Another Slow Day

Well, by all indications today was just about as uneventful as yesterday.  I did manage to get out of the house and made a trip into Dublin to get the discount on the phones I just purchased, which went on sale this week. We were having so much trouble with our other portable phones charging that I just decided it was time to have new ones.  In addition, I was hoping to perhaps return my “faulty” Sony ear buds (the left one stopped working).  Considering I purchased them in September (I thought it was in December), they said I had to take it up with Sony.  I bought a cheap pair of Phillips buds which seem to be okay, although they are not nearly as comfortable as the Sony buds.  I will endeavor to deal with Sony about the ones that broke – they cost almost $50 and should have lasted much longer!  I found a really compact Inverter that comes with its own little zip up carry case, which will be very handy for travel.  It has an adapter that is listed as being compatible with airplanes, so I may be able to play my PSP and not have to worry about battery power.  Nonetheless, it will be handy to have in the car for the notebooks as well as the PSP.  

I have not managed to get my music problem cleared up, but I feel I am closer to that solution than I was yesterday.  Sadly, I have not delved into the whole Outlook thing, but I am not giving up.  There are answers out there and I am determined to find them.  I swear I could live my life in front of my computer and never accomplish all the tasks that are so overwhelmingly facing me.  Oh yeah, one day at a time and with patience it will all come together (or not).

This is another of those evenings where we are toasty in the living room with the fireplace.  The dogs are sleeping in their respective spots and Max is – ahhhhhh, did you guess doing homework?  Well, right you are!  And she is doing a fine job of it to be sure.

Later . . .

Blue Monday?

Yesterday was amazingly uneventful. I hate to even mention that I spent most of the day working on my computer - AGAIN. I am having some difficulty with my music and was trying to get that squared away. I also have several new CD's that I needed to copy for play in my truck. In addition I need to figure out how to tweak my computer (Thanks, Kathy) so Outlook with allow me to receive attachments in my email. I am beginning to think life was MUCH less complicated before my iPod. My Nano was not that much of a challenge - music and pictures were easy to handle. My video iPod is proving to be much more of a challenge when it comes to computer compatibility. Could it be that less is actually better?

When I was not playing with my computer, I did laundry and messed with bills and the budget. I am trying to gather paperwork for the tax accountant. Max will be very happy if I don't put it off until the first of April (like I usually do) considering she should be getting a nice refund. Then there are us lucky or unlucky (depending on your perspective) ones who don't work and have a retirement that is tax free - we don't get excited about tax time because there is no refund on our horizons. But wait, considering Max's refund goes straight into OUR checking account - hmmmmm, there is money on my horizon!

Later . . .

Birthday Has Come and Gone

We had a really nice weekend in the mountains (Max's mother's house). Wonderful dinner and good family interactions. After eating steak and lobster for dinner last night, we decided to not indulge ourselves in another "fancy" meal. Max took me (Kathy, Paul and Michael) to Marie Callendars for a chicken pot pie (which I have been craving lately and she does not like). I also wanted Key Lime Pie (which I must say is not that tasty coming from MC). The weekend just flew by and unfortunately the time to wind down and get ready to face another work week has arrived - Ahhhhhhhh I really find that somewhat amusing considering the fact that I DON'T WORK! Oh, but I do feel as one with Max when she has to get up in the freezing cold (bedroom sliding glass door open and the room is about 45 degrees) shower and leave for work while it is still dark. I, on the other hand, snuggle down in the covers and wait for the sun to come through the window signaling "perhaps" I should get up and have a cup of coffe in front of the fireplace with the dogs at my feet. Okay, so maybe the term "work week" does not hold huge implied meaning for me, but I do know it has arrived because I am ALONE (with the dogs).

Anyway I had both the grandkids sing "Happy Birthday" to me today - separately I might add and that put a royal topping on a wonderful 59th birthday.

Later . . .

