. The garage wasn't there, either, but the driveway was. Okay, here goes: There was a car or a couple of cars driving around through my yard. I called police, and also took a picture with my digital camera. My camera showed a message that the license plate o...

I didn't win any of the 50 HP Magic Giveaway prize packages. I didn't enter all the contests - some were in Spanish or Portuguese, some I missed deadlines or chose not to enter because the qualifications were difficult. But I did learn something. There are blogs out there where you can win something. So I'm going to keep trying. I might not win a computer (in fact I'll be falling back to Plan A, student aid in February), but I might win something. So, here goes: My first blog contest that I'm going for is from Organize with Sandy . There are three mini books to give away: Three Steps to Organizing your Kitchen, Three Steps to Organizing your Child's Room Three Steps to Organizing your Office. You have to go to www.1-2-3getorganized.com and go back to the contest page and leave a comment about which product you would love to have. There are extra chances to win, too. You can Twitter, blog about it, post Organizer Sandy buttons on your blog and/or follow Sandy...

I missed a couple of days posting, but I've been busy. Thursday I had three final tests, went home for a bit, then went to work. I got off at 9:30 and drove home. I think that was the worst drive home I've had as far as poor visibility goes. When a snow plow turned onto 169, I pulled off on a side road and let it pass me so it could clear the road. I made it home, though. But it makes me leary about tonight. We're under a blizzard warning, with snow, blowing snow and bitter wind chills expected. I expect I'll have to spend the night at Mom's. I'm not planning to go to church in the morning. Tomorrow's high temperature is predicted to be around zero. I got up shortly after 6 a.m. and didn't go back to sleep. So I'm going to take a nap before I get started on my past-due assignments for school.

I had Tuesday night off from work so I could go to Enrichment Night. Enrichment was cancelled because of the weather - we got a few inches of snow. Kent and I went into town in the evening so I could drop off my Secret Santa present at work, so Kent could get some groceries, and so Kent could fix Mom's computer - again. While he was working on that, I shoveled her sidewalk. And the neighbors' sidewalks. Her apartment complex is made up of four-plex buildings. They are arranged so that there's a central sidewalk and then it splits off to each apartment. So in Mom's building, there are four apartments but only two of them face the same courtyard. I shoveled the sidewalks in Mom's courtyard. I was feeling pretty good about myself - even had Kent take a picture of me. Yeah, I knew I'd be suffering later (back spasms from the shoveling) but I was pleased. When we got back to Otho, we picked up Amanda so she could have supper at Kent's. I decided to leave the car ...

I'll be going out of order here in order to make a quick post before midnight. Donna asked me to take her to the ER because her blood sugar was over 400 and she'd been suffering from a bad headache since the wee hours of the morning. We got there around 8 p.m. and left around 11:10. I took my Dreamweaver book but didn't study - I read the copy of "New Moon" that she had brought. I finished the book. Cayla made stew for supper, but it wasn't ready when we left, so I am waiting for Jessica to finish cooking a batch of pork cutlets and then I'll have something to eat and go to bed. I didn't get done the homework assignments I was supposed to turn by tonight. Oh well.

I need to check this out thoroughly. The author's aim was to use the crock pot every day throughout 2008. It appears to be a success. There are posts by category, including " fun stuff " which is (mostly) nonfood items like crayons, soap and Christmas ornaments. Some of those uses will make you raise your eyebrows, and there's a "don't try this at home" disclaimer on one item. But, it looks like a worthwhile blog to follow.

Chris Pirillo is participating in the Don't Just Give A Gift, Grant A Wish contest. What would you do with one of the offered packages? I would pass it along to the local Salvation Army and/or Operation Christmas. I think the Family Game Night package would be best.

