Yellow; 79° F  - 47° F, clear.

S took the car in for regular maintenance while I took the morning off (we're proud to only have the one car).

There was a ridiculous HOA meeting last night.  How, I'd like to know, does a proposal allowing the management company to enter our homes any time they wish even GET on a ballot?  They claim it is for our safety (to make sure no one is doing anything in their home that puts everyone else at risk) but sounds like post 9/11 type fear mongering to me.  I mean, come on, the complex has existed for over 40 years without management being allowed into our homes and no one yet has done anything to jeopardize the complex or a block of buildings...so, what's changed?  Why should I give up my rights as a homeowner?  Are you crazy?!?

Green;  68° F - 45° F, clear.

Um...yeah...well...I refuse to be made to feel bad for adding signature confirmation to your package.  Ever occur to you to wonder why I did?  Check out your rating on Amz.  That's right...sellers can rate customers too and your ratings?  Well, your ratings are not good...not good at all (seller *beware* sort of ratings with reasons why one would want to add signature confirmation). Guess I should have gone with my gut on this one and flat out cancelled your order...  Note to self:  Listen to your gut...ALWAYS listen to your gut.

Thinking good thoughts for @slsommer 's FIL.

Image:  Aunt Frances in 1941, wearing an ice blue satin gown with a heart-shaped hat.  Is it just me or can you see a glint of the mischievous in her eye? This is cropped from the full (head-to-toe) portrait.  A current picture is posted on my March 6th entry:  http://walkertracker.com/index.php?page … bid=663882

Green; 70° F - 43° F, clear.

Image:  S is having fun using our old camera out in the field (this photo was taken at the Nova Albion Steampunk Exhibition where he was, of course, an autograph hound).

Saturday night I finished The Owl Service.  It was an enjoyable enough book to read, but I found the ending unsatisfying and felt like there were a lot of plot points that were just left hanging out there (or did I miss something?). 

Started The Lost Conspiracy and am really enjoying it, so far.




BTW:  I'm officially sick with my usual post-travel head cold (headache, low-grade fever, general aches, wrong colored snot).  Ugh.

Green; 64° F - 39° F.

Took the morning off.  Spent the late afternoon and evening with c (mostly playing wii and watching him intentionally become a snowball, bicycle off a cliff, fall off an obstacle course, etc).

Green; 58° F - 38° F, cloudy.

At work, attempting to get caught up, on what would normally be my day off.  The COGs and their children are busy being obnoxious, rude and self-centered (doesn't their imaginary friend advise against that?).

Thinking about Uncle Gene & Aunt Dorothy today (it's their 61st wedding anniversary).  Image is from their 20th.  See my entry last year for a photo of them, on their wedding day, cutting their wedding cake.  BTW:  Uncle Gene is actually, technically, not my uncle but my double first cousin twice removed (puzzle that out, why don't ya!?).

Speaking of genealogy...have learned that Reunion for Mac (the program I've used for genealogy since, can you believe it, Summer of 1994) has an iPhone/iPod touch app that allows one to make changes/corrections, etc and synch with the desktop app.  This is the first time I've found myself wanting an iPhone/iPod touch (and, if it wasn't for my desire to be able to scan photos on the road, it would almost free me from needing a laptop for genealogical trips to foreign lands...like Texas).  http://www.leisterpro.com/iphone/

I find this very disturbing:  Texas Conservatives Win Curriculum Change.  And this:  Texas ed board vote reflects far-right influences

***

Green; 63° F - 43° F.

All quiet here this morning (no emergency vehicles visible from our office)...knock wood.

Dear HC:  Uh...no...unless they have a Bill Clinton or Neil Gaiman level author/celebrity signing there is no way it is cost effective for us to go all the way to SF to get one new book (which must be bought at the event at a 25% increase over list) and one backlist title signed. Besides, the event is at the one brick and mortar we boycott. ‘Nuf said.  (Good for S for sticking to his guns on both the cost effectiveness evaluation and on the boycott.)

Windows Live Mail...I think I loathe you...you are not treating CHM well at all and you waited until you knew I was 1600+ miles away to misbehave.  Shame on you!