Off For The Weekend

After a quick $250 trip to Costco for steak and lobster, we are headed out to Max's mom's house to celebrate her birthday (which was this last Tuesday). The entire Lawson family is headed up there for dinner Saturday night and come home Sunday (my birthday). We had planned on going out to eat Sunday night, but with steak and lobster dinner on Saturday night I might just decided to skip another big dinner.

We will be coming back early Sunday morning, but it is about a 3 hour drive.

Later . . .

Mission Accomplished!

I really was beginning to wonder if I would ever get through this project, but everything is boxed and all the extra "garbage" is out of the garage. Now all we have to do is get all those boxes up in the rafters of the garage for another year. Once that is accomplished we will be able to put the tables away and move the Quads back in that spot to get the chargers back on them. The idea is to get all our fishing equipment down and hung on the back wall of the garage where the Quads are now sitting. In that way we will not have to get the ladder to get our fishing vests and poles every time we want to go fishing. The ultimate goal is to keep all the spaces in the garage taken up so we will not be able to buy anything else to crowd into the garage. We also want to get our bicycles down from hanging above and put them where they will be easily accessible - perhaps we just might ride them. I actually feel like I might be back in the grove of taking care of things and being on a schedule (wishful thinking I am sure). Whew - it just feels really good to have accomplished something that I have been putting off for almost a month! I think it would have been very depressing if I had not gotten this accomplished until February.

I am happy to report that this afternoon I worked on my PC and everything seems to be working fine now. It appeared that my Norton software was interfering with my connections for Outlook. I decided to get rid of the Norton (it came with my computer) and just use the Yahoo protection package. Now I can access my calendar, email and contacts and sync with my iPod. I have more things that I have to work out with my PC, but one step at a time. Thank goodness for restore points and I will forge ahead with some other software that I need to load.

All is well around the home front. Max is doing homework (what else), the dogs are asleep at my feet and the fire is keeping us all toasty.

Later . . .

But Yet Another Attempt With Pictures

So with the dogs as my subject matter - here is a picture of Kodi and Darci playing. They play together really well and Kodi has taught Darci how to play like a "big dog". They are really good with each other, but if you were not aware of how well they get along you might think they were actually in the middle of a huge dog fight.

I think I am beginning to understand how to preview my page and to get the pictures in the place I want them. I guess this is not as difficult as I thought it might be. I am going to try to add another picture and see how that goes - bare with me.

So it would seem that I have the idea of posting pictures. This is just a picture of one of the very few times that the dogs actually touched each other while resting/sleeping.

Unfortunately, I guess now I will have to start actually taking pictures so I will have something to post. I am done for now.

Later . . .

Practicing With Dog Pictures

Here is a picture of Kodi teaching Darci how to howl. In the beginning she was not getting the idea, but now she has howling down to a fine art. She is not much of a howler without the influence from her brother - who is a talking, howling typical Malamute.

I am sure there is a way to get pictures placed on the blog with the text in the correct position and the pictures the correct size, but needless to say I am having some difficulty. I think this is working even though I am not as savy as Duane when it come to these things - I am catching on slowly.

A Better Day

Well I must say I feel good about the way this day has progressed.  I was extremely tired last night and ended up sleeping until about 10:00 AM.  Guess I needed the rest because the rest of the day went pretty smoothly.  Needless to say I am still having computer problems and spent too many hours on my PC today, but I managed to walk about from that and accomplish some tasks.  I completed mowing and edging both the front and back yards and I am half way through sorting and boxing the Christmas decorations.  

One of my major problems is all my pictures are loaded on my PC, which is not cooperating with me these days, so I really don’t have much to work with as far as loading pictures on the blog. I am not that confident with the whole picture thing and would like to be able to practice a bit.  I think I will copy some pictures to a memory stick and see if I can play around with it a bit. I suppose as long as I keep trying everything will work out in the long run.

Later . . .  

Trying the Picture Thing . . .

