The Day My World Went Black

How are all of my Blogger friends doing this beautiful Spring morning? I've been peeking in on all of you. Some of you are great at keeping us up-to-date and current on news and life events. Then there are those of you who are as guilty as I am about laying down on the job and being a slacker. Tsk, tsk, tsk. Work on that, will you?

 How am I doing, you ask? In a word...... BUSY! As I mentioned in an earlier post, Chatty became engaged back in November. Folks, I guess it really is official because they're still engaged. They have set the date for October 26 OF THIS YEAR. Yes, they've been engaged since November but they only set the date 2 weeks ago. So you can imagine how busy it is at the Chat household. Mr. Chat and I had a very simple ceremony when we married so all of this planning and detailed stuff is new to me. Chatty will not be having a huge or elaborate wedding. I think around 300 guests will be invited. There will be dinner and dancing afterward. So, yeah to me that's quite the shin-dig to plan for. Of course.... anything over 6 people is a big hoopla to me.

I interrupt this program to bring you the following message: We were having TV reception problems. Mr. Chat bought a new box for the antenna. Yes, I said antenna. It's my fault that we are still prehistoric. I refuse to pay for TV programming. To me, that's wasteful. But I will allow Mr. Chat to pay for internet service. I figure with internet we get more bang for our buck...the World Wide Web, Blogger, Facebook, Kindle Fire and YouTube. What more could you ask for?.....Anyway, I digress.....As I said, he bought a box for the antenna. Our TV would work for a while then it would get really distorted. He was very frustrated by the whole thing. Meanwhile, I still had my computer to keep me entertained. He finally found the problem. The connection to the box was broken. He replaced the part and VIOLA!....he was a happy camper again. Meanwhile, the TV in Chatty's room needed to be re-set. She decided she wanted to move it to another location. There were so many wires that it became entangled. Instead of trying to follow the wire, he tugged on it, she tugged on it and they finally figured out which wire was causing the problem. Fast forward a couple of weeks. MY COMPUTER crashed. We're talking black screen. It would not let me set it back to last known working state or open in safe mode. I was not about to spend money taking it to a technician to be repaired. So I did what any novice that knows nothing about the technical behind-the-scenes workings of a computer does. I tried to fix it myself. I set it back to factory settings and re-activated all original programs. And you know what? It worked! It had a few glitches but it worked for what I needed. I was quite proud of myself. Almost cocky. It saved me money and kept me from having a complete melt down. Do you know how helpful it is to have a computer at your fingertips for planning a wedding? It saves a lot of wasted time and trips trying to locate services or products.

One night I was surfing for bargains on Bridesmaids dresses. Chatty pulled a chair up next to me. She propped her foot up on the computer tower. That's when it happened. Everything went black!!!! Same as it did 3 or 4 weeks before. The only difference was I could not get the power on. That's when I found it. The power cord had been loosened from the back of the unit. I guess it had been making enough connection to work those few weeks. But when Chatty set her foot on it, it jarred it enough to make the cord completely disengage. I didn't want to and I didn't have time to go through all of the steps as before. But it wouldn't respond to anything else. So I set it back to factory settings. I performed the diagnostic tests that it recommended. FAILED! Errors in several parts of the computer. Oh no! Shot! GGGGRRRRRRR!!!! I had every kind of jerk, tick, and shake a woman could have. Whatever!!! Many a women planned weddings long before the internet was invented. I decided to put on my big girl panties and get on with life.

Chatty and I spent the weekend running from stores to stores that were located an hour away from our house. We came home empty handed and exhausted. We've been using her Kindle Fire to look up sites that might be helpful. But I gotta tell ya, the Kindle Fire is great for her entertainment. But I'm not real impressed with using it for major things. But we were muddling along.

Last night, Mr. Chat came home with a new laptop for me. Whoop-Whoop!!!! Now I'm a happy camper, too. So happy that I'm not thinking about the fact that we could have used that money for the wedding and all of the little unknown extra expenses that will come our way. I have access to the outside world again. Isn't Mr. Chat a sweetheart? There are some days that we growl and bicker with each other. Some people would wonder what we're still doing being married after all these years. But then there are the times when we go above and beyond the call of duty that  makes me know that I would marry him all over again.

I will leave all of you fine people for now. I have to play with my new toy for awhile. I think I have Windows 8 somewhat figured out. It's a lot different than Windows XP. So if you don't see me for awhile, you'll know that I hit a wrong app or button and my world went black again!

Help!!!!

HELP! I had a small computer crash. In order to save myself a few $$$s, I decided to fix it myself. One thing led to another....I ended up doing a system recovery. Ooops..I had never backed up my system. Which meant that my computer went back to the 2007 brand new version of itself.

