First I Called Windows a Bad Word...

Here's a little bit of Random and Uninteresting for you.

This morning I was sorting through my floppy disk files again, looking for the little poem I'd seen the other day that I thought I might clean up and enter in Cheerios Spoonful of Stories contest next March. I didn't find what I was looking for, but I did find a folder containing a file that I didn't want to keep so I told Windows to delete the unwanted folder, which was living inside another more important folder with all my files from the floppy disks on it. And Windows said, "You want I should permanently delete this large, full, important folder that contains the other little useless folder?" And I said, "Sure!"

...

Then I said, "Oops." That was when I called Windows a bad name, but right after that I thanked Windows for not living in a vacuum and not really meaning permanent when it said "permanent."

Then I spent the next 2 hours recovering my files. That didn't go so well, but the upside of the bungled recovery process is that I now have 1 - 3 extra copies of everything I had deleted. Ever. From my flash drive. I'm calling it quits for today, I think.

Here's a Problem, but Not a Bad One

You'll see over to the right, there, next to my photo (with Pete) that I have been neglecting my writing. Apparently for more than just a few years. Because I realized the other day, as I was preparing for this big deal I'm making out of having free time every day to write starting in September, that most of my writing from when I was young and spry and creative is on floppy disks! That's right. You heard me. FLOPPY DISKS. Does your computer have a floppy drive? Because mine doesn't. Not even an imaginary one, which probably wouldn't help anyway.

Admittedly I could write without the files on these disks (diskS). My miserable little skeleton of a novel in on a flash drive, and the Frog and Fox stories are mainly in my head and the short story that I just recently realized is going to end in a particular way is in a composition book, but what if I wrote something ten years ago, fifteen years ago, that is worth exploring and editing and finishing? I have to know. Wouldn't you?

Don't worry, though (I know you were). I am not going to let this stop me from doing what I want to do. I told the Grandpa yesterday that I have to write because if I don't write then I'm going to feel like I need to find something else to do (some other job, I mean) and I don't want to do anything but write so I have to do it. Also, Poppop, who has everything computer-related that you could possibly need ever or knows where to get it cheap if he doesn't have it already, has a floppy drive and said I could bring my floppy disks next time we visit them and transfer them to CD or flash drive or something so before long I will have everything except the little book I wrote and illustrated in the OSU library when I was 8 and the poem I wrote about spring in the 4th grade.

Some of my best work, those were...

Waiting

Is It Just Me? I keep getting this feeling like I'm forgetting something that I was supposed to do. But when I really pay attention to what I'm feeling, I realize that it's actually more a feeling of constantly waiting.

Eagerly Expecting A week from this coming Friday something very nice is supposed to happen, but that's all I'm going to say for now because I don't want you to judge me until it's been done. I know you don't know what I'm talking about, but that's kind of the point. And if you do know what I'm talking about, shhh.

Anxiously Anticipating Maybe this makes me a bad mom, but I am going to admit that I am looking forward to school starting. It's not just that I am ready for my girls to be gone from the house for several hours and not be constantly fighting with each other or pestering me to turn on the TV. Also, school starting means PTA and volunteering and SOMETHING ELSE TO DO. I think maybe I need a job. I'm glad we don't home school.

Suspensefully Supposing I am always waiting for the scheduling agency to call and tell us we have to leave our home for a couple of hours so someone can show it to its next owners. That hasn't happened nearly as much as it should be. Maybe it will happen more after the broker open house. Our agent promised a free bottle of wine to the first 6 agents who arrive. Hopefully, then, we'll get at least 6...

Finally Finished On the other hand, we got our own computer back yesterday, after more than a month of it being held hostage by some guy in the tiny town where Poppop lives to be "fixed." Again. After he fixed it wrong the first time.

I am hoping that this means that you will be hearing from me more often. Thank you.

Sorry. I've Been... Um... Yeah.

Right. So our computer has been all sucky for more than a week but really sucky for the last week. At the moment... Nevermind. I don't want to jinx it. But I thought that I'd check in while I can. Probably everything will crash while I'm writing this. If that happens, I'll post it next week. If my shiny little laptop doesn't break when I throw it against the wall...

Just a couple of new things to report, nothing big. Just stuff.

First, Husbandguy bought me us a new range/oven. Kind of out of the blue. It's awesome. We went to Best Buy the other day to ask about the computer and when we were waiting for the Nerd Herd guy (who looked nothing like Chuck, unfortunately - google it), we wandered over to look at the appliances and found a nice one that will work in our tiny awkward kitchen that was marked WAAAAY down, almost 50%, the lady called it "closeout." We didn't buy it right then because we needed to measure and stuff, but HG went back later and bought it and made arrangements with his dad to pick it up and install it on Saturday while Pete and I are at the ballet. I think I've mentioned before that a new oven is one of the main things on my wish list and now I can cross it off. Yay!