Ahhhhhh seemed to have been successful! This is a picture taken from the balcony of our Condo which looked down on the pool and spa area. Each of the three buildings has its own pool and about 3 or 4 spas. The 7 natural hot spring spas are separated in an area of their own. Guess I could try for the money shot now.


Okay so that is my money wheel! Ten $100 bills, three $20, one $10 and about eight $1. I am a happy camper. I will consider that windfall an early birthday present to myself.

Now that I can post pictures, I need to make sure I am getting nice clear shots. Don't even expect anything close to what Duane shoots, but I will try. The above shots did not turn out so great, but I did not think I would be able to post them anyway.

Later . . .

Weekend Completed

Well the weekend is over and we had a really nice time.  The gambling spirits stuck with us for the entire weekend.  We had the opportunity to play a little more at the Craps Tables and the Black Jack tables and lost no money.  If I could learn how to add pictures to this blog, I could show you the circle of $100 bills I came home with.  Since the weekend was basically a free one because we were using bonus time at our Time Share, we came out WAY ahead connected to our finances.  Max got some homework done and I continued to play my PS2 and unsuccessfully face the bosses.  We had a really nice little vacation and enjoyed our stay very much.  The drive home was pleasant because leaving on a Monday keeps the traffic at bay.  I must say it is always nice to be back with the dogs and in our own digs.

Not much happening on the home front. I am behind in a lot of things and have my work cut out for me this week.  The yards need to be tended before we get more rain and I still have not put all the Christmas decorations away.  I need to get them wrapped up and boxed up so we can arrange the garage again.  Right now the Quads are not hooked up to the battery chargers and both have dead batteries (not to mention a couple of flat tires).  We have not had much free time to take them out, but we would like to make some trips to Carnegie for some riding time.  We will both be very glad when June arrives and Max is finished with school.

I think I am hoping if I mention the things that I need to get done in the blog then I will forced into doing them and be able to say, “Mission accomplished”.  Not sure how that is going to work, but I have extremely good intentions.  

I was doing very well with all my chores and tasks until the Holidays hit me.  I just have not been able to get back in the general swing of things since we had so many days off.  
Hmmmmmm intentions – wasn’t the road to hell paved with intentions?  I seem to remember hearing something like that.  Guess I better get busy – more action and less talk!  

Later . . .

Lake Tahoe Weekend

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So here we are in Winter Wonderland.  It is absolutely beautiful up here with all the snow covered mountains.  David Wally’s Resort (which we lovingly call “Wally World”) is located in the Valley and usually does not have much snow, but there is plenty of snow everywhere right now.  Temperatures during the day are around 40 and night is about 20.  Needless to say I am loving it.

We ventured out yesterday to buy the coffee we forgot to bring with us and did some exploring of the surrounding towns.  Minden and Garnerville are cute little towns and we found a Thrift Store where we purchased some books cheaply.  I found two Better Homes and Gardens sewing books along with a lap quilt book and Max picked up a Swat video game for a buck.  We found it very interesting that all the people we encountered were extremely polite and friendly – not just the service people but other customers and everyone in general.  Not sure if it is small town mentality (which is a really nice thing) or all of Nevada is just friendly.

I have to relay an interesting and somewhat humorous happening from the Thrift Store.  When Max found the video game there was no price on it.  She asked the woman in the store how much it was and her response was, “Have price if you are over 55”.  Since Max isn’t but I am – we thought that was humorous and perhaps she assumed Max was with me.  We got to the checkout and when I asked for the discount – I got carded!  Made me feel pretty good, but didn’t do a lot for Max’s ego.