Oh dear...seems it isn't just mail that is misbehaving but that his computer is refusing to shut down and then wants to start up in safe mode.  Does not sound good (did we get a lemon?).  Aunt Becky is going to go over on Saturday and help me figure out next steps.  Sorta wishing I had a teleporter/transporter/time machine.

***

8:42/6:42 (tx/ca) time and we are on the plane, awaiting takeoff to go *home*

And, now I'm HOME!  It's good to visit other places but home is still the best place to be.

Gaaah!  D*mn you Windows Live Mail.  You worked fine for my end user until I fly 1600-some miles away?!?  And, I'm also cursing Thunderbird because their interface was rejected by my end user (but my spider sense tells me this issue wouldn't have happened with them).  Okay...  Whew!  Seems as if something happened that caused Windows Live Mail to crash (or be shut down) while it was still receiving msgs...and then those msgs weren't fully downloaded and couldn't be read.  Others have reported this problem.  Tried sending him a new msg and he was able to open it...  So, I think this was just an unfortunate glitch, as far as timing goes.

Put in about four hours at our bookstore and then headed home for a (meat free) dinner with my bibliophile.  About to crash...I'm still on TX time and only got about 2 hours of sleep last night (plus the obnoxious, completely undisciplined child in the seat in front of us really made it difficult to sleep on the plane).

Caught myself, before we left for dinner tonight, looking for my keys (which I haven't even thought about since I left CA)...must be time to go home.

Thunder & lightening & pouring down rain here...so much for that outside walk...
 
Breakfast of cereal, lunch of leftover brisket, cottage cheese salad, green stuff, and homemade pecan pie (oh my gosh!).  Dinner out at Olive Garden.  Salad, breadsticks, angelhair pasta with tomatoes (I don't remember the name) and cheese raviolis (CFS & I shared our entrees).  Shared CHM's favorite desert there (the "no sugar added" chocolate cake thingie with chocolate lava inside, ice cream & strawberries (just where would they add sugar?!?).

Busy day...was ONM's helper so CFS could get some rest in preparation for tomorrow, did laundry, did some final lessons with CHM on the computer, and watched another VHS tape of the old family 8mm movies (next year we are going to grab them up first thing and get them transferred to dvd).  Dinner and then Randy and Aunt Mary stopped by.  Had fun showing Randy all my pictures of Mary when she was a girl  :-)

Didn't turn out to be a day for walking...don't think I had more than 20 min (total) to myself all day (until 10:30pm when they all went to bed...but the floors creak so much there is no way I can walk that late).

Laundry?  check
Photo scans?  check
Write "how to" for CHM (print w/o print button)? check
Write "how to" for CHM (enlarge text on web pg)? check
Scan documents?  in progress...check (finished @ 2am)
Pack?  in progress
Sleep?  questionable [got about 2 hours]

Saturday night I finished reading an ARC of The Prince of Mist; BD was right...I did enjoy it (although I don't think I really liked the ending...did I blink and miss a defeat of the "badie" or are the kids not concerned that the "badie" is still out there, somewhere?).  If you are looking for strong female main characters...keep looking, though.

Last night I started The Owl Service, a book S remembers fondly from his childhood.  I'm enjoying it so far, although the writing style is a bit strange. 



Image:  The lot of us taken yesterday (with the delayed shutter setting on my camera)...Unc, Aunt Becky, me, CFS, ONM & CHM.

Stick a fork in me...I'm done.  It's time to go home (is it Tuesday already?).  With the age, religion, political differences here it is amazing it took so long this trip but I am now, officially, beyond ready to get back to reality. 

That said, up until about an hour ago, it was a pretty good day.  We got up early and had eggnog bread and then drove out to the 31st Annual Schwettmann reunion for a potluck, and then pizza for dinner with Unc & Aunt Becky after watching old home movies (which I'd thought had been lost forever but had been transferred to VHS before the 8mm film was lost)...it was a lot of fun to see film of all of them young.

