a fresh start...

At least that's what I'm hoping for. I have to admit that I have just been in a horrible funk the past week, and despite the fact that I knew I needed to snap out of it, I just couldn't. I've been so unbelievably stressed about school...I was already behind for the quarter, and losing everything on the computer made things exponentially worse. And our go-to computer guy let us know on Friday that he was unable to retrieve anything. He did give us the name of the one place he knew of that probably could...but I don't think we can afford it. Anyway, on top of that, it seems like we're dreading the phone ringing...worrying that it's the call saying that my BIL finally succeeded in his suicide by alcohol.

Okay, all of that sucks. But it's time to stop letting it drain the joy out of daily life. Heck, Annie decided Friday evening that she wasn't going to let loosing her novel keep her down...so with half the month gone, she decided to start NaNoWriMo all over again. You know, maybe she won't reach her 50,000-word goal, but I'm damn proud of her for trying! And with that kind of role model, how can I possibly keep moping around here, right?

So, Happy-Thing-#1:
The Book Bloggers Christmas Swap.



Nymeth is once again hosting the swap, this year with help from Dewey. (Two of my very favorite people!) I know most everyone has already signed up, but if you haven't go check it out. But hurry...the deadline to sign up is November 18th. It really was such fun last year. As much fun as receiving a package in the mail (thanks again, Lynne), was reading everyone's posts as their gifts arrived! So festive!

And Happy-Thing-#2:
Bellezza tagged my with the Kreativ Blogger Award.



Along with the award comes a meme of sorts:

7 Things I Did Before:

1. Made crafts to sell in a craft mall.
2. Hiked a piece of the Appalachian Trail on my honeymoon.
3. Felt as if I had a well-functioning brain.
4. Read almost exclusively thrillers.
5. Kept an immaculate home.
6. Smoked.
7. Worked as an optician.

7 Things I Do Now:

1. Home school my daughter.
2. Read just about anything.
3. Am thankful that I manage to keep the bathroom clean.
4. Wonder a great deal about what has become of my previously well-functioning brain.
5. Spend too much time on the computer.
6. Get up between 4:00 and 5:00 each morning.
7. Count my blessings!

7 Things I Want To Do:

1. Make more time to do the things I love to do, like reading and scrapbooking.
2. Sleep through the night.
3. Lose weight.
4. See my children grow into happy, responsible, caring adults.
5. Continue learning.
6. Remember to find the joy in every day.
7. Grow happily old with Rich, the love of my life.

7 Things That Attract Me To The Opposite Sex:

1. A genuine smile.
2. A kind heart.
3. A love of learning.
4. A willingness to be goofy.
5. A down-to-earth manner.
6. A supportive nature.
7. A love of all his fellow creatures on Earth.

7 Favorite Foods:

1. Rich's awesome stir fry
2. tortilla chips with queso dip
3. my SIL's chocolate raspberry bars
4. stuffing
5. brownies with vanilla ice cream
6. chicken and dumplings
7. homemade waffles

7 Things I Say Most Often:

1. "I love you."
2. "Thank you."
3. "Enough!" (Baker's command to stop barking...it does little good.)
4. "Sweet dreams."
5. "You're so cool!"
6. "What do you guys want to eat?"
7. "Wash up."

And, now, 7 people to tag for this award:

1. Annie, who is such a talented creative writer...just wish she would share more of her writing on her blog.
2. Nymeth, who writes the most exquisitely beautiful book reviews I've ever read.
3. Carl, who writes more passionately about the creativity of others than anyone I've ever read. You cannot help but be inspired when you read his posts.
4. Jean, who has all kinds of creativity spewing forth from her, but I'm going to focus on her gorgeous quilts as she shares them on her blog.
5. Dewey, who is the most creative community-building guru in the whole of the bloggy universe.
6. Quixotic, who designs and make beautiful cards.
7. Ali Edwards. Okay, her blog is not one I've ever commented on, yet I read it faithfully. She has long been my biggest creative inspiration. And it's more than her amazing life art...it's her whole outlook on life, her personality, her willingness to share her gifts with the world. I absolutely adore this woman!

(By the way, I know some of you don't really "do tags"...and that's just fine...I just wanted to share those blogs that inspire me creatively.)

And finally, Happy-Thing-#3:
We finally started putting our "library" together. We've had the room emptied for the past couple weeks, and we'd been waiting for me to paint it. But I finally had to admit to myself that I just didn't have time to do it now. And I couldn't stand having bookcases and boxes and bags and loose piles of books stacked all over the house waiting to be put in their new home. So we hauled in all the bookcases, and started filling the shelves. Rich is going to put up some more shelves today, so we'll be able to make even more progress. But we need to get a few more bookcases before we'll be able to move everything in. Then we'll need chairs, if we actually want to sit in there to read. :) And we have a rug all picked out, and we want to find some bamboo-type blinds, but those things will probably have to wait a while. Anyway, it's just so very exciting to finally have it coming together! And hopefully, I'll have some pictures to share soon.

yes, I would like some cheese with my whine

Yes, I apologize up front...truly I do hate complaining. I know I don't always succeed, but I do try to keep it to a minimum. But one would never know after reading my last post, and now this one. I probably shouldn't post this at all, but I did want to explain why I haven't been and won't be as on top of keeping up with all your blogs.