After exploring the area surrounding Wally World, we decided to go into Carson City and check out the new casino, Fandango.  It is a really nice Casino with lots of tables, slots and eating opportunities. Because it was a slow afternoon (probably everyone was on the ski slopes), we had the opportunity to learn how to play the Craps Table.  I have always known how to shoot craps, but I have never understood all the side betting.  They were very slow, very nice and you could bet $1.  So we decided to give it a try (I started with $40 and Max started with $20).  It was great fun to learn all the different ways to bet while more and more people showed up.  It does tend to get pretty exciting when lots of people are playing.  Stayed at the table for a couple hours and ended up walking away winners.  I won $800 on my $40 and Max won $200 on her $20.  Yes, we love craps now!  When I started betting more and winning more, one of the house people told me to take my green chips ($25) and put them in my pocket and “don’t take them back out until you are ready to cash out and leave” – that turned out to be good advice.  At one point I was racking up the red chips ($5) and the Pit Boss came over and watched me for a while and told them to start giving me green chips.  I actually did not have any idea how much money I had won until we finished.  I knew I had put away $100 and the $40 I started with – so essentially I was playing with their money and not really paying that close of attention.  However, I did know that I was winning!  Max was very excited because this was her first time to be given a black chip ($100).

We had a nice dinner and decided to gamble a bit more and I hit a straight flush playing three card poker and won $125 on a $3 bet.  Since I was overall about $900 ahead, we headed back to Wally World to call it a night.

Even without the winnings, this has been a very nice relaxing weekend and we are still here until Monday afternoon.  

Later . . .

Ready For The Weekend

We are packed and ready for our Tahoe trip.  The girls across the street will be taking care of Kodi and Darci.  They love the dogs and come over and play with them and spend time with them in the house.  Unfortunately they are spoiled rotten (speaking of the dogs and not the girls)and think they actually “live” in the house and are genuinely put out when they have to stay outside.  We are looking forward to a relaxed weekend with a little gambling, dinner, movies and PS2 thrown in while Max’s attention is diverted by homework.

I am taking my notebook, but there is not much in the way of connections up there – slow dial-up that costs like $1 for each connection.  As a resort (David Wally’s Resort & Spa) one would think they would provide a wireless connection.

I am actually looking forward to being away from my computers for a while.  Possibly I will be ready to deal with my inability to network after we come home.  There is also the possibility that I will just leave well enough alone and ignore the whole issue.  That way I might be able to concentrate on dealing with the whole picture issue.

Hope everyone has a great weekend.

Later . . .

Peaceful Rainy Day

Today was a rather peaceful day.  I did mess with my computer, but only working with my music.  I have given up trying to tackle any of my previous problems for a while.  It poured rain and the dogs and I stayed put with the coziness of fireplaces.  I did not start sewing, but that is weighing heavy on my mind right now and I am dying to get a project started.  I have embroidered some really beautiful pillow cases and I need to get busy making some more.  I also want to do more napkins.  I have several denim shirts that I want to add something on.  I have a quilt project in the making, but have not actually become brave enough to venture down that road.  I am planning on signing up to take a private lesson for my new sewing machine. I have been doing okay, but I really need to know how to actually figure out some of the particulars for my machine.  I have tried to use my “grand hoop” without a lot of success and I know there must be some simple solutions to what seem like complex issues for me.  My sewing machines will do so much more than I am capable of getting out of it right now.  

We went out to dinner tonight at a most excellent Mexican restaurant – the carnitas was excellent along with the chips and salsa.  It is a restaurant we have not been to before and I am sure we will be going there again (I have a great lunch for tomorrow).  

I know that I need to tackle the picture problem for adding pictures to the blog, but considering my computers problems, I am going to put that on hold until next week.  I need some down time before I start pulling my hair out again.

Later . . .

Can Computers Actually be EVIL?