I would share. My first sharing would be with my 70-year-old mom, who is using my old computer that runs on Windows 98. This computer breaks down frequently, and she can't access some of her favorite websites. Mom would get the HP TouchSmart so she would be able to see the screen easily. I would have loved to keep this myself, but the other computers are laptops and Mom just wouldn't do well with a laptop. So she would get the TouchSmart. I did a little video with my camera that shows Mom, my husband Kent working on Mom's computer and me. (I had the hardest time uploading it, so I'm just linking to it.) My sister's two daughters would get two of the computers. Suzanna is in college and has no computer. Jessica wants to re-enroll and her laptop has been defective since water was spilled on the keyboard last December. They would get one of the laptops and the HP Mini 1000. I would get one of the laptops, but that would be sharing, as well. In my web technology progra...

Feel free to vote on my entry. And yes, that's actually a cheeseburger eggroll special, which is why, to my mind, this was an "appetite fail." more fail, owned and pwned pics and videos Not sure that's a win.

I entered the Notebooks.com portion of the HP Magic Giveaway in the nick of time, I believe. The rules say the cutoff is noon today, but doesn't specify time zone. Later in the rules it says something about Pacific time, so I'm hoping that's right. Anyway, here's my two most important tips for entering these contests: 1) Read the rules and 2) Pay attention to deadlines. Many of the deadlines have already passed, and prizes have been awarded. Organizational skills will help you in your quest. Another tip: Embrace technology. Many of the contest bloggers invite people to follow them on Twitter, to tweet a specific phrase, or to post a video. I posted my first video on YouTube to enter this contest for another blogger. I've been trying to upload it to my blog, but it's not loading properly. I had the same problem uploading to YouTube, but finally got it up from another computer. What I would do with this prize? I've written this so many times already. ;-) Mo...

The HP Magic Giveaway is an awesome package of computers, hardware, software and extras (Kung Fu Panda, anyone?). Here's what it would mean to my family: My mom, who is 70, would have the HP TouchSmart. She would have the wide screen to easily see what she's doing. She would be able to enjoy her favorite websites. If she wanted to, she could play solitaire by moving the cards around with her finger, although she probably wouldn't do that for long with her shoulder problems. What this means to me: I wouldn't have to send my husband over to try to fix the computer she's using - my old HP Pavilion that runs on Windows 98. Mom would be able to post on her forums, watch BYU-TV and play games. I would get one of the laptops, which would help me in school (web technology). I don't own a computer than can run Photoshop, Illustrator, InDesign and Dreamweaver. I'm using the computer of a relative who's staying with me after getting evicted last month. (I took in t...

The HP Magic Giveaway is a chance for 50 bloggers to each share a $6,000 prize package with 50 people. Most of the contests so far have asked the winners to share with others. Here's my entry into Techie Diva's contest : I'm a struggling college student with a big difference: I'm 47, separated, raising two daughters, working full time and sharing my home with two relatives who were evicted last month, plus all their pets (seven cats and a dog). Thanksgiving was about being thankful for a roof over all our heads. My plans for the computers in the giveaway are this: The HP TouchSmart would go to my 70-year-old mother, who would enjoy being able to watch BYU-TV online again (my old computer which she's using runs on Win98 and she's unable to enjoy some of her favorite websites); one laptop and the HP mini 1000 would go to my two college-age nieces to help them in school; and I would get the other laptop. My major is web technology. My problem is that the Adobe pro...

I'm trying to play Sims2. I can't get it to start. I only get this message: Please insert the original disc instead of a backup (1000). From what I understand, this is an anti-pirate measure. I bought this game legally, as I have bought all my other EA games. I've had to reinstall my games, due to changing computers and reformatting and so on. Why can't I just play my game? I've wasted 2 hours on this tonight - 2 hours I could have been playing for some mental relaxation. Or it could have been 2 hours of much-needed sleep. This happened with Bon Voyage and FreeTime. I've spent a couple hundred dollars on Sims games and this is how you treat your customers? I was going to buy Apartment Life this week, but I'm not sure I want to continue with the sims. I might just give up on them altogether. And I might forget about Sims3. I submitted the first two paragraphs to the EA help people. We'll see if I get a response. From what I've seen online, my choices ...

