Long Time no See

Isn't that what you say when you see someone you haven't seen in a while?

A VERY LOOOOONNNGGG while?

Well - as with my last post last year, things have been CRAZY for my family.

In November my husband was diagnosed with MS - so we've been struggling with that and trying to get him in to a support group. He's not very recpetive, but his attack lasted 2.5 months and he is still recovering.

He's been put into a study group for an increased dosage of a medication designed for people with MS to help them manage the symptoms....it's been really tough on all of us and we're stretched pretty thin because money is quite tight now with him having been off work for so long.

Anyway, that's neither here nor there I suppose in the whole scheme of things.

I'm teaching at a local community college, a special program for retraining people who have been without work for more than a year to help them use computers and get better jobs.

I love the class and the people in it are wonderful! it's great experience but the pay sucks. I'm hardly making the lease payments on my office and with the hours I'm teaching (8 am - 1pm) it is almost impossible to schedule things for the afternoon because I don't get from the college to my office until around 2 so who wants training from 2 to 5? hmm...actually - maybe I should think that out again!

Anyway, just wanted you to know I'm here and still visit you all from time to time but just don't have time for comments - I made time today because we are learning about blogging in class --- it's my way of showing my students how to use the internet for fun and business :-)

Take care all!

can you say CRAZY???

so things haven't been the most smooth for me lately...not in a bad way, just that I'm a little crazy trying to fit in everything I missed while I was out with my bulging disc.

My back still hurts, and I'm still doing physio therapy regularly, but I'm feeling SO much better!!!

With that said, of course, I am trying to get caught up with the two months of work I put off while I was injured and that is causing me some trouble.

Couple that with the fact that I've had to do a major construction job on my new office and I have had NO time to do anything except write my articles for Microsoft.

As an update however, I do have my new office completely renovated (except for the carpet, but that story is for another day).

Currently I'm sitting at a client waiting to work on their year end. They don't have enough software licences for me to work on their software at the same time as their staff, so I have to wait until one of them goes home for the day - which should be soon, but since I'm waiting I thought I'd jot a little blog down and give an update - i'm still around, I just haven't had the time i wanted to spend on my other projects so i've had to lurk - sorry.

i hate being a lurker. It is so mean. I wish i could comment on all the blog posts i've read lately but alas, tis not to be.

So - to all my friends, I am still here an i anticipate that I will be online a little more than I have been over the next few weeks. i am also going to try to find some time to write, not just the blog posts or my other articles, but to write for ME - and with my new office space looking so good, it should provide me with the right motivation to get to work in more ways than one!

i'll try to remember to post pics of the new office, i wish I had renovation pictures, but priorities as they were, i just didn't dedicate time to taking photos since we did all the work ourselves, removing walls, adding walls, fixing dry wall, removing carpet, painting etc. etc. it was a LOT more work than I had expected, but the results are fantastic.

Anyway, there is now a license available for me to do my work so i must run, but hopefully I'll see you all online shortly!

i miss you gals, your support and your chats back and forth. take care until we connect online again soon!

Getting Lost

I've been really busy and writing unfortunately hasn't been a number one for me right now.

It sure is tough when you have ro realign your priorities because of events or people in your life, but I know in the end it's all worth it becuase without those people to keep me sane and the events to make me strong, I certainly wouldn't be the person I am today.

But...I did find a few minutes yesterday and I wanted to get a little research done.

So - I hopped on the inernet and started searching for what I was looking for - a video because I saw a music video with a guy I wanted to use as a character in one of my stories. He is to play a minor roll, and that leads him into the lead of another story because of his minor roll...anyway I'm certain you get the idea.

the problem was I couldn't remember what the video was, who the artist was, what the song lyrics were...I just knew there was this hot guy and ooooooh wouldn't he make a dreamy hero.

Well I found several sights that offer up free music videos...and yup - wouldn't you know it, once I got started i couldn't stop...I ended up searching online, listening to music and watching videos for SIX - yes 6 whole hours last night...