OMG – I actually did not think I could pull my hair out more with this whole computer nightmare, but, alas, I was frustrated to tears this morning dealing with networking and syncing my iPod.  I am sick to death of electronic toys that have the capability of doing things that I find enchanting, not to mention convenient and helpful; BUT, why to they have to be so completely annoying and difficult???????  I want the capability of having my addresses and my calendar transferred to my iPod, but using Outlook is proving to be a royal pain in the rear!  To further my frustration, my PC decided it was not going to do anything online today – period.  My PC would not work through the router at all.  I connected it straight to the DSL and it worked fine.  When I connected it to the router it would not work.  Mind you the router is, in fact, working because Max’s PC can connect and both the notebooks can connect.  I decided (after much frustration) to make Max’s computer the “host” computer and have the rest of the computers connect through her – don’t ask me why, but that worked.  I can get online with my PC, but still can’t share anything.  Seems like I continue to get “not responding” when I try to access my network from my PC.  So what the heck – as long as each computer has the capability of printing and accessing the web – who I am to challenge the computer wizards in that big black hole of computer wizardry?  I know I will be drawn back into the black hole sometime in the future, simply because I cannot stand to be beaten down and completely give up.  For now my sanity seems to be taking priority and I will stay among the calm, rationale and sane (however one chooses to define it).

How am I ever going to figure out how to get pictures on this blog if I can’t even get my computers to behave themselves?  I will tackle the picture thing in the near future, but enough is enough for me right now.  Maybe it is time to beg Duane to come visit . . .  Even though he is now “Mac Daddy”, I am sure some of that Windows minutia is still rummaging around in there someplace.

I actually am sick of hearing myself complain about this computer stuff – there has to be something better.  Maybe I need to go sew where I can run up against the monster sewing machine with a mind of its own and try to overcome that nightmare.  Since I refuse to go to bed and cover my head, I will just have to find something else to occupy my time (not to mention my demented brain).

Later . . .

Holiday Monday

Well Sunday was the slow easy day that was expected.  We watched two of our three movies and are hoping we get to the last one (Mr. & Mrs. Jones) before this day is over.  

Michael’s team did not advance in their floor hockey standing, so no more participation in the Winter Special Olympics.  Kathy did manage a stop at Frys on their way home and bought a new Western Digital external 400G hard drive.  Yikes, do I have hard drive envy! Right now I don’t really have the need, but it sure sounds good.  I guess what I do not need is any more computer components to add to my misery.  I am still working on the network for our home computers and I managed to get printers changed around and notebooks working with Max’s PC; however, my PC just seems to has its nose completely up in the air while refusing to cooperate in any manner what so ever.  Maybe I have wandered too far down the dark road and my computer just refuses to come out and play with anyone else.  If I thought a good slap up along side the casing would help – I actually think I would do it.  I am sure it is some simple thing I am overlooking and I will figure it out in due time, but I get obsessive with getting it fixed.  As long as all the computers will print, it is not that important that they actually talk to each other.  The printer that we use for the majority of printing is working and the other printer is primarily for printing photos anyway.

We ventured out of the house today and actually made it out of Costco for under $100.  That tends to be classified in the miracle department for our shopping habits.  The main reason we were out and about is because I needed to replace all the windshield wipers on my Xterra.  We are planning a trip to Tahoe this coming weekend and with the weather the way it has been I figured we needed to be prepared for some snow or rain.

I downloaded PodPlus http://purpleghost.com/ for my iPod and it is really very cool.  Once I got my Outlook working I was able to add my calendar and contacts and with PodPlus I added driving directions, movie times, weather and horoscopes.  Being able to add driving directions is really sweet.

I am gong to go try to tackle my PC one more time and see if I can get it to play nice.  

Later . . .

Slow Saturday

Today turned into a real rain storm, but we managed to drag our behinds out of bed and headed down to Santa Clara with Debby to watch Michael play floor hockey.  The Special Olympics Winter Games are officially underway and what a kick to see so many participants.  Unfortunately, Michael’s team did not win their first game and we were not able to stick around for their second game in the afternoon.  They did win their afternoon game and will play again tomorrow.  They have the possibility of further advancement if they win tomorrow.

We drove home in the pouring rain and did our best to convince Debby that a stop at Fry’s was in order.  Since it was pouring and the parking lot was packed, we decided to come home and do some online shopping to bring Debby into the here and now (she does not own a computer).  Between Max and me we have her way well on her way to becoming as addicted to computers as the rest of us.  (Sorry Duane, she will be heading down the path of darkness).