And I'll be going back to bed as soon as Donna gets here (she works 10 p.m. to 7 a.m.). Or maybe I'll go back to bed now and let Amanda tell me when Donna gets home, like she woke me up to tell me that school was closed.

Oops, forgot to post yesterday. Well, there's always next month. We're currently in the midst of a winter storm. A winter weather advisory is in effect until 3 p.m. tomorrow. A bunch of schools in our area have already declared a 2-hour delay for tomorrow, but not our school. Of course. I'd like to sleep in, but I've got to prepare for class tomorrow. What I'd really like to do is: a) go to bed and sleep til noon b) play Hatchlings on Facebook and feed all my pets, Cayla's pets and pets belonging to our friends from Utah (I told them I'd help feed their pets) c) play Sims2 until I fall asleep at the computer. What I'll probably do is: a) mess around online until I fall asleep at the computer and then wake up in the morning going "oh crap" when I realize I have to be at the college at 8 a.m. even though the kids have a 2-hour delay by then. Anyway, please leave a comment on my winter driving tips entr y in the HP Magic Giveaway. (yeah, like anyb...

It's Saturday, I have to go to work later. I tried working on my past homework, but lost motivation. I'd rather play Sims 2 (which kept me up til 2:30 a.m.). But you've got to have a little fun in your life, right? I entered the Geeks! portion of the HP Magic Giveaway. The challenge is to write a 500+ essay on how to, what is or top 5 of something. The essay with the most comments wins. I wrote about winter driving tips . There are no comments yet. I won't be winning that one. Guess I'll play Sims 2.

I would give the HP TouchSmart to my 70-year-old mom (not living in my house) so she can visit her favorite websites. She has been missing BYU TV online because she's using my old HP Pavilion computer runs on Win98 and can't open the videos. The TouchSmart screen is plenty big for her to see. My nieces Jessica (planning to go back to college, currently living in my house) and Suzanna (currently going to college and not living in my house) would get one laptop and the HP mini 1000. (Jessica gets first pick.) The other laptop would be mine, to do my college coursework. My major is web technology. My coursework involves creating websites. I plan to mostly do websites for nonprofit organizations while I'm in school. I'm also thinking of starting a technology group at church to help people learn to do email and so on.

Entered the HP Magic Giveaway at MediaBlab. You, too, can enter: Jake Ludington’s HP Magic Giveaway

I just sent Chris an entry for the HP Magic Giveaway. He lives on the West Coast and isn't up this early, so I'll have to wait to see when he posts my entry. This is one case where earlier is better: part of the contest is to see how many comments each entry gets. There aren't too many entries so far, so maybe my chances are pretty good. I'll post when I get a link to my entry.

I got home around 11:15 p.m. and Amanda was still up. Donna was on her computer, but she consented to letting me kick her off after I got my laundry started. Amanda is still up - it's nearly 12:06 a.m. "I took a nap," she said. But she'll still be difficult to get up in the morning. Right now I should go to bed, but I just started a load of laundry that I need to see through to the dryer. I don't feel tired, but know that if I went to bed right now, I'd be asleep in few minutes. I should be doing homework, but I'm also trying to think of what to write about for the Geeks! entry into the HP Magic Giveaway . Chris PIrillo wants a 500-word essay on a how-to, what-is or Top 5 subject. I can't figure out what to write about.

Chicken is Amanda's kitten. She's 5 months old tomorrow. And she's sick. She's been sneezing and gagging. She puked a couple of times. Right now she's asleep in a laundry basket. I'm too broke to take her to the vet. The last time I took a cat to the vet, I spent $120 and the cat died 4 hours later. That was after I called the vet's office to say "my cat has fleas and I didn't know until now how bad she is" and they said "you have to buy medicine and treat her at home." Well, "how bad she is" was anemic. I wonder if I had taken her to the vet on Friday when I called instead of the next day, would she have survived? Poor Comet kitty. Anyway, that's life. You try to do the best you can and sometimes it works out and sometimes it doesn't. I'm going to go enter a couple of the HP Magic Giveaway contests now because I'm so lucky and postitive right now.

