Life in Weyers Cave

We made it! We got up this morning, picked up David's parents and drove to Orlando, getting here around 2:00. First we went to Downtown Disney, where we mostly went through the small shops. One had a magician doing some outstanding tricks. Then we went to the the Rainforest Cafe for a 4:00 pm snack. His parents hadn't been there so it was nice to see the monkeys and elephants perform for them. We left there and came to check in to the Contemporary Resort, on the grounds at Disney. I'm glad David has a great sense of direction because I would have NEVER found it. I took an hour to check in with the two rooms, since we wanted the impossible: one handicapped and the other close by. We finally took what we could get, then decided to try out the Monorail. We went over to the Magic Kingdom and got there just as they closed at 8:00, but that is also when they have their fireworks display. We watched that, then came back to the hotel, had a light dinner, and waited for the light ...

We are in Jacksonville after a long uneventful drive yesterday. I know I am blessed to have the comfortable van. Nonetheless, it gets pretty sore to sit there for 12 hours. Then we got to David's parents' home and sat some more. After that, David wanted to drive around and I was practically screaming "NO MORE SITTING!" I even walked up the steps rather than ride the elevator. Should have gotten in the hot tub, but that was sitting. I totally screwed up in my preparations. I don't read well in a moving car, but I enjoy listening to music, radio, books on tape, etc. Sadly, one speaker in our van often has terrible static and is really unusable and I didn't bring alternative listening devices. I had the computer and PDA and even GPS which have music capabilities and lots of songs, but useless without a set of headphones. Maybe I can pick something up here so the ride home won't be as bad. Just daydreaming and half snoozing for all those hours is, paradoxical...

Jenny Loomis had a baby the easy way this week - she adopted a lovely 5 lb 15 ounce girl named Penelope. So I get three of her other children, the ones who come to her home every morning for seminary at 6:30. I have had a few late nights this week and getting up, dressed, and ready to give a lesson on the Old Testament by 6:30 has been a challenge! Kings, Chronicles, tomorrow is Ezra. It is hard to be exciting to high school students at 6:30 in the morning. I asked if they wanted anything for breakfast, and one wanted Captain Crunch, so I happily got it. "Ha!" you say. You never let your OWN children eat Captain Crunch. That's the beauty of it. They aren't MY children. I can spoil them all I want! We have hot chocolate each morning and, of COURSE, Little Debbie's. It's called bribery. Yesterday I went to my doctor and he said he would send me to a neurosurgeon for my back. But I reminded him I've BEEN to a neurosurgeon who said he couldn't help. He fl...

It has been a while since I mentioned Gail. She is doing much, much better, especially since we took her off sleeping pills two weeks ago. She had been on them for seven years since her husband died. She is more stable and walks more quickly without them. And sleeps just fine. She is wanting to move to an Assisted Living Facility and keeps going back and forth between whether or not she wants caregivers there and how long each day she needs them. She is number two on the list and should move there in the next month, but it depends on when someone else moves on. Now she says she might want to move back to her house as she waits to move in. But her memory is tough. I told her something important on Saturday and she didn't know it on Sunday. She forgets my name. She didn't know I ever helped her with her medical needs. She still doesn't know why she got sick. She often thinks she is at home. I finished editing the book for one client, John V. It took a long time and I didn...

  I gave TAT some sock yarn from Mechelen, Belgium that I thought would suit her personality. But she decided it was scarf/hat yarn for me. Does it suit my personality?

Okay, bambinos. Please go over to Dad's blog and answer just ONE of his trivia questions. It's the least you can do. Come on, play the game everyone. Allen asks me what I DO with my time and I wish I knew. Today after getting up and cleaning house a little, I had a meeting at the nursing home at 10, got out of there at 11:30, then had to make a couple of follow up calls for the meeting. Also calls for doctor's appointments for David, went to a followup geek call to deliver a fixed computer and install the operating system. Driving was an hour. Grocery shopping. Called the guy I worked for yesterday to tell him he had an insurance claim on his computer and printer. Another 15 minutes. Worked on editing the book, which I have finished once and am now on my second run through. Advice to a dear friend on who has just found a trojan, including kids accessibility -- another 15 minutes. Cooking dinner is half an hour to an hour a day. Another friend called and talked an hour, but ...