And also, septembermom, whose blog is also SUPER, gave me an award. I've never gotten a blogging award before so that was cool and unexpected and I am very honored to have been honored. I think I'm supposed to pass it on, and I promise I will. Next chance I get...

The Bone Sticks Out When You Bend It

Did you cringe? When you read the title? I would have.

Our computer is busted. The left hinge is broken. It still closes and everything, but the case is cracked and the metal rod sticks out when it's shut. It's not a big deal except that we have to send it away to get it fixed so I'll be computer-less for at least a week very soon. I'm not looking forward to it, but the repair is free and maybe I can finish some projects around here while it's gone...

When I called customer service to set up the repair, the rep who answered the phone told me his name but I couldn't understand him. I asked him to repeat it but still didn't catch it so I said, "Could you spell that for me?" and he said, "F." Then he said, "That is all."

Oh. 'Kay then.

HA!

After about 30 minutes of talking down to Husbandguy, our ISP finally admitted that the internet problems we've been consistently having are their fault. A technician is coming tomorrow to check the phone line to our house.

Health

Lulu has been well for 3+ weeks. Aside from sore cheeks from pending teeth, there has not been anything wrong, not a drip of snot or the hint of a cough. Hopefully I haven’t jinxed it by posting this, and she’ll continue to be well. But just in case, I wanted to mark this down so that if she does end up needing the humidifier or the nebulizer or to sleep upright in Husbandguy’s arms so she can breathe and DH finds himself wondering why our baby is always sick, I can remind him about this time, this precious and rare mid-winter wellness.

Unfortunately the same cannot be said for our ISP. They just suck. I think ISP actually stands for “Intermittent Service Provider.”

Friday Fives

These lists are everywhere and I can't think of anything else to write about so here you go. Let's learn a little more about Mommy's Nintendo:


Five years ago I was: Working at a bank... doing, um, temp work, I think...

One year ago I was: Doing what I do now but with Lulu home all day.

Yesterday I was: Enjoying the snow day, baking muffins, cleaning, trying to remember how old I'll be next Tuesday...

5 snacks I enjoy: Chocolate covered strawberries, chocolate covered espresso beans, cheese popcorn, those nachos you get at hockey games (or any nachos, really), muffins

5 things I would do if I suddenly had 1million dollars: Pay off the mortgage and Husbandguy's car, save for the girls to go to college, invest for DH's and my future, get a bigger house with a better kitchen, just spend a little tiny bit, like 1%.

5 locations I would like to run away to: Maine, Seattle, New Hampshire, anywhere there is ocean right there, Canada

5 bad habits I have: I spend too much time on the computer, I yell when I get angry or frustrated, I let DH do kid-duty more often than I should, I can't leave chocolate candy or pastries alone, I complain a lot

5 things I like doing: Talking to my kids, reading, writing, eating out, putting together some-assembly-required things (toys, furniture, etc.)

5 TV shows I like: Chuck, The Soup, The Amazing Race, um...

5 Things I hate doing: Cleaning, folding laundry, fighting with Pete about practicing her piano, being a PTA chair (I don't do that anymore), talking to DH about money

5 biggest joys of the moment: Pete, Lulu, DH, the bird feeder in our backyard, my job

Stupid Outlook!

So I had this super cute video of Lulu singing "Happy Birthday" ("HAP to YOOOOOO! HAP to YOOOOOO!") and for some reason I sent it in an email to all my people instead of posting it on Picasa. I attached it, wrote a little note, and hit send. Then I went to get Lulu at daycare. After I got back and put Lulu down for her nap, I heard from Moomie about how cute it was. Then I saw that I had gotten the copy I sent myself (because sometimes Husbandguy can only get the emails I forward to him). Then I got it 4 more times. Then I heard that Moomie had gotten it 6 times. Then I heard from Moomie saying, "Stop sending me this!" Then I checked my outbox and found that it was still there "sending," again and again, apparently, so I deleted it. Then I got it 3 more times. I tried to send out an apology via Outlook, but it wouldn't go so I sent it out with my other email. Then I got the email 2 more times along with a note from Poppop in reply to the apology and thought I must be done getting the email. But it came several more times after that! Good grief! Stupid Outlook! And now it won't send anything! But it does receive...