I'm kind of tired, but not ready to go to bed yet. I've been trying to fulfill requirements for entries into the HP Magic Giveaway, and I'm not quick. I haven't started doing my homework yet. Yikes. And we have a test in my first class (today) - unless we have a late start or a snow day, if it snows enough. Of course, at 2 a.m. they haven't made that decision yet. Plus, my luck would be that the K-12 schools have a late start but the college would be on time. I don't think it's started snowing yet. (checks weather.com - nope) I could fall asleep really easily, but I've still doing laundry. I guess I'll put the clothes in the dryer when I get up. ;-)

National Blog Posting Month. It's every month, but in November it's serious. You have to post each and every day to be included in the contest. Since I didn't sign up until today, I'll have to wait until next year. But it should be a good exercise in discipline - can I really post every day? Can I come up with something to say/write on a daily basis? I've got (counting) five blogs at least. I won't try to post in each one every day, but I should be able to manage a post a day in at least one of them. My badge:

I'm going to list the schedule by day, taken from a Google calendar *: Nov. 28 Bleeping Computer -entered- (didn't win) Gear Live -entered- (didn't win) Windows Connected -entered- (didn't win) Nov. 29 Morningside Mom -entered- (didn't win) Thoughts on poetics & tech -entered- Nov. 30 BostonPocketPC MediaBlab -entered- Neowin Dec. 1 HackCollege Dec. 2 Gotta Be Mobile -entered- I Started Something -entered- (Enter name and email addy. Bonus entry for using Windows Vista {download}) The Gadgeteer Dec. 3 Carlos Alberto (in Portuguese) Down-to-Earth Mama -entered- La Bitácora de Erwin Ried (in Spanish) moosh in indy -entered- Dec. 4 GearDiary Geeks To Go! -entered- Geeks! -entered- (didn't win) Dec. 5 One Day, One Job (tell how you helped someone try to get a job) Dec. 6 Geek.com - entered- (survey) Notebooks.com Techie Diva -entered- Dec. 7 InfoWester (in Portuguese) merlot mom Noticias Tech (in Spanish) Techmamas Dec. 8 AbsoluteVista Barb...

Entered the HP Magic Giveaway at GearLive: http://jk9.qlnk.net/ Their requirements are a little more detailed: You have to have a GearLive account and post a link on Twitter. Then you post a comment on the GearLive page with a link to the Twitter post. You can earn bonus entries by posting in four other places: Facebook, Delicious.com, FriendFeed and your blog. I don't have a FriendFeed account - yet - but it might be worth it for this. ;-) I can't figure out how to do Shared Link on Facebook, and I'm wondering how they can view my profile anyway - I don't want it completely open, just my friends and networks. I'll work on that later. I also entered at Windows Connected . They want an email with a 150-word-or-less explanation on how the prize package would be used. I also used TinyURL to make a good URL for Twitter: http://tinyurl.com/hpmagic.

I've entered the HP Magic Giveaway contest at Bleeping Computer . One down, 49 to go. Bleeping Computer's criteria is they want the winner to share. They are asking that the winner give at least one of the computers to someone else. I was already considering sharing the wealth if I win. Here's my post at Bleeping Computer: My first thought was that I would give the HP TouchSmart to my mom. She's 70 and currently using my old HP Pavilion, which runs Windows 98. She can't access all her favorite websites on it. I played with one at OfficeMax and it was kind of fun to play solitaire by touching the screen and moving the cards. (I'm not sure Mom would be able to lift her arm that far and long, though, she has shoulder problems.) One of the laptops would be mine for schoolwork. My current computer can't run the Adobe products that I use for class (Photoshop, Dreamweaver, InDesign and Illustrator), so I rented a laptop for a few weeks and I'm currently using ...