I think I got lost in the moment and just couldn't find my way out again.

But I tell you - it was a great experience because I have now discovered that there really are some songs i've never heard of (and was actually thankful for that) and I even discovered a few new songs to add to my collection.

Did I find the video? not yet, but you can bet I'm not going to give up trying!

Cheers - and I hope you writing is coming along FANTASTIC.

oh - and just because I'm not getting really far on my fiction work of art (tee hee) doesn't mean I'm not still writing SOMETHING...because I've been asked to write another article for the ITManagers blog.

Back into IT

In this case, the IT does stand for I.T. (information technology), but in terms of my blog you could say that it is back to life! HOORAY for ME!

I got my new laptop yesterday (it took a while to come in and still isn't exactly what I ordered but the IT guys are working on it...I asked for 2 GB ram but it only came with 1.5 GB but it works and I have almost all of my programs reinstalled and up and running. )

So that means a couple of things:
1. I can finally get back to writing because I'm not sharing a computer with anyone anymore
2. I have a lot of work to do (not just here for writing) but actual WORK - which is a blessing and a curse right?
Blessing because if I don't have work i don't have a job and if I don't have a job I don't have an income
Curse because if I have lots of work to do I won't take time for me until the work has been taken care of - that's the bad part about being your own boss

On another note though...it looks like I may be merging my business with another IT company here in town. I am excited about the opportunity but it will mean I work twice as hard because I'll have to report to someone else and I don't want to look like a slacker.

IF we decide to merge (we're in the preliminary eval period right now...will it work for me, them and our mutual clients.) it won't take place until the new year.

so - I'm still installing a few things here and there so I should get back to it. the sooner I get it done the sooner I can play!

(oh the laptop I got is a Lenovo (used to be IBM) 3000 N100 - and the cool thing here is it actually has a built in webcam! I couldn't believe it when I opened my Yahoo! messenger and it found a webcam becasue I knew I hadn't hooked it up yet! Anyway...that's just one of those cool things I wanted to share with you. That and I absolutely LOVE the sound my fingers make as the punch out letters on the keypad!

clickity clack...I love that!

have a great day all - I have a ton of blogs to catch up on so please don't be offended that I haven't been by lately.

OH - one more thing - finally got the CT scan results for my back...there is a mild bulge in my L5S1 joint with arthritis on both sides of it...so now we know what the REAL problem is we're working on getting it all better - but i have to say the exercises are HORRIBLE!!! no wonder I'm out of shape! :D *giggles*

Changes

There are a number of changes occurring in my life that started when summer arrived.

I've changed my hair, my office location, my work, my goals, my vision of me in the future, I seem to have hit my mid-life crisis a little earlier than I expected.

Then it hit me today - as I'm looking at the view from my office window and wishing I were at home writing instead of at the office getting it ready for the fall season.

It seems to me that the autumn season signifies change.
Kids change grades in school and we gear down for a new school year.
many of us start to change our wardrobe to accomodate the cooling weather...and as I looked out my office at the view, the view of the trees - and I saw a beautiful maple tree bright orange and red already.
I guess because I was laid up with my back for most of the summer I wasn't able to fully enjoy the summer and it seemed to fly by...now, on the brink of teh change of seasons again, I'm feeling a sense of loss...specifically lost time.

Somewhere in the last few months I lost some time. Time with my family and friends, time with my work, time with my hobbies (I have so many). I know I'll never get it back, but my dilemma is what do I do to ensure it doesn't happen again? Well it all begins with evaluation and setting goals. I tend to make my goals and life changes in September rather than in January - the whole resolution thing just doesn't work for me. But September goal setting and work/life evaluation has been in my life for the last 12 years.

ah - I know not a normal entry for my blog...