It's a Big Job

So, since I got all excited when I saw that I was going to recover our files and just randomly crammed data onto CDs, as much as would fit on each, our photos and other files are all mixed up and I'm trying to figure out how to get them organized in the most efficient way (with the least amount of work - because who has time to sit around organizing all day - what would the girls do?). My first idea was to create a catalog of what is on which disk, and I discovered that I can print a contact sheet in Picasa so I can actually see the photos, too, but considering that I have hundreds and hundreds of files, meaning a ton of typing because I can't figure out any way to copy the file names, etc. into my spreadsheet, that way will take a really long time. Another idea I had is to organize the photos into folders, maybe by date the way they used to be, and save them back onto CDs. That wouldn't take as long, but then we'd have these 10 CDs of stuff that we'd just have wasted (the CDs would be wasted, not the stuff), in a way. But I haven't ruled that out either. Another idea I had is to go back in time and organize the files before I burn the original CDs. That seems like the most efficient choice, but I'm starting to think it's not very practical. I'm open to suggestions if anybody has any...

Oh By the Way...

Thank you, Big Brother, for your help with the data recovery. But since you don't read my blog I guess I better email you...

Not the End of the World!

Oh. My. Gosh! I probably shouldn't post this until the files finish copying to the CDs, but I'm really happy to say that it looks like we've recovered all of our photos and videos and the frog and fox stories and my resume and our .pst file from Outlook and the recipe for the overnight cinnamon rolls and the birthday invitations I made for the girls' birthdays and the piano sheet music I downloaded and... Do I need to go on? Maybe now the pain in my shoulder will go away. My back is killing me but that's because I've been sitting in The Most Uncomfortable Desk Chair Ever Designed forever.

-------------------------------------------------

Okay. I'm only halfway through saving the data to CDs, but it's all on the less crappy hard drive so I'm holding out hope that it will still be there tomorrow so I can finish. Cross your fingers for me!

The shoulder pain is gone, now, by the way! Who knew?!

At A Loss

So Pete and Lulu are wandering around the house playing airport (well, Pete is playing - Lulu is just following her and apparently not cooperating because Pete keeps asking her over and over if she wants to go to Asia, to which Lulu's reply is "MOMO!" Now they're almost to Thailand). Anyway, since they're playing nicely together, I thought I'd post but the problem is that I don't have anything to really post about because the whole computer thing has come to a standstill until I hear something from someone who knows more than I do about data recovery (Husbandguy said Best Buy would put all our data on CDs for $99, but who has $99 just laying around?) and there's not much else going on really.

Oh, this was cute. Last night I made tacos for dinner and Lulu really seemed to enjoy the taco meat mixed with the beans and rice (which were missing something but we couldn't decide what). When I asked her if she liked tacos, she nodded yes and I told her to say taco and she did! Very plainly (and kind of loudly). "TA-CO!" It was cool. But you'll never believe me because when I got the camera and tried to get her to say it again, all she would do was say "kaka" and "koko" and make the cutest faces. So now I have about 20 minutes of video of my Lulu not saying "taco," and I'm trying to decide if everyone would find it as amusing as we do; is it funny enough to share?

But that's it, really. The girls are finished with their flight now. I wonder where they ended up...

Stupid Computer

So the only reason I am able to post for you now is because I switched my busted C drive with our beat up D drive (although the former C drive is now the E drive - but whatever) and loaded XP on it and now the computer boots up...really slowly...because the new-C-drive-formerly-D is a piece of junk, which is why we got the other hard drive in the first place. Then I developed a terrible pain in my left shoulder, like when Pete was teeny tiny and refused to nurse and we lived in a big stress bubble, because our firewall and AV software are out-of-date on the NCDFD and they were being problematic about getting up-to-date and also because the old-C-drive-now-E appears to not have any data on it, like all my pictures of Lulu and Pete and vacation are just GONE. I know they're there though - they have to be. Hopefully one of our NH temps, who knows a lot about this stuff, will have some magic that will be able to get some of it back and he'll be willing to help (not sure why he wouldn't be - I'd help him). If he doesn't, Husbandguy and Poppop might try, and even though I asked DH to take this stress away and handle it for me, I know WAY more about computers than they do (put together - and that's not saying much), and I doubt I'd actually be able to let them handle it without standing behind them tsking and tapping my foot. Oh HELP!

I still have the pain in my shoulder, but it's not as bad as it was because I got some of our software up-to-date. Just FYI...

CRASH!

Oh! This sucks! I had been thinking about backing up the pictures on our computer but hadn't gotten around to it yet. Then, last Friday, our C drive stopped cooperating. I called everyone I could think of who would be able to help me, but EVERYONE is on vacation. Or something. EVERYONE!

I don't care about anything but the pictures. I did make backups last February so not everything was lost, but I can't stand the thought of losing four months of my kiddos' pictures. That would suck! I'm still working on it. I'll let you know what happens...