I generally feel like crap: nauseated, achy, getting a headache. I barely made it through classes today, and only long enough to finish the part of a test that has to be done in class. I brought home the performance part, which is due next Tuesday. I got 85% on the objective part of the exam, meaning that miracles still do happen. So, after I called work, I went back to bed, until Mom called to ask me to pick up her prescription at the clinic. I told her I would do it tomorrow, and would have gone back to bed, except she asked me to make sure they are open tomorrow. So, I whipped out the phone book (I actually know where two are - they're in the same place and handy to find!) and called. Yes, they are open. Anyway, I was going through emails and found one from Lockergnome about a contest. I haven't listened to the video yet - gotta get my MP3 player out to use the headphones, but the gist of it is that Chris Pirillo is one of 50 bloggers who is testing a hardware/software packa...

Amanda's kitten, Chicken, walked on my keyboard and hit something and the keyboard was all messed up. I think it was scroll lock. Anyway, the keyboard is back to normal. I can't say my life is. The girls and I are living in a two-bedroom house outside Fort Dodge. Kent is in his own apartment, but it's nearby. He's got his key to my place and I have a key to his, but that's in a neighborly way, not for, ummm, anything else. Anyway ... So, I'm taking classes and working full time and life is crazy. Donna asked Mom to move in with her but recent events have made that impossible. I'll be taking on three of Donna's cats - in addition to our four and our landlady's cat that comes in and goes out as he pleases. I always said I wouldn't be the crazy cat lady but apparently I was wrong. Today is Election Day, which translates into pandemonium at work, so I'll be working late tonight. I would take tomorrow off from class, but I've got a test tomorr...

st4*5d cat wa32ed 6n 0y 2eyb6ard and 5t's a33 0essed 4* n6w.

There's a quote from Dorothy Parker: "I hate writing; I love having written." I'm going to use my own version: "I hate moving I love having moved." We're nearly there. There are some odds and ends at the old place, which we're supposed to be out of tomorrow (Sept. 30). I'm at that "I don't care anymore" stage. I highly disrecommend (new word!) this combination: working full time, going to school full time and moving within the same month. Any combination of two of those is hard enough - three is insane. I've got a test tomorrow, and assignments due, and I'm trying to download trial versions of Adobe programs so I can do my homework. But the programs are so huge that one takes 15 minutes to download. By the time I get the four programs I need, I'll have to go to bed. And, although we had help moving the majority of our stuff on Saturday, we're not completely settled. Besides all the boxes, which is normal for us, my w...

I start classes in 9 1/2 hours. I'm nervous and a bit excited. It's going to be hard to go to school full time and work full time, but at least this time around I don't have to pay my tuition out of my own pocket (yay Pell Grant!). And Kent will be moving out, and the girls and I will be moving to a friend's house who moved to another state. I pay my first month's rent there on Friday. Saturday I have the day off so the girls and I can move boxes and whatever else we can get into the pickup truck of a coworker - we're swapping vehicles for the day. The following Saturday, we'll get the rest of the furniture moved. Kent's waiting to hear about a place near where we will be, or an apartment in FD. That one is only a studio, and he'd like a one-bedroom. More updates later, particularly after Sunday.

Due to a mess with some woman in iPlay, I've had to make my blog private. Only people I invite can read it. Apparently this woman has a beef with Kent and found my blog and told people there's nasty stuff about Kent on it. Whatever.

I signed up for the Trinity Healthy Living 10,000 steps a day challenge. I got a pedometer, which I'll have to make a habit of wearing (not wearing it at this moment). I'll have to keep a daily log of my progress, too. It should be interesting - to see if I can keep up with this. I've never had much luck with losing weight or living a healthy lifestyle.