Frankly, this weekend has just totally sucked.

*Crappy Event #1:
One of Rich's brothers is in the hospital. He was admitted from the ER with pancreatitis. Yes, from long-term alcohol abuse. The doctor said that 50% of people who come in in his condition die before they ever get to go home. My BIL is improving, however, and they think he's going to recover. He was told flat-out that if he keeps drinking, he's a dead man. While I fully believe in miracles, I'm just pretty certain that he's a dead man. Geez, I sound callous here. I don't mean to...we're actually a pretty close family, but his drinking has put a strain on everyone for a long time now. The hardest part is thinking about Rich's mom and all she's going through. It's been almost exactly a year since Rich's dad died and she's finally starting to enjoy her life again.

*Crappy Event #2:
Our computer has gone on strike. (I'm borrowing Rich's laptap right now.) It won't turn on at all. I'm just so afraid about what it's taken with it. I don't understand squat about computers, so I just don't know what to think. Rich just tells me he doesn't know what our chances are of recovering what's on there. And of course, the worst part of it all is that we have no one but ourselves to blame for not having more backed up. Like about a year's worth of photos (Rich is in charge of backing those up, but frankly, I've always been so good about sending them off to be printed that we haven't worried that much about it, figuring that not only do we then have the prints but also that Snapfish has our files if we ever want to order more. Of course, I've been lousy about sending them off lately, and we've now got that year's worth at risk.) Then there's all our home schooling stuff. We can't afford to buy fancy curriculums and whatnot, so I pretty much do all the lesson planning by myself. Seriously, I sometimes feel like I have no life outside of all the work I have to do for home schooling. I organize everything I find on-line and all the lectures, handouts, worksheets, etc. that I type up myself in folders on the computer. I add so much each and every day, that it just seemed ridiculous to back it up constantly, so I only backed it up by the school quarter. So now everything I have for this our current quarter, plus odds and ends of things I'd downloaded to save for possible future use are all possibly gone. Truthfully, I'm in near total panic mode now wondering what I'm going to do. And maybe most heart-breaking of all, there's Annie's writing. Including the 15,000+ words she had written of her current NaNoWriMo novel. But also numerous short stories, both finished pieces and works in progress. And I fear her entire novel from last year's NaNoWriMo, which she has continued editing on and off throughout the year. I'm not entirely sure, but I don't think she ever printed off a copy. She's never let us read it all, wanting to wait until she had it polished to her satisfaction. Anyway, keep your fingers crossed for us, would you?

*Crappy Event #3:
Penn State blew whatever hope they had of the National Championship. Yeah, I know that doesn't seem all that important compared to the other things, but I tell you it just sort felt like adding insult to injury.

So, anyway, that's why I probably won't be around so much in the near future. Hope everyone is having a glorious weekend, and I can't wait to catch up with you!

please stay on, please stay on, please stay on...

Our internet has totally flaked. Going on and off constantly. Someone's supposed to come check it out Monday. I've managed to read a few blogs during it's "on" moments, but frankly, it's more frustrating than it's worth. And I'm not even going to attempt to write any reviews with it acting this way. And I do actually have 2 to write, because I finished The Two Towers last night and The 6th Target a few minutes ago. Which means that I finished The Numbers Challenge just in the nick of time (thanks to fact that Callista extended the deadline). Hooray me for actually finishing one!

withdrawal sucks

Okay, if someone had asked me two weeks ago how much I depend on our computer, I would have answered, "A lot." But I would not have realized just how much of an understatement that was. Now I know.

Being without this computer for nearly two weeks has been downright torturous, I tell you! I have so much of my homeschool prep stuff on here, not to mention that I use the computer to research a good bit of our homeschool lessons. I couldn't e-mail anyone (which cost me a chance to possibly meet Laura IRL. For that missed opportunity alone, I could throw this thing through a window! And blogging. Oh my, how I've missed everyone! It's been simply awful! I can't stand not knowing what's been going on with everyone. And I suspect it's going to take me a few days to get caught back up. (My mom is due here early this morning to help me with the redecorating and moving around of the kids rooms, so I probably won't have much time over the next few days.)

I have to say, there is one positive thing that happened because of our computer breakdown. Because I had no way to check our e-mail to see how Kara's surgery went, I got to hear the shock and joy in both Aaron's and Kara's voices over their surprising news when I called them. It was so much better finding out the news that way. Oh my gosh...I just can't calm myself down over the excitement of this one...a new little one to spoil!

No earth-shattering news from our little abode. We did take a mini-vacation up to North Bay, Canada. Went to Marten River Prov. Park and to Algonquian. Was a wonderful little get-away! We simply love Canada! It's so incredibly beautiful...and we've seen such a small bit of it. Someday, I hope we can see a lot more. I'll post some pictures in a few days. First I have to figure out how...we finally got a new camera...Rich has been saving his "review" money for almost a year (well, part of it has gone into the "braces for Annie" fund as well). Anyway, we haven't had time (or the computer!) to figure out how to load up pictures yet.

Hopefully in a few days, I'll be back in the swing of things here. But for now, I'm hoping to be able to catch up with a few of you this morning here before my mom arrives and the munchkins get up, etc. I've missed you all!