I still do not have my computers networking, but I did manage to get my Outlook working and now have my calendar and contacts loaded on my iPod.  I am in the process of adding additional software to be able to do more things with my iPod (thanks, Kathy).  I don’t suppose there will ever be an end to the electronic nonsense that I have to keep continually learning – but, wait, if I stop buying new toys or having new toys given to me of an electronic nature then I could be finished.  Oh, but what a concept that would be!

Max, the dogs and I are spending a quiet evening in front of the fireplace catching up on all the shows we have on Tivo (now that is one electronic device I could not see living without).  Tomorrow we have three movies we plan to watch – Mr. & Mrs. Smith, War of the Worlds and The Interpreter (Yes, Netflix is a blessing).

I am sure the computer saga will pick up again the beginning of the week, but for now I am taking a break and leaving well enough alone.

Later . . .

I Cannot Believe My Computer Problems

I cannot believe that I have spent ALL day working on computers.  I was tweaking my PC and adding some software when it went into FREEZE mode on me.  After several attempts to get my computer back I finally was able to take off the software I had added and restore to a previous point where my computer was playing nice with me.  Then after much hair pulling and a complete computer crash on Duane’s part we were finally able to get our web cams working and actually had a video conference.  For weeks now we have been trying to get our computers to get over the Mac versus PC polar opposite anti-social behavior and stop refusing to talk to each other.  I actually have conceded that Duane with his Mac is actually on the light side and I with my Sony am on the dark side (his whole system is white and mine is black or dark grey).  Thankfully we are connected Mac to PC and I might not have to keep hearing - “Come to the light”.   Having accomplished what seemed to be the impossible, I was done with computers for a while.

Since the sun was shining and it was not raining, I decided it would be a good idea to groom the dogs.  After 45 minutes, a bucket full of white fluff, bleeding thumb (I always seem to injure myself when grooming the dogs) and two happy dogs, I ventured back to the computer to show Max a really cute audio attachment from my friend Candace (Thanks, Candace).  This attachment was really funny and worth hearing, but in the process of opening the attachment in iTunes all my music performed the big disappearing act.  Now being the smart cookie I am (thanks, Duane) I of course had all my music backed up; however that does not solve the problem of losing all my playlists and ratings.  I played the denial game for a while and then accepted I was back at square one with my music.

After coming back in the house, Max informed me she had finished the video game she received for Christmas (Battlefield II).  My immediate response was that she needed a new game and we would have to get her one asap.  She brought to my attention that it would probably be to her benefit to not have a new video game.  The rationale behind that statement is so she could maintain her GPA and status on the Dean’s List until she finishes school in June.  I guess a full-time job, full-time school and new video game is not the greatest combination.

I then decided it was time to just sit down with my notebook and do a Blog posting.  And  with my history of computer problems, why in the world would I think that would go smoothly – silly me.  I was working on the post and doing quite well, feeling witty and interesting when to my surprise the page went blank and everything I had just written was gone!  Happy about that – I think NOT!  Sometimes I think maybe I possess computers just to test/try my patience and perseverance.  Having lost my posting I decided that perhaps I needed to download the Word for Blog offering from Blogspot.  Once I accomplished the download, I realized I could not actually use it because I was running a new version of Office that was a 3 month trial and I needed to purchase the complete program.  Okay, I could do that.  I went through that process on my notebook and needed to print the certificate so I would have the key and – of course my network would not work and I could not get the thing to print.  Oh boy, more computer problems – why me?????   I started working on that problem for a while and was saved by the bell (phone ringing).  Kathy called to say Paul’s mother, Nancy (the best apple pie baker in the world) had just baked an apple pie and would we like to come over for a piece.  No one had to drag me screaming away from my computer to have Nancy’s pie.  It was yummy.

Once back home I continued to try to get the computers networked and I came to the conclusion I would have to back away and take some space.  I still cannot get the notebook to print, but I have the ability to post from Word (I hope).  I cannot deal with computer problem for another minute; therefore, I am going to go take out my frustrations with my PS2.

