Mommy plus Five

My 365...

There I was last night, working late, enjoying a nice quiet evening of productivity...(playing Terraria with Blake...shhhh), when all of a sudden the display on my HP notebook screen started to flicker.  Brought to mind the railroad scene from the movie Close Encounters of the Third Kind.

"Oh my gawd...I am being contacted by the alien mother ship!"

I can just see the headlines now..."Fifty year old grandmother in Idaho abducted by aliens!"

Then a message appeared in the lower right corner of my screen...(with a spaceship icon) that read, "HP Power smart warning, AC output adapter is too low for this computer."

Huh?

Several Google searches later I surmised that my power supply brick died a miserable death.  Poof...just like that.  *sigh*

I called HP support and spoke to a delightful man named Sam who confirmed my fears...the brick is dead.  May it rest in peace.  :*(

Of course my warranty just expired a week ago!!  >:o{  So I had to place an order for a replacement power adapter.  It arrives on Friday...if the delivery goes as scheduled.

So what is mama to do?

I have to work, I have to home school, I have to blog, I have to "photo a day", I have to communicate with the world!!

Apple to the rescue!

Enter trusty four year old Mac Mini.  I purchased this Mac Mini when I worked for Apple years ago.  I brought it upstairs, powered it on, and it literally purrs like a kitten.  The little beast runs beautifully!  Like brand new.  Gotta love a Mac.  :)

So life goes on without too seriously of a technology hiccup.  Although with five computers in this house, I don't think it would have been too much of a disaster. 

My Photo of the Day...



Random Link of the Day...An Apple a Day keeps the Technology Blues Away!

Until next time..."Haters only hate, the people they can't have or the people they can't be."

Peace.

Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵Ʒ Love,

My 365...

Hello Monday.  Ordinarily full of doom and gloom that you are.  No one wants to say goodbye to the weekend to greet you, yet here you are.  On schedule...and on time.  Phooey on you.

I woke today feeling particularly doom and gloom'ish, although I am not altogether certain as to why?  Have you ever had one of those days where you just feel like poo?  And I am not referring to Winnie the Pooh.  Today I did wake feeling that way.  A major "blah" sort of feeling where every cell in your body does a collective *sigh*, and no matter what you do you can't shake it.

Maybe it is because I was forced to abandon the amazing dream I was having in order to start the day?  No....

No matter what the cause, there is always a cure. 

His name is Blake!

Blake always knows how to make mama feel better.  His contagious smile...his sharp wit...his BANANA PHONE!  That and some seriously rocking 80's music.  (We love listening to seriously rocking 80's music.)

Thank you Blakey.  You know how to make mama feel better.

Congratulations to my nephew Ian who received a phone call today from the office of Kay Bailey Hutchinson nominating him for West Point! And congratulations to my big sister Cathy for raising such an amazing son. ♥

My photos of the day...


Music I am listening to today...Journey  <---not the same without Steve Perry.  :*(

Random Link of the Day...SOPA

Until next time..."Feeling down?  Answer the banana phone...happiness is on the way!"

Peace.

Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ Love,

My 365...

They say a family who plays together...stays together.  It is true you know.

Several months ago, the boys and I started playing two new games together, Terraria and Minecraft.  One evening they asked me if I could install the games on daddy's computer?  My first reaction was "Daddy does not play computer games other than Yahtzee and Tetris, he won't play these."

Boy was I wrong!

Jack loves playing Terraria, and plays it whenever he has a free moment.

He is on a mini-vacation of sorts.  He was off all weekend, his first weekend off in YEARS!  Then he works Monday, and is off again on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday.  The boys are thrilled to have him home so much.  I have to admit...I am too.

They have been playing together since Friday night, and having a great time as well.  It makes me smile.  :)

Blake is making plans for the coming week for us since daddy will be home.  We are going to the aquarium one day (we have season passes), and if the weather holds out, a hike on Camel's Back, and a walk down the river.

We are a gaming family.  It is not unusual for all of us, Brandon and Garrett included, to be plugged into each of our computers and networking a game together.  It makes for some serious fun around here!

I do love my family.  <3

Blake just finished his XBox game, and we are trying to decide which game to play next.  He challenged me to a game of "Rock, Paper, Scissors" to decide.

That never works....every time Blake and I play "Rock, Paper, Scissors", we pick the same thing!  It is impossible to outsmart each other.