With respects to Judith Viorst . Lemme see. Wednesday was the day that our partly-outside kitty, Rocky, came home injured. I suspect someone might have kicked him, because his right front paw was dangling, and it looked like his ribs were hurt (based on how he meowed when we lightly touched his side). I ended up calling the animal control guy (who suggested he could take Rocky to his cousin's farm and maybe Rocky will heal naturally. (Or maybe he'll just put him to sleep like he said originally. I'm hoping Rocky is okay, but have no way to know. I just couldn't find any vets willing to work out a payment arrangment with me.) It was the day I got a temporary filling for the tooth that lost one a few days ago (which seems like a plus, but it still counts). It was the day that Kent went to the doctor, who agreed that Kent is probably bipolar (my diagnosis) and prescribed him Abilify . The doctor also wants him to go to the Heart Clinic of Iowa to see if there's a pro...

I found this through a Facebook friend. Read the master plan for details. I plan to see it, and if I like it, will buy it on DVD. I like some of Joss Whedon's stuff, and the combination of Joss and Nathan Fillion is irresistible.

I attended the first meeting of the reunion committee for my high school class's 30-year reunion. And volunteered to do the website. I had done a little homework beforehand, so I knew about a free site specifically for reunions like this. We're currently using this, but it isn't quite what I wanted. So I purchased a domain name and two months of hosting from GoDaddy.com. I'm trying to learn how to use Wordpress to maintain a website and getting more and more confused. But I don't think it looks too bad. The committee will meet again in July.

I found out Monday night that a friend had died. He didn't die of a sudden heart attack, stroke or cancer, all of which would be tragic enough at his age: 54. He committed suicide. He leaves behind a wife, three sons (one married, one engaged), and two grandchildren, parents, siblings, plus many friends and acquaintances. He also leaves behind infinite sadness. Whatever his reason is - and I won't speculate - it will never be enough for those close to him. They will always wonder, "What didn't I do?" and "What did I do wrong?" They will wonder why their love wasn't enough to keep him here. I wasn't as close to him as I would have liked - he was a great guy. He was active in many community activities. But he always greeted me with a smile - as if he was truly glad to see me. I was always glad to see him. There's nothing improper about this, I always considered him a friend I wanted to know better. Even I wonder if there was anything I could ha...

Yeah,I'm kind of a Facebook addict. It's all the applications - you can join groups, play games, look for Easter eggs, plant a virtual garden, stock a virtual aquarium, send virtual gifts ... So, I play Oregon Trail and Knighthood, look for hatching eggs, Superpoke all my friends, and collect Pieces of Flair. That last one is what has me bummed. You see, I discovered that one of my friends has the Pieces of Flair application. So, I thought it would be cool to send her one, something pretty. I searched for awhile and found one that I liked that I thought she would like ... But she isn't on my friends list. Anymore. I don't know when that happened, or why. So I can't send her flair, but more importantly, I'm wondering if I did something to offend her. And I'm wondering why it took me so long to figure this out.

We took Buster (aka Boo-boo) to the Family Pet Clinic on March 20 to be neutered. We picked him up the next day, a changed kitty. He's been a bit tentative lately, not quite himself. He also has been compulsively licking the affected area. So Kent took him back Friday afternoon and they gave him a surgical cone. Poor Boo-boo. He can't lick himself, even regular cleaning, unless we take it off. He runs into the side of things with the cone. If you offer him a treat, sometimes it lands on the inside of the cone and he has to try to lick it off. It's really quite comical at times. Also, Cayla finally decided that she had had enough of guinea pig ownership and I placed an ad for the cavies. We sold the last two today. While discussing the ins and outs of guinea pigs, I mentioned to the buyers that Cayla had wanted a rat for some time and I told her "You aren't getting a rat." We gave the last buyers the cages, water bottles and food that we had left. Cayla and I h...

62% Geek Only 62 percent? *hangs head in shame* I just took another test: 30.76923 percent - Total Geek I'm going to have to study harder.

It's "Snip Snip Eunuchy Day" for Buster. This refers to the second "Pirates of the Caribbean" movie where Jack Sparrow tells the cannibals that Will Turner is a eunuch. In the middle of his speech, he says "snip snip eunuchy." Buster wasn't happy when I took him to the vet, but not because he was afraid of the vet - yet. He doesn't like going in the car, and I had bought a cat carrier just for this occasion. I assembled it in the car and brought it in and set it on the floor. He sniffed it and went inside and I shut the door. Then I took him out to the car and drove him to the vet. That was just part of the chain of disasters as far as he was concerned. He was quiet, but scared on the way there. Poor baby.