I don’t know what I will do if this does not post – probably back to square one with a much, much shorter to the point post.

Later . . .

Miracles

With a little help from Duane, I recovered the post that was not showing up. I am feeling a bit more confident about this whole endeavor, but I know there will be struggles in the future.

Later . . .

Seems To Be Working

Considering the previous post worked, I guess I can continue with postings. In the mean time I am hoping to get some pointers from Duane to add pictures and get this whole thing set up similar to his.

Max is working on homework and the dogs are laying at my feet. It is a cold night with rain expected tomorrow and the fireplace is putting out some nice heat. Kodi (the Malamute) is suffering with allergies again and has to wear socks to keep from licking and chewing on his feet. He seems to be having some reaction to the wet grass. He has continuing problems and has to take allergy medication and I often have to treat his feet. I feel sorry for him and when I tell him to "STOP" he is such a sweetie he will stop licking the foot he was licking and change to another - at least he minds (sort of).

Max's nephew, Michael, participates in Special Olympics and he is playing floor hockey right now. There is a tournament this weekend in Santa Clara that the family will be attending to watch him play. We have such a great time at the "games". He played basketball and volleyball previously. Max's sister, Kathy and her husband Paul (Michael's parents) along with Max's other sister, Debby will all be going to see the games. We usually make a day of it and enjoy hanging out together.

Debby just recently returned from a tour of duty in Iraq and she was the best Christmas present we all received. It is such a blessing to have her home and not have to worry about her and her Transportation Unit making runs over there. We all hope that she is home to stay, but after six months there is the possibility that she will have to return - we are all praying that does not happen. She is in the Army Reserves and will go back if she is needed.

I think that I am going to play my PS2 and try to complete my Maximo game. I am down to the end where I have to fight TWO bosses and I really am not up to it. I need more life and better weapons - not to mention my skills are a little rusty since I have been playing my PSP and the controls are not the same.

Later . . .

Confusion and Frustration

I actually did a pretty complete post the other day and then went back into the post to correct the link to Duane's Blog and now for some reason I cannot see my post. Duane (Mac user that he is) seems to be able to see it just fine, but my computer, notebook, Max's computer and notebook all get nothing. So this is basically a test to see what will happen when I try a new post. Here is hoping for the best.

Trying Again

Considering my plan was to have this Blog started by the first of the year, I guess I need to get after it. Canterbury Tales will consist of the life of Maxine and Donna. We have two wonderfully spoiled brat dogs - Kodi (a 125 pound Alaskan Malamute) and Darci (a 80 pound Chocolate Lab mix). The most precious thing we have in our life is our grandchildren - Devin (almost 7), Desirae (almost 5) and Deanna (almost 5 months). Our grandchildren live about a 6 hour drive from us with their parents, Duane and Denise.

Max works full time and is attending DeVry University full time to earn her BS degree in Technical Manangement. I have the true luxury of being retired and therefore am at home most days with the dogs. I have a variety of hobbies which keep me busy and when Max (Maxine) is not attending school she has many hobbies herself. We have a wonderful garden that not only gives us pleasure, but much good food as well. We both like to fish and do it as often as is possible. Max likes to do wood working and makes some beautiful pens. I am learning how to sew - which consists mostly of embroidery on my new Pfaff sewing machine. We are both into music and video games - mine being the PS2 and PSP while hers is on the PC. She likes first person shooter games while I enjoy the slashing role playing games.

We have extended families that are very important to us. Max has the luck of having everyone close at hand. Her mother lives the farthest (about 3 hours) while both of her sisters live in the same town (maybe 10 minutes away).

As our lives unfold I will expand on the extended family members so you will also get to know them.

If I can figure out how to include pictures, I will do so. You can check out pictures of our grandchildren and their parents at http://ellisonsnapshot.blogspot.com/

I am not sure what I am doing with this, but decided to give it a try.