Okay, so I'm no longer a child, and I probably shouldn't compare myself to the prodigal child, but hopefully I've returned for good. I had some nasty computer things going on that I could not get rid of and have been finally just about back to excellent for one week.
I'm shocked at what has happened in my computer world while I've been away. Some of it, like the demise of certain forums on a certain BB don't surprise me as much and I think they should. Perhaps it's because there's been trouble brewing there for awhile, which has kept me from wanting to post there much anyway. It does sadden me tho, since I've been a member of that BB before it's inception. I was even a moderator, but let some of the nastiness influence me into dropping that duty.
I'm going to go out on a limb and risk getting flamed and say the nasty computer things that happened to me, happened because I clicked on a link a certain poster (who irritated the hell out of me too) shared on above mentioned BB. I know this messed with a lot of people's computers because they complained quite a bit about the pop-ups and pop-unders they started receiving after playing the "word God" game. The pop-ups and pop-unders were so bad on my computer it practically shut it down. It took our spending money on software and a lot of headaches and cussing on my part to get it taken care of. It's not up 100% but I'm getting there.
So much has happened since my last post, there's no way I can remember it all. Some of the highlights have been:
- got a new furbaby
- turned 45
- had LASIK surgery
- started back to college
- totally lost my interest in stitching
The new furbaby is Bandit. He's a beautiful, sweet tempered, snuggly blue and white italian greyhound that has just captured our hearts. His AKC name is Terribelle's Heartbandit. DH has nicknamed him The Cheeto Bandito, so you can guess what his favorite people treat is. We've always named our animals after something. Our 14 yr old dobbie was named Teufelhunden because that's what the Germans called the Marines...our 16 yr old retriever was named Beren after Lord Beren of Flash Gordon fame. Bandit was one of the names we thought of because of Johnny Quest's dog. Our bandit has a grey mask....the name was sealed however, after he jumped onto our kitchen cabinets and ate the left over carne asada we had grilled earlier that afternoon. Anyway, he loves his mommie and daddy! He wants to be where we are at all times. When I'm in my office he curls up in the bed I put under my desk. If I'm gone and DH is sitting at his desk Bandit wants up in his lap, or he'll curl up in a chair in the living room where he can see DH. He has his own blanket that he loves to snuggle with. When we're in bed at night he wants under the covers between us or between one of our legs. When we're watching TV he's curled up in the chair with one of us. He just so loves to snuggle and I just so love spoiling him!
The birthday has 'bothered' me. Not that I'm freaking out that I'm old, I just can't believe I'm 45 already! What happened to 25-35? I don't feel "old" and except for my being overweight (which is the only part of my life I'm currently unhappy with) I'm really in great shape. I'm often mistaken as being 35 and people are shocked to find out I have a child in college. Thank you mom for your great genes and for teaching me to take care of my hair, face and teeth.
The LASIK surgery was DH's 45th birthday present to me and happened the day after my birthday. I've posted before that he's a real keeper and this is one more jewel in his crown. I decided that if I was going to let someone cut open my eyes and risk never being able to participate in a lifelong hobby that required eye sight I was going to go with someone who had a great reputation. I chose the opthomologist for the San Diego Chargers football team. DH took great pleasure in teasing me that the reason the team is so bad is all the receivers have poor eye sight. And yes, it cost a heck of a lot more, because of who his patients are, but I feel like I got what I paid for. I've never been treated better by a group of people that I have bey every single person I've come across in that surgery unit. The surgery itself was not 100% pain free, but the pain portion didn't last very long (thank you valium). 5 minutes after I was seeing 20/20 without corrective lenses for the first time since I was in the 5th grade. The next day I was seeing better than 20/20. I still have the phantom feel of glasses and everynow and then I catch myself wondering when my contacts are going to start bothering me!
To get myself back in the swing of college and working at the same time, I took an intermediate keyboarding class. It's a required class for the Legal Secretary certification, and it'll probably be a no-brainer "A," and I feel completely embarrassed to be taking it! I've always been able to type rather quickly, even on a manual typewriter. I think it's because I played the piano for 10 years so I have finger "dexterity," as someone once put it. Who knows? Anyway there's no take-home homework, everything is done in the computer lab, and it's kind of a self-paced course. I just finished week 5 of this 8 week course. This past week my timings were at 90 wpm no errors! 
I'll have one week off and then I'll be taking 3 courses for the Fall term. Litigation, Business English and Legal Transcription. I'm working about 23 hours a week and think I'll do okay.
I'm a schedule type person, so I'll be planning out my time and including stitching a couple of days during the week. I'll still have Friday - Sunday off, so if stitching during the week becomes a problem I'll do it on my weekend....which brings me to the last thing on my list.
I image the last part is the shocker for most, including myself, since I've been addicted to stitching since I was 18. And you'd really think since I wasn't spending as much time on the computer as I used to that I'd be having tons of stitching time...NOT. I really attribute it to having so much on my plate, entertaining my new baby, trying to catch up on my reading and really feeling a bit overwhelmed by all of my WIPs.
I love them each and every one and want to stitch on them all, but there are times (more often lately) that I wonder why bother, since I'll never get them framed. I've been stitching for 27 years and have 2 framed items hanging on my walls (both framed are no larger than 12x12") and 1 item I stitched for DH hanging on his office wall. I do have a few other smaller designs that are needlerolls, a couple of tiny pillows and a bellpull, but the majority (90%?) of my designs are large, frame-needing designs. The price of framing is depressing.
One of my fave BBs has started a StRIP (Stash Reduction Implementation Plan) "club," and I may be joining in if I can gather the courage to list all of my WIPs. Since I rotate by 10 hours slots it'll be rather easy to tell how much time I've put into a design, but I'm not very good at determining how much is left until it's finished. I need to figure that out and stitch on the items that are nearest completion. Maybe finishing a large design will get me back into the mood.
But I may be in trouble. Recently, I've starting thinking of learning to bead. I love a lot of the jewelry out there, but am shocked at the sticker prices. I catch myself thinking "I could do that!" I've signed up for a beading class at my LNS and will have to see if the interest sticks afterward. Granted the beading will be a cover for an ornament, but it will teach some techniques.