I lost everything. I'm not computer literate so this has been quite a challenge. I spent the whole weekend restoring security and setting up my email stuff. (But I've lost all email addresses).

My problem is....I can see all of you on my dashboard, but I can't read your posts. I mean I can some of your writing but when I click in to read the full article all I get is your pretty backgrounds but no words come through. What is really baffling is 1 person on my blogger list comes through but all the rest of you stay hidden. I can't even see my own blog.

Does anyone have any suggestions or quick fixes????? HELP!!!!!

Blowing Through

Well, I'm back. It's been awhile, hasn't it? I knew it would be. Let me give you a quick run down on what's been going on in my life.

For 10 weeks I juggled 2 part-time jobs with a full-time job. Do you know what I learned from that?-----I learned that I am NOT as young as I use to be. Whew! That sure took the wind out of my sails. Picture crossing Mario Andretti with an Accountant AND Jerry Lewis. That's what it felt like for the entire 10 weeks. Nuff said!

Those 10 weeks felt like 6 months. But eventually they were over. To say the least, I was exhausted. All I asked for was just a couple of days with nothing pressing to do. I needed some time to gather my thoughts and get my housework caught up. I had been doing the very basic house cleaning. If I could get a couple of hours with no interruptions, I needed to dig in deeper. Do you think I was allowed even a day? NO! The holidays were breathing down my neck. I was overwhelmed at the thought of Christmas shopping. But we had to get through Thanksgiving first. It gets even better! The day before Thanksgiving, Chatty's boyfriend informed me that he was going to propose to her--- and did he have my blessing?! Do you know what my first thought was??? I think it was something like, "Go away! That's my baby you're talking about!!" But I really like him so it could be much worse. Mr. Chat and I gave him our blessings. By the way, she said YES. They haven't set a date. I think they're trying to let me get use to the idea  get some things planned before the actual date is set.

The holidays are over now. Thank God!!! Last week, I finally had 2 days....(Count them. Fingers up, 1....2). TWO days to myself. The first day started like it does every morning. I sat down in front of the computer with a fresh cup of coffee. I checked my email, MSN News and FaceBook. I always finish my morning ritual by opening Blogger and reading what all of you have been up to. Just as I was going to close out and start my day, I decided to check out the Homes For Sale website. WOW!!!! I found THE perfect house. It was newly listed that morning. It had everything we were looking for. It was in a great location. The price was incredibly low for all this house and property had to offer. I couldn't believe it. I thought maybe it was a misprint. I saved the site to show to Mr. Chat when he got home from work. I decided to check my email again before closing out. A new email came in from our Real Estate Agent. She said she thought she found the perfect house for us. It was the same house I had found 10 minutes earlier. I thought it must be a sign from God. We hadn't been in contact with our realtor for almost a year. We had shelved the idea of moving. We all met later that evening to tour the house. I fell in love with it. The agent kept pushing us to make an offer. I told her that we couldn't possibly buy a house until we sold ours. Did I mention that we have not put our house on the market, yet? She informed me that I had absolutely NO time for that. The next day, Mr. Chat and I went to talk to the banker. The banker was more than happy to get us deeper in debt. That evening, my co-worker called me. I had to take a break from all personal business and pick up my paperwork. I was working on a tight deadline. About midway through my work project, our agent called to tell us that we had possible buyers for our house. Did I mention that we don't have our house listed for sale? I, again, thought it must be a sign from God. But wait! They want to see my house.....NOW?  Hmmmm...(This is the part where I sound like a spoiled child who wants everything their way). I told her that I couldn't possibly show my house for a couple of days. Wasn't she aware that I was deep into W-2s AND taxes AND end of the month AND end of the year, for goodness sake????? She then asked if I had pictures that I could send?..... WHAT???.... Yes, let me put on pearls while I glide around my perfectly clean home and snap a few photos. In all honesty, two of my rooms looked like a paper factory exploded in them. I had no time to clean them much less take pictures. I begged for 2 Days. I could almost feel the air turn to ice when I asked that question. But I had work to do so I just let the chips fall where they may. 2 days came and went. My year end paperwork was finished and filed. My house was spotless. I was waltzing around the yard and inside the house snapping pictures. I think I was even humming. (But darn! I forgot to put on my pearls). I did, however have my cell phone with me. It didn't even aggravate me at the fact that I had to stop snapping pictures and humming to look at a text message that was stubbornly beeping in my pocket. It was my Realtor. YAY!!! I thought of how pleased she would be when I told her that I had 30 pictures for her. Her text said, "The house you wanted is in contract". Her next text said, "I still want pictures of your house for the perspective buyers". I didn't even hesitate. Nope, I didn't even bat an eye. My response text to her was "If we have no house to buy, we're not interested in selling ours." Needless to say, it was a couple of days before she text me again. Surprisingly, she is not mad at me. We're still on speaking terms. She still wants to be our agent. So all is well.