There are other more important things happening today - marking the 5th memorial for the tragedy of the World Trade Towers which is likely what has me in this semi melancholy (is that how you spell it?) mood. You can't turn on the TV or listen to the radio without mention of it - I remember exactly where I was when I first heard it on the radio. I thought it was a fake report but stayed listening to the radio just to hear more and I didn't usually go home for lunch, but I made an exception and I went home as soon as my meetings were over that morning and I sat in front of the tv in shock and horror and I cried.

I cried because I thought for me this was the most horrible day ever. But I realized it had gotten worse. You see, my mom died of Cancer on September 11, 2004. I had just come from the cemetary in the morning on my way to a meeting with some insurance people when I heard the news. So I was already mourning my own loss so that the grief I experienced made me change the way I grieved for my mother.

We were with my mom. The last thing she said to me in her morphine enduced state was that she loved me. Of course I didn't understand her because she was mumbling, but the nurse told me that was what she said. (I thought my mom had asked for more water and she got frustrated when I asked if that was what she wanted. ) I was able to see my mom and to hold her hand, and I did, I got to hold her hand when she passed away. And I realized that I was lucky. My mom loved me, she told me so, and I got to be with her so that neither of us was afraid when she passed away.

All those people in the towers that weren't able to be with the people they loved....yes, my friends, I was so lucky.

Ah - I've gotten off track.
I wanted to blog about the changes of the season and ended up being thankful I was so lucky.

I'll blog about the changes coming in my life another time.

and now...it's NOT so serious!!!!

OH MY GOODNESS!
I stumbled upon this website today and I have to say - OMG - this is as funny as reading Bailey's spam!
Check out the SmartBitches site!!!
Thank you "Bitches" for providing HOURS of entertainment - and I do mean that!
I lost track of time and have been reading at their site for TWO HOURS!
Yup! That's right.
And I haven't laughed so much as I did when I read the article about the Shaven Goat Men - What a HOOOT!
(just a friendly word of advice...save the drinking until AFTER you leave the site. I ended up spitting my coffee out more times than I can count. And I don't need an ab workout anymore with my physiotherapist...now I just need to visit this site and my side will ache like never before.

Does this prove I don't laugh enough? And here I thought I had a tremendous sense of humour.

And now - It's Serious

Ok - so I had to take a few days off - Forced of course.

My laptop has fully recovered from the issues it was having. But I'm getting a new one I'm just not sure when it is coming - I thought it would be here already but just like everything else in my life - it's not going according to plan.

I was hoping to get to Port Hope last week to meet an author I enjoy reading, but that didn't happen. I was hoping to do something nice and romantic for our anniversary, 12 years...but that didn't happen either. I was also hoping to go shopping for back to school gear for my girl, and of course that didn't happen either.

So now, it's time to get serious and meet some of the goals I've set for myself.
I'm also beginning the 50 books workshop, which I had fully intended to start last week, and guess what? that didn't happen either! (I'm starting to sound like a broken record.)

So here are my goals for the rest of the week - I hope I don't make too many, as I have to balance my work WORK, day job with my wanna work work.
1. most important - rebuild server for client...can't start that until tomorrow though as they are closed for a family day today
2. spend ONE HOUR every day writing - even if it is my blog, another article for the Canadian ITManagers blog on Microsoft.ca's Technet site, or anything at all...but really i'd like it to be to concentrate on the week worth of exercises I missed which I hope to post many of my answers etc. to my blog
3. post my exercises to my blog - oh wait I guess I just said that
4. book another new client for a preview of the new windows and office
5. book one on one classes with my favourite client (he usually picks Monday mornings, but I hope he'll take wednesday's this time so it can give me a bit of a break through the week)
6. copy all the files from my laptop onto DVD for easy transfer to my new laptop when it arrives.
7. bother overdue clients for cheques (I really don't like doing that)
8. take 15 minutes each day just for me...no work, no family, no problems, just down time for me.
9. work on the exercises the physiotherapist gave me
10. pay houseleague hockey fee for daughter

so those are just a few of the things I have to do this week. We'll see how many I get done.

Have a great day everyone and I hope you all enjoyed your long weekend! Too bad it's the last until Thanksgiving!