I had to go to Ames yesterday to pick something up. When I got there, it wasn't there. Some miscommunication had caused the order not to arrive, and there's no way for me to find out until I get there. So, I got back in the Blazer - which I had driven because my car sucks down more gas and the Blazer had a bit more gas - and tried to shut the door. Which wouldn't latch. I tried a few more times, then asked someone for help. He tried a few times with no luck. So I drove around the side of the building where the parking lot slopes, hoping gravity would help. No luck. So, I drove out of Ames with my window down a couple of inches and holding the door shut with my left hand. I shut the window and held the door by the door handle until we got to Little Wall Lake. My plan was to shut the door from the outside, which usually works. In the past, I've done this, then got into the Blazer from the passenger's side and scooted across. In a manner of speaking - you don't exa...

It's really nice to work at a place where you can be sure that when there's a shortage of available people to work on a certain type of project, someone will volunteer/step up. It's reassuring to know that if anybody calls in, or quits, or is unable to get to work for whatever reason, there is someone who can get things done. Until you realize that you are someone, and it kind of sucks to be the person who is always filling in/volunteering/stepping up. And it's not all volunteer, either. This past week is was a note on a Post-It saying this particular project needs to be done ASAP. I started working on it Monday or Tuesday already, but just to get the pieces together in order to do the main part, which is uploading the information to the Web site. Our esteemed webmaster assured the news editor that it would only take 20 minutes per section. After about an hour and a half of prep on Monday or Tuesday (can't remember - it's all a blur), I came in Wednesday (MY DAY...

I've had Bell's palsy manifest at two different times in my life. The first time (1988), I had been mugged and either hit or kicked in the face, and the Bell's palsy came on suddenly a week or so later and lasted a couple of weeks. The second time was during my second pregnancy (1995). I think that was more gradual. At that time, one eye didn't want to stay closed when I was sleeping, so I ended up using first aid tape to tape it closed at night. It gradually went away, and I think there are no aftereffects, except a very slight difference between the right and left sides of my face. Even a mild thing like Bell's palsy can freak you out and mess with your life. I bring this up because of a thread on a forum I frequent. One person was asking for advice on symptoms, and Bell's palsy was one of the suggestions for a possible diagnosis. The main advice was, of course, see a doctor. But reading the responses brought back memories of the times I had Bell's palsy.

but I feel like crap. I have had weird things going on with my ears for over a week. They crackle. It's like they have fluid in them or something. I haven't gone to the doctor because I don't have insurance and I owe them money. Saturday I woke up with a throat that felt hot and tight. Not sore, exactly ... And I'm all full of snot. Maybe I should put an "ewww factor" warning on this post. Sorry. Anyway, I did work Saturday but didn't go to church on Sunday. I worked Monday because there were two things I had to do that nobody else either knew how to do or would be willing to do. The second item was copy editing, and I was supposed to have had that done by last Friday, but was too busy, what with working 10 days in a row and all. The first item was obits, and I have to do those on Mondays and Thursdays, plus days that Jean takes off (which was part of the reason I worked 10 days in a row). So I went to work. I also couldn't use the excuse that the road...

I think the schools may have learned a lesson from last Tuesday. The weather wasn't so bad, exactly, but the little snow that had fallen was being blown around by the wind. Driving through it was like driving in fog. The schools did not have a delay. They realized later that the driving conditions were bad, but5 by that point they decided th at the conditions were too bad to let the kids go home. Humboldt made plans to take elementary kids to the high school if conditions stayed bad and parents couldn't pick their kids up. Luckily, the winds dropped and they were able to bus kids home. I didn't wait. I packed up a bag with clothes and got blankets for Cayla and me and picked her up. I planned that if the weather stayed bad, we would stay at Mom's. We did get to go home that night. My point in all of this is that because the schools didn't have a two-hour delay, the kids stayed in school all day. If there had been a delay, there wouldn't have been school at all. ...