There was a good turnout at the reunion and I enjoyed getting to see Aunt Hilda & Aunt Leola (really ONM's half cousins), Leola is nearly 95 and Hilda just turned 92.  Had a good visit with Emil (who seems to be doing well after the death of his wife, Ruby who was 84).  Melba overheard me admiring the Pyrex dishes some of the folks brought their potluck contributions in last year and this year she made me a present of some Pyrex round containers...that was such a treat.  Aunt Becky made sauerkraut and sausage for me.  I got to meet Amy and one of the twins (Ashley...her sister, Emily, got out of the hospital later this afternoon).  Also got to play "peek-a-boo" with Cameron (who will be two in July and is my half 3rd cousin twice removed...puzzle that out, why don't you!).  Generally had a good time visiting (which doesn't come natural to me...visiting & small talk, I mean).  Got a few pictures scanned and a few corrections made to the family tree data.  Didn't get as much genealogy done as I'd hoped, but that's okay...these things come in waves and I know I haven't put as much effort into it as I could lately.

Not a good day for steps.  I'd love to go for an OUTSIDE walk right now (I'm literally vibrating I'm so mad) but I'm sure that would cause a big scandal as it is already dark.  Sigh.  The thing that really gets me is that the people involved have without a doubt noticed that I'm in a "mood" and have chalked it up to a character flaw.  Maybe it is a character flaw...especially if taking umbrage when someone says something offensive is a character flaw.  Best to just call it a day and start fresh tomorrow.

Image:   31st annual Schwettmann reunion today (for the descendants of Fritz Schwettmann). Here he is with his second wife, Charlotte. Fritz and Charlotte were my great-great grandparents.

Not much time to myself today.  Was on-call as "helper" so that CFS would rest (she was seeming pretty fragile last night).  Helped CHM & Unc with yard work, helped ONM make lunch & dinner and do grocery shopping, helped CHM place some internet orders, and fetched for CFS (she is seeming much better tonight). 

Still a good day.  Breakfast was muffins (store-bought so I only had one), lunch was left-overs from last night, and dinner was frito chili pie with that sour salad I like so much.  Managed to get some photo genealogy indexing done in the lulls but not much else.

Image:  Me and Old Lady Clem (or Aunt Frances as I've taken to calling her) last night.

Thinking about S...today is the 22nd anniversary of when we started dating.

Biscuits and (white) gravy for breakfast (I had honey instead of gravy), tuna salad for lunch (mine without egg).

Dinner at Schulze's tonight (it's a must) with Grandma, Grandpa, Mom, Uncle Gene & Aunt Dorothy, Uncle Jack & Aunt Blair plus Maria, Uncle David & Aunt Becky, Thelma & Roy, and Old Lady Clem.  It was great to see everyone and to visit. I especially enjoyed getting to talk with Aunt Blair. Maria (her assistant) told me that Blair hadn't talked that much in a long time. Blair told me that her voice is very low and that she talks but is so often misunderstood that it is easier to not talk. I pointed out that the people around her just have old ears and can't hear her...which isn't *her* fault. She thought that was very funny! It was hard to understand her and I had to listen very carefully (even with my young-ish ears). She said she couldn't understand everything I said...I said I couldn't understand everything she said either...so we were even.  I'm sure she didn't know who I was...but I believe she enjoyed visiting with me, looking at pictures, and hearing about my twin nephews.

Image:  My g-g grandmother, Charlotte and her descendants (circa 1935).  Back row: [g uncles & g aunts] Nelson, Helmuth, Olitia, Herbert, Esther, Elmor.  Front row: [g-g grandma] Charlotte (seated), [g grandma] Louise (seated), [g grandpa] Louis (seated), [grandma] Ore Nell, & [g uncle] Luther Kramer.  Louise and Louis are the couple pictured in my Feb 17th entry.  This weekend we are going to a reunion for the descendants of Fritz and Charlotte [my g-g grandparents] and of Fritz and his first wife, Sophie [not to be confused with Sophie my g g g grandmother, Charlotte's mother, and my profile pix].

