20 Year Reunion coming up...

I just got a notice from Classmates today that my 20 year high school reunion has been set for mid-August, on a weekend that my husband is scheduled off. That gives me 5 whole months to get into some semblance of a shape other than "round".

Crap.

Maybe I'll get really lucky on the business front and the campground will be too busy for us to sneak away...

Prayer request

A member of our church went in for cancer surgery on Wednesday. It was supposed to be routine, he was supposed to come home a day or two after the surgery. Wednesday night, he coded. He was under for 20 minutes, but the doctors were able to bring him back. He never regained conciousness as far as I know. He passed away on Friday.

He'd had a full, long life. A roof fell on him a few years ago and should have killed him then. He's had a heart attack somewhere along the way, too. He never said much, but he was always friendly and ready to lend a hand if he could. He stood in front of the church a couple weeks ago and said the Lord had spared his life twice and that if he came through the cancer, that would be three times. He considered himself blessed beyond measure to still be alive.

He's in a much better place now. No more cancer, no more pain, no more uncertainty. His wife is having a hard time, though. She really needs prayers.

Thanks.

Yes, I did...

I'm still here, I've just been off-line for quite a few days. The little computer that I'd been using from 2001 had a screen blow-out a couple weeks ago, rendering it quite useless for internet use until the bulb was replaced.

Prior to this, I determined that there is a goldfish file living on it. Yes, you read correctly, a goldfish file. You know how a goldfish will grow to fill it's bowl, no matter how long it takes? I have a file that does the same thing, and I'll be dipped if I know what it is or how to stop it.

The little computer only has about 8 gig of hard drive on it's C sector, where the Windows program is. When it first came out, 8 gig was *huge*, surely we'd never run out of room, but that was 7 years ago. Lots of programs need that much space all by themselves, and we won't talk about how much room the digital scrapbooking is taking up.

We're running Windows XP, with Service Pack 1 on it. Many of the newer programs require Service Pack 2, but there isn't enough room to install it. I went in and cleaned out *everything* that wasn't essential for the computer to run, and moved as much over to the secondary drive as I could, which freed up enough space to install Service Pack 2. I called it a night at that point, planning to download and install SP2 the next day. When I checked the computer the next day, there was less than 200 meg of free space left, dangerously low. The night before, I had it up over a gig. Grrrrr..... somewhere, overnight, something filled up my hard drive, and I can't find it.

Soooo, as I'm pondering what on earth to do about the space dilemma (caused by virusi, I believe), the screen starts flickering, the first signs of the backlight dying. Things to consider - 1) I'm running a computer with very little hard drive space, and probably not quite enough processing power to run some of the newer programs out there, 2) It has a stinkin' goldfish living on it, 3) the case is broken and the keyboard is trying to pop out, 4) the screen is held in with duct tape (I kid you not on this), and 5) the screen is dying. Short of upping the processor, upping the hard drive, wiping the cotton pickin' thing clean and starting over, there isn't much else that *can* be done with the rascal.

Meet my solution, Pinky:

Yes, I did. I ordered a Flamingo Pink Dell laptop, and a matching mouse. I love Dell - I was able to order a brand new computer with Windows XP on it, so my printer will still work. No driver for the Vista stuff. It's not wanting to play well with the other computers, but once I get the network bugs fumigated, I think we'll be just fine.

What's going to happen to the other computer, you ask? Well, the backlight came in today. Once I get everything off of it that I need, Jack is going to format the hard drive and install Linux on it. He's been wanting to do that for ages. Linux is supposed to be pretty much virus proof, and run better than Windows. It doesn't have all of the bells and whistles, but I guess that also means that there is less stuff to blow up on it. It uses Firefox for it's web browser, and has it's own email program. It comes with a productivity suite that imports and exports Microsoft Office documents.

We're going to load it up and see what it'll do. If it works out well, we have a spare computer for the teenager to use when he visits/moves back in. Since Linux is virtually virus-proof, it will be ideal for his browsing habits. I know he doesn't mean to bring in stray bugs, but they breed on the websites he visits.

Had to share...

Jack finds the neatest stuff online....

My friends with felines will understand this completely. A larger version of this can be found at http://i189.photobucket.com/albums/z143/huntslodge/_last.gif.

3-D Ultrasounds

While I was at the doctor's office yesterday, a sales rep for a pharmacuetical company came in to see the doctor to peddle her drugs. She was quite young, cute, and about 6 months pregnant. She's having one of those pregnancies that you just know will result in a beautiful baby and a mother who is wearing her prematernity jeans within a month. But I digress...

She had pictures on her phone of the latest ultrasound result. She'd had one of the new 3-D ultrasounds done, and it was really bizarre - it was just like looking at a sleeping baby, not one that still has 16 weeks in the womb before she's born. You could tell who's nose she had, who's chin, it was wild.

With technology like this in development and now starting to be put to use, how much longer will it be before exploratory surgeries are a thing of the past? Doctors might be able to use this technology to plan out their procedures, not so many surprises... wow.... It's amazing....

CATS!

Jack and I are going to see Cats!!!!!!!



I have wanted to see this live for as long as I've ever known about it. I found it was going to be playing at the Knoxville Civic Coliseum while looking up information about a Casting Crowns concert coming in April. Cats will be performing on March 18th and 19th, and wonder of wonders, Jack is off on both of those days. When I asked him if he'd like to go, we went over the details, and he said "Sure." We're going to the performance on the 18th, at 7:30pm. Yeeehhaaa!!!!

Now I can tell Mom & Dad what the birthday cash they sent is going to go for. :o)

Sinus infection... bleah... Spent yesterday and a good bit of today asleep. I just adore being sick... not! My sugar goes up and I feel like I'm in a fog. I can hear and see what's going on around me, I just can't seem to comprehend it or respond to is most of the time.

Went to the dr. this am for a regular med checkup. Came back with a prescription for antibiotics. Hope they work soon. I'm just about tired of being tired. She drew some blood, too, to check up on some stuff. I go back in 3 weeks to get those results. Oh joy.

The weird thing is, other than having a headache and being sleepy, I don't feel like I usually do with a sinus infection. The crud is staying in my sinuses, so I can actually breath, and I'm not coughing up a storm. I'll take it. :o)

We have a ladies' retreat this weekend - I hope I'm in better shape by then - I'm the one who made the hotel reservations, so I kinda' need to go.

Signs of Spring just around the corner

It's 64 degrees and sunny today. The daffodils are blooming, as are the Japanese cherry trees in the middle of town square. Maybe I've already covered this, but it doesn't hurt to go over it again. Spring really is on it's way. I, for one, am going to be very happy to have the winter over with. I don't like cold, bleak weather. I don't care for cold, bleak moods, either, and it is much easier to be chipper and optimistic when the sun is shining. I thought I'd get a start on spring here by redecorating the blog. What do you all think?

Jack is out riding the four wheeler right now, checking the property for downed trees that we can use as firewood at the campground. His niece and her family live right behind us, and I noticed that her kids snagged a ride on it with him the last time Jack went zipping by, Sarah on the front and Nate on the back. Nate really does love his Uncle Jack, although he started out being very afraid of him when they first moved in a little over a year ago. Then he figured out Jack has a dirt bike and a four wheeler, and that he'll take him on rides if it's OK with his mom, so now Jack's pretty cool in Nate's book. :o)

It's a beautiful day, and I'm going to head over to the campground and see what I can get into. I'm sure there's stuff that needs to be done. Our guests from Florida left out this morning, heading home. Of course, the weather turns gorgeous on the day day they are leaving. At least they will have an enjoyable trip home over the next couple of days. Everyone else, take care and have a wunnerful day!