In response to a thread entitled Best Pie Chart Ever, I have come up with my own version: The other contenders are: Pac-Man , which brings up Pac-Man's skull , Ninja turtles , Profanity (warning: profanity), and the ultimate(ly useless) Venn diagram .

Our normal routine is morning news until 7 a.m., then I turn to HGTV for "Simply Quilts" and "Carol Duvall" show. Then it's Discovery for two episodes of "How It's Made," which is when I fall asleep for my morning nap. When I wake up, Kent has changed the channel - but it's never the same thing. It could be a judge show, extreme videos on SpikeTV or "Walker, Texas Ranger." At noon, it's the ABC soaps. I get to watch "All My Children," but have to get ready for work during "One Life to Live." When I get home, it could be something on NatGeo, History or A&E (if "CSI: Miami" is on). Wednesday nights, we usually watch "Ghost Hunters." Friday nights I try to get home in time for the second viewing of "SG: Atlantis." But, right now our cable is off, so we're watching DVDs borrowed from the library. Most of our personal collection is kiddie things like "Brother Bear" and...

Cayla called me at work yesterday afternoon with emotion in her voice. At first, I thought something was wrong, but quickly realized it was excitement. Mercedes Cow had given birth to her pups. She had three this time, one calico and two brownish-red and white. Those two also have different colors, I think it is lilac and red, according to the guinea pig book that Cayla has. So, one black-red-white and two red-lilac-white pups.

I hadn't been driving my car since Kent returned from Kentucky. The last time it had been driven was the Tuesday before Thanksgiving, when a random guy stopped and asked if we were going to sell it. He took it for a test drive and said he would pay $800 for it but didn't have the money that day. He never came back. So, I didn't drive the car because it was nearly out of gas and just kept driving the Blazer. Then on Jan. 4, Kent and I had a fight and he insisted that I get a battery so I could drive the car and leave "his" Blazer alone. Fine. I had to borrow money from Mom for the battery and a few other things. Kent got the car jump-started and I drove it to Wal-Mart to get a new battery. It ran fine after that from Jan. 4 through Jan. 9. Then it wouldn't start. So I've been driving the Blazer again, or Kent has taken me to work. Today, Cayla had Lollipop Orchestra, so I took her to the library. We went to Hy-Vee after that so I could take money out and ge...

I just signed up for bux.to . I got the link from a Lockergnome e-mail and signed up through that. The pay amount isn't a lot: one cent if you have a free account. But, people you refer add to your amount, too. I think they only go one level, so people who are referred by the people you refer don't count for you. You need to have PayPal, because that's how they pay out. They will pay out once your account reaches at least $10. I've earned 71 cents so far. I have signed up for a couple of things in the past. AllAdvantage didn't last long. I did get some money from them, but they went bust owing me more. MyPoints is a great program, but I haven't checked that e-mail in awhile. I've got more than 200 e-mails waiting for me and most will have expired. Still, I've gotten a lot of gift certificates from them. It's definitely worth it. I can get points for referring friends each month. If you are interested, you can send me an email by clicking on the link...

I placed an ad to find homes for Pumpkin and the two pups. Mama (as I call her - Cayla named the female cavy Mercedes Cow) will be giving birth within two weeks, and we've got to simplify the pet situation. Over the weekend, the pups found new homes. Then yesterday I got a weird phone call. The person who talked claimed to be a relay operator. He said he was helping a person who was communicating by computer - possibly a deaf person. The procedure is that the caller types the message, the relay operator says the message, the call recipient responds verbally and ends with "go ahead." The relay operator then types the response, the caller types again, and so on. During the call, an operator supervisor broke in to tell me that the call fits the criteria of a scam. The call was dropped, but there was a second call. During the second call, I asked where the caller was from. Wisconsin. The caller said that shipping wouldn't be a problem and asked if I would e-mail the detai...