Discovered what the strange looking ducks I've been seeing are all about (CHM and I went on a camera "duck-hunt" to get a photo)...they are Muscovy ducks.  First spotted one when we went to see Old Lady Clem and have been seeing them everywhere since (of course, we had to really try to find them today...when I wanted to take a picture).  The bird in this photograph was walking (fast) away from me (a good test of shutter speed).

Slept in (well, until 8:30 am) this morning.  Breakfast was cereal, lunch was at their neighborhood deli (had the same veggie wrap as last time...they sure are nice there).  They napped, I played on my computer and then it was time to visit the Houston Museum of Natural Science at Sugar Land.  They are a pretty small museum at this point, but we had a good time.  There were exhibits with different frogs and toads (it was fun to try to find them in their habitats...there were a few we never did spot), lots of really impressive geodes, some very cool fossils, and a very strange (temporary) inflated planetarium (kinda like an igloo held up with air...it made me more than a little claustrophobic).  As an added bonus, the building used to be a prison (Leadbelly wrote "Midnight Special" there) and I wished more of the building had been open so I could check out the architecture (at least there was a floorplan and old photos to look at).

CFS made me a little case to keep my camera free of scratches in my purse (out of some double sided quilted fabric ONM had stashed away).  She claims it is quick and dirty...but I think it is absolutely perfect (and pretty, too).

CHM's replacement credit card arrived today, so spent some time making calls to notify vendors. We have a couple more to do tomorrow.

Dinner was "piecing" (or a variety of leftovers) and I had more of the chili and the buttermilk pie.  CFS got me to taste CHM's buttermilk, which he had with dinner and seasoned with salt and garlic pepper.  It didn't taste bad, but it tasted like salad dressing and it just doesn't seem like that is something you drink ;-).

Looking forward to dinner at Schulze's tomorrow.

Breakfast:  Homemade lemon poppy seed muffins (had to get the recipe for those!).

CHM went to choir practice while I went with CFS & ONM to Rosenberg for some antiquing.  We visited the Vogelsang Antique Emporium and another small shop and then CHM met us at Another Time Soda Fountain (located where there used to be one of the two drug store/soda fountains in Rosenberg).  They all had malts but I just had a child's portion of CFS' with my half a sandwich, fruit & chips.

Nap and then worked with CHM on fine-tuning his computer while ONM & CFS made a huge batch of "trash" (chex party mix). 

Unc came over for dinner (Aunt Becky wasn't feeling well and was missed) of fried pork chops, butter beans (too much like lima beans for me), mashed potatoes, & sauerkraut.  Dessert of buttermilk pie (or chess pie).  Played Yahtzee (and boy did I play poorly).

Image (taken with my new camera!):  CFS, CHM, & ONM at lunch today (CFS is wearing one of our thrift store "finds"...a sea-foam green jacket).

Woohoo!  ONM & CHM got me a new camera as a gift (mostly as a thank you for helping them with their computer...which was totally not necessary...I like being useful).  As with all the best gifts, it was something I was never going to buy for myself (not until my old camera totally croaked, anyway, and probably not one this nice even then).  Pretty cool, huh? 

My old camera:  Olympus D-390, 2 pixels, 1/1000 sec. – 1/2 sec. Automatic shutter speed (too slow to capture a four year old, whatever it was), 4.4 x 2.4 x 1.6 in., 5.9 oz (I'm guessing that is without the 2 AA sized batteries and the media card).



My new camera:  Olympus FE-4020, 14 pixels, 1/2000 sec. –1/4 sec. shutter speed, 3.7"W x 2.2"H x 0.9"D, 4.5 oz without batteries and media card



Breakfast was cereal, lunch was "hobo" style sandwiches (on crackers), dinner was chili (soupy meat, rice, beans, cheese, onions...yum!) and some sort of deadly frozen chocolate ice cream thingie (with a meal worth of calories).

This morning CFS & I got CHM's hearts game set up the way he wanted (CFS bought the full version for him).  BTW:  He seems very happy with the VueScan app and, yesterday, he declared the computer fully set up (I suspect one or two more adjustments will need to be made).  Then, we helped fine-tune the Ikea microwave cabinet they bought and assembled late last year.  The wrong screws had been used to assemble the drawer which was causing it not to glide like it should.  Figuring out which screws to use where is always the hardest part (for me) on furniture assembly. 