Photos of the day....

Blake partaking in some XBox action.

 Daddy explaining his Terraria strategy to me.  He takes it very seriously!  *grin*
 "Hey what about me?"
Yes Ducati, you like to be my shadow too from time to time. 

Random Link of the Day.  Great family game.

Until next time..."Always forgive your enemies.  Nothing annoys them more."  :)

Have a great Monday!

Peace.

Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ Love,

My 365...

Hello Saturday.  Peaceful, quiet Saturday.  :)

Hope your day is going well.

My photos of the day...

My sweet Blake.
 The valley is dry, but still lots of snow in the mountains.  Hopefully it will creep down here again next week.
 A beautiful sunset.
 For dinner I made some grilled chicken, Spanish rice and fresh lentils.  As you can see, carrots are my favorite thing.  I put them in everything!
Music I am listening to today...The Weepies

Random Link of the Day...Bogus Basin

Until next time..."There is no love without forgiveness, and their is no forgiveness...without love."

Peace.

Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ Love,

My 365...

*drip* *drip* *drip* *drip* *drip* *drip*

My aching head!  That is all I heard last night, but it sounded more like someone "slapping the bass" in a rock band.  So loud and so obnoxious! 

Initially I thought either Casey had his music playing too loudly downstairs, or our neighbor was having a wild party.   When I realized it was neither of those two possibilities, I had Jack investigate the noise only to discover it is rain dripping off the gutter and hitting the roof of the small aluminum shed on the side of the house.

What?

Really?

Oh my gawd what a horrible noise!  So bad that I am going to have to move my bed away from the exterior wall until I can resolve this issue.  Hmmm...maybe I will take a bulldozer and knock the shed down...we are not using it anyway.

I know, I know...if that is the worst of my problems, then life is good.

***Update***

Garrett and Kori just stopped by, and my hero Garrett went outside and lifted the shed and moved it.  Yay, no more drip!

Cooper has been here all week, and we have really enjoyed him.  This little baby is a joy.  :)

My photo of the day...

Sweet Cooper faces.



Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ Love,

My 365...

Would you like to know a great way to greet the day?  Cooper hugs.  I was up rather early this morning, and when grandson Cooper came into my room, he came right over to grandma's chair, climbed up in my lap, and rested his head on my shoulder.  So sweet.  Then he was off to adventure the morning!

Yesterday was a good day in the mama "V" house.  Not only was the weather perfect and full of fun snow, but Jack was off from work and put in some much needed and much missed "daddy" duty.

After almost 26 years of being a daddy, he sometimes forgets to place life on hold for those magical father and son times.  More often than not we feel like we are living under the same roof as Oscar the Grouch.  There are days where the most we get out of Jack is a *grumble* here and a *grumble* there.

It was not always that way....

Jack used to be a very much "hands on" father.  Always doing something with the kids, always involved in their day to day existence.  When I started my business years ago, I spent much of the first several years traveling and he was the "stay at home" dad and was wonderful at it.  Down to baking cookies for the class.

The new him usually brings out the worst in me out of shear and utter frustration.  However, the other day I pulled him aside and reminded him that he is needed by his boys.  They miss the fun he used to be.  I think it worked because yesterday he was all about Casey and Blake, and he had a great time with them.  He used some wood and the recycle bin to make a sledding run, and worked in his always "meticulous" way to make it perfect and fun.  Later he and Blake walked to the store rather than drive because it would be more of an adventure in the snow.

I would say Jack had a successful daddy day yesterday.  So much so that Blake told me before he went to sleep last night....

"I have the coolest dad in the world."

I have not heard that in a long time.  It was music to my ears.  :)  Here is hoping and praying that Jack never forgets the honor of being a dad, and how blessed we are to have the privilege of parenting such amazing boys.

My photos of the day...

The snow was wonderful yesterday.  The rain today...not so much.

RIP little snowman.

 Daddy time...(Click on image for full size)

Music I am listening to today...Counting Crows

Random Link of the Day...Under Water Photography

Until next time..."Life is not about waiting for the storm to pass, it is about dancing in the rain."

Peace.

Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ Love,

My 365...

Winter Wonderland.  Finally....some snow!

It has been snowing all day, and should continue through the week.  We hope it does anyway.  This is why we moved to the Great Northwest from Texas...seasons!  And snow.  :)

My photos of the day...



























Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ Love,