Now I'm going to get a hot cup of coffee with a tablespoon of French Vanilla Cappacino added. Then I'm going to put my feet up and wait for the next big whirlwind to blow through.

How is your day going?

A Heavy Heart

My heart is heavy for the families in Connecticut. Let's stay vigilant in prayer for them.

I Apologize

I don't know what shows up in your reader when I change any of my posts. If you received a lot of updates from my blog----I apologize! Also, the look of my posts will be somewhat drab until I can get out and get some new pictures on my own camera.----I apologize!

It seems as though you can't borrow just any picture from the internet. If you've been reading my blog for any length of time, you know that I like to use cartoon pictures to spice it up a bit. But according to a fellow blogger, a person can get sued for that kind of behavior. If you knew me personally, you would know that I tend to freak out at the very thought of doing anything wrong---no matter how big or small. I don't care if it's only something that can earn a dirty look from someone. So the very thought of being drawn into a legal dispute has sent me on a frenzy. I have edited some of my original posts and deleted all others. The results: 1/3 of my original posts are left. Those that are left are pretty drab and uninteresting.----I apologize!

We're A Little Bit Country!

When I was younger, my family moved a lot. When I say a lot, I don't mean 3 or 4 times. That would have been a piece of cake! No, I changed schools 7 different times. But I only went to 4 different schools. I won't even try to explain that one. (Some things should remain a mystery. It kind of makes it intriguing, don't you think?) Now before you think this is going to be some psychotic rage about how miserable my childhood was, let me assure you it is NOT! My childhood was fine. I have very loving parents. While I wouldn't advise parents to put their children through the constant readjustment that this can create. I will say it encouraged me to form my own personality and judgement. I didn't join the crowd and rebel against any establishment or persons of authority. So now that we've established that I am not harboring any deep resentment against my parents or society as a whole....let me say....it has NOTHING WHATSOEVER to do with this post. It's just a little background.

While I've lived a lot of places, I've never lived in a big city. I've visited various cities. But then again, I suppose it depends on your definition of city. Ok, so I've never been to New York, Chicago or LA. When I say I've been to the city, I'm referring to places like St. Louis, Nashville, Memphis, etc. Recently I was shocked to learn that most adults don't consider those places big. Nor do they consider them to be cities. Well folks, that's as big as it gets for me. And Chatty? She's been to less places than I've been. After about 11 months of marriage, Mr. Chat and I moved back to one of the towns that I consider my home town. When Chatty was born, we lived in a rented house. After 4 years, we built our house and we've lived here ever since.

The other day, Chatty and I were listening to Scotty McCreery singing "A Water Tower Town". Half way through the song, we both looked at each other at the same time. I said, "Oh wait! Doesn't everywhere have water towers?" I thought about the cities I've visited. I don't remember seeing a water tower. Chatty asked, "But where do they get their water?" Then it occurred to us and we both started laughing.

Yeah Scotty, you're our kind of guy. (But I bet you already knew that cities don't have water towers)!

Say "CHEESE"

We're trying to update family photos. Which is easier said than done. It's almost impossible to get everyone together at the same time. Each adult family member works a different schedule. On the rare times they have a day off together, the grandkids have tons of things that require their attention. Free time is precious and strategically planned. You know what they say? If you can't beat them, join them. Yesterday, the youngest twin and his wife had a day off together. Mr. Chat grabbed the bull by the horns and scheduled a day off to coincide with their day off. He made plans to take the kids to the river to splash around and have a play day before school starts. When Chatty and I finished our work day, we gathered at the house for a quick meal. Afterward, we headed to the park so Chatty could snap some quick pictures. Genius, huh?

Chatty thinks she could have taken better pictures. But I love them. The kids were wore out from their day at the river. It was close to 100 degrees outside and there was absolutely no air stirring around. It felt like being in a vacuum with an oven turned on. All in all, they turned out good and will grace the wall in our new family room. I'll share a few with you.

Aren't they cute? This is my youngest step-son and his wife.

Like mother like daughter!

He looks just like his dad at this age.

Happy little family.

Proud sister in middle.

This is the best part of being in the "GOLDEN YEARS".

This weekend the oldest twin will be here. I'm hoping the weather will be more cooperative. Hopefully, we won't come home feeling like a piece of wilted lettuce.