Got a walk in after lunch, while the others napped, and then went thrift store shopping with ONM & CFS.  Spent $6.50 and got two shirts.

Feeling a bit homesick (and not just because I'm missing out on watching Lost with my guy...it will be there for me on TiVo when I get home)...but also feeling a bit guilty.  It sounds like things are busy back home and poor S is having to do both our jobs.

Image:  CFS & TLS taken 2/28 (it's a bit grainy...taken with CHM's digital camera and printed out...he then deletes the digital file, so I was reduced to scanning in the printed photo).

Raining today...well, it stopped for a few hours before a thunder storm came in (stopped long enough for me to get a walk in and for me, CFS, & ONM to get stuck in Hobby Lobby without an umbrella in the deluge...I took the hit and ran out to get the car for the gals).


Didn't make my step goals last month...not even close.  Planning to get back on track in March.

Finished listening to Ghostgirl yesterday.  The premise was promising (and the book full of strong female characters) but I felt the book didn't live up that promise.  Also, although I like Parker Posy, the reading was not the best.  Won't be picking up the others in the series.

Computer work continues.  Had to teach his computer that OpenOffice should be associated with PowerPoint Slide presentations (who would have thought he gets those?!) and set it as default for some other likely candidates while I was at it.  Turns out the Windows Image Acquisition thingie that his computer found as a "driver" for his old scanner does, technically, work but it is a dog of an interface.  All it lets you do is scan to the computer...you can't scan to the printer or any of the other basic scanner functions one would expect.  CHM wants to be able to scan to the printer without saving files to his computer.  So...I'm going to install VueScan on his machine (which is the program I use to run his ancient scanner from my new laptop) and that should work just fine for him.  It isn't free, but it is inexpensive and it is the first piece of software we've had to buy, so far, for the new computer.  Also taught CHM how to use ctrl + to make the print larger on webpages (something I think he will use a lot).

ONM, CFS & I ran some errands including a trip to Hobby Lobby.  CFS was like a kid in a candy store (apparently Hobby Lobby is far superior to Michael's).

Breakfast:  Cereal (CFS & ONM had grits, yuck!).  Lunch:  sloppy joes and pistachio salad for desert (sugar-free).  Dinner: Ate out...had spinach, mushroom & yellow squash enchiladas with pinto beans, chips & salsa, & a strawberry margarita.

Image:  CFS & her sister, Mary (taken yesterday).

Still making progress on CHM's computer (firewall issue sorted, and Open Office installed and working) but most of the day today was spent on other activities.

Day started with the realization by CHM that he didn't have his credit card.  We all helped with the search.  Finally I called the last place he used it (they didn't have it) and then called the credit card company.  It happens to the best of us and a new card will arrive before too long.  Have a list of places we'll need to notify of the change and plan to help with that when the time comes.

Took a short walk outside today but the sun was stronger and it was a bit warmer than yesterday which, added to the humidity here, kept me from a longer walk.

Spent some time hunting down some shampoo CHM likes but can no longer find in any local brick-and-mortar stores.

Unc came by for a visit.  It was good to see him, as always (he is my only uncle and I've always had a soft spot for him...there were four of us growing up, my brother, me, and my two cousins and we all thought the world of Unc).

Then CHM & ONM took us to see Aunt Mary and to see the new house she and Randy J bought.  It is the nicest place I've seen her in since the late 70's (or whenever it was she lived in that big house with Jim and the large poodles) and she looks healthier and happier than I think I've ever seen her.

Breakfast today was cinnamon rolls (the smell woke me). Lunch was leftover pot roast, black eyed peas, & biscuits.  Dinner was "hobo" style with crackers, summer sausage, cheese (I passed on the cheese), and cottage cheese salad (the one I like that I learned to make from CFS with tomato & bell pepper).  Desert was the last of the christmas cake cookies.

Slept in this morning (didn't sleep well...allergies).

Skipped breakfast (lunch isn't at 2pm here like it often is at home, so skipping a 9am breakfast isn't such a big deal) and got right into computer stuff.  Thunderbird, although initially welcomed, was rejected when it was discovered that you have to start typing a contact's name to enter their email address when forwarding an email, etc....rather than having the address book open up and being able to scroll through and select names (if anyone knows how to do that in Thunderbird, the latest, let me know).  So, time was spent getting him moved over to Windows Mail and getting his contacts moved.  But, now, his anti-virus/anti-spyware program is having problems with his firewall with regard to emails with attachments.  Sigh.  Also working to download Open Office on his machine.  I know it isn't the most user-friendly thing ever invented, but he doesn't create documents, he just wants to be able to read them and I don't see why he should pay for MS Office when it isn't needed.

We went out to eat at the corner deli (Uptown Deli, I think)...we ate there last year too and it is quite good.  I had a veggie wrap and raspberry tea.

Then I had a nap.  A risky move (means I may not sleep tonight), but I was too tired to go for a walk and needed a break.

CFS, ONM and I went to visit Old Lady Clem.  She's back in the retirement home and has her own studio apartment (a smaller apt than she used to have, but...) and a cat.  The cat spent the entire visit hiding under the bed.  She is looking and sounding worlds better than she did last year and it was really good to see her.  Am going to have to take my computer and CHM's scanner with me next time we go...there is a beautiful wedding portrait of her (circa 1946, I think she said) on her bureau that I'd love to scan.

Dinner at Cracker Barrel.  I'd never been to one before.  It was incredibly noisy, the wait-person was not suited to the job (one of those people who always has an excuse and nothing is ever their fault), the service was extremely slow (even allowing time for well done steak)...but the food was quite good.  I had a grilled steak salad (without dressing), raspberry lemonade (which was waaaay too sweet), and 1.5 corn bread muffins (even CFS liked them...not too sweet).  Banana pudding for desert (sugar free).

Cooler than usual, but still humid here.  Most folks have dead grass in their yards due to unusual recent freeze.  Makes the neighborhood look strange.

Crazy but good day.

Woke up at 5:45am (was my internal clock remembering it was the same time, but a different time zone, that I had to be up the day before) and had a bit of quiet time before getting ready for my day at 7am (5am at home).

Immediately after breakfast, went back to work on the new computer for CHM.  By 9:30am had narrowed the field down to a first and second choice and left with CHM to make his purchase.  We ended up with another Compaq Presario (model cq5320f).  Could have gotten something less expensive if were willing to do Windows XP but CHM wanted Windows 7 and one of my geek consultants felt 7 would be a better security risk...so there you go (thanks go to all my geek friends for moral support, suggestions, and recommendations).  Rest of the day spent setting it up and moving operations from the old to the new machine.  Took a 20 min break after lunch for a walk but otherwise have been at it solid until about 8pm.  Still a few things to tweak (tomorrow) and then will need to spend quite a bit of time fine tuning things and training CHM (old machine was running XP SP2, so there are quite a few changes).  W will be glad to know that I've moved CHM to Mozilla for browser and email. 

Anyway, like I said, very very busy day but I'm pleased with our progress on the project and, although there will be a lot for CHM to learn it doesn't look as daunting as I'd feared.  As an added victory, his old printer and scanner work with the new machine.

Portion control is my only tact with all the fabulous food here (I'm not complaining about the food...wouldn't miss it). 

Breakfast: fried eggs (crispy around the edges), bacon & toast (CHM is the only one that can make fried eggs good enough to be worth the resulting allergy headache).

Lunch: cheddar potato soup with fresh broccoli and leftover sausage added, banana pudding for desert

Dinner: Pot Roast (complete with carrots and potatoes), that sour lettuce, celery, onion, & tomato salad with oil, lemon juice, & pepper (it's sour and I love it), & banana pudding.

Got a call from S, which was nice. Sounds like he misses me...the feeling is mutual. ;-)

Image:  The only photo I have of me with my g-grandpa Louis (he died before I was 2 and is also pictured in my Feb 17th and Feb 18th entries).