I was IM'ing Louisa last night and she reminded me that my body was a temple and I realized I needed to seize the day, stop waiting for my schedule to mesh with my friends, and do the walking I keep putting off. So I did! YEAH DUBBY! I brisk-walked a mile around the park in the COLD at night with Jeff's sweet headlight on. Alone. But then I got home. And the Gods in the temple were sure eying those leftover brownies from the Open House. Hey, ya gotta please the Gods!

The article on the Red House came out today as the lead article in the Staunton newspaper. So I had the open house from 2-5. One of the ghosthunters came and showed people her recordings on her computer. They were impressive. We only had about six groups come through. I put a book out for people to put in their feelings. I had cookies and brownies and lots to eat and drink. Several of the people belong to other paranormal groups. They agreed the could "feel something." One lady said that she could feel something in a closet upstairs and left the light on and went to another room. When she returned five minutes later the light had been turned off. Nobody was in the closet. Yesterday as I was cleaning up I put out the Open House sign and got two families wanting to buy the house. One is recently bankrupt. But the other is a real possibility. They definitely love the house.

They just announced that they are going to triple the number of people at the Fort Bragg army base. I wish I had the money to get land or a house down there. It would be a great investment. BUT I wouldn't like living there. I feel so SHORT! I am surrounded by MEN! Great men, to be sure, but the men outnumber the women two to one.

What famous couple is this? I think it is a hoot.

I came home yesterday and there was a bag on my door with a box of candy in it - beautiful Belgian hearts in mousse and cherry. Heavenly! I DID share with David, but only one. No one yet has fessed up to leaving it! What did I do to deserve this kind treatment? Should I be scared? This isn't TAT's normal MO, but she hasn't answered me so maybe she did it. So, dear secret friend: Thank you! I am delighted! Happy Valentine's Day!

  *giggle* Arline, Jeff, Debbie, Tammy, Pete

  What can I say? I have always loved this picture of my father's mother, Helen Hanover Bliss, and her mother, Margaret May Butler Hanover. Margaret's husband died when Grandma was young in Wisconsin, so she took in laundry to have enough money to support her family. After the kids left home, she moved to Phoenix and was head of the YMCA there until she returned to Cleveland to live with the Blisses. Helen was a brilliant woman who loved words and language, going to Rippon College to major in English, although she didn't finish. She was a flapper in the 20s and met my grandfather when she was the head cashier at the restaurant for the Drake Hotel on Lake Shore Drive in Chicago and he was the head bellhop and had a machine gun in his bottom desk drawer. She wore a bikini when she was 60 and looked quite good in it!

I spent another long day at the nonprofit yesterday, then had to drive home in the ice storm. I saw the car in front of me go into a skid, bounce off two guardrails and stop in the middle of the interstate. Fortunately no one was hurt. It took me two hours to go 50 miles on the interstate because traffic was going slowly over the mountain. I got home with four minutes to spare to vote. The first time I ever voted holding my nose. Today I visited Gail and will set up a web page for a doctors office this afternoon. David is upset that I don't get to see him! It is so weird now that he is home and not working on Belgium all the time, that I have a life going a hundred miles an hour without him in it and I guess I need to slow down and remember him.

I got an email on Sunday afternoon saying that I had to be at work on Monday in Charlottesville at 9 at a major nonprofit. I had to move over data on some computers. The directions were awful about what I had to do. I was a little stressed about the job. three hours tops, they said. Well, no. I was there for eight and a half and have to go back tomorrow. Fifteen computers and I have to move over files, set up outlook, map drives, move pointers, etc. And as I was leaving, the list was getting longer and longer. But they were nice and my tech support geek, Chris from New York, was wonderful. A good day, if not long. And nice to get paid for a whole eight hours at the rate I charge! They liked me so much, that they called HQ in NY and recommended me for other jobs coming up. So I am going to Roanoke on Friday to set up a Blackberry. Hope it isn't too hard. I've never even TOUCHED a Blackberry.

One of the talks in church today was on Pres. Hinckley's recent speech "Slow to Anger". He talked about how when we get angry, we lose control of ourselves, our words, and our deeds. Most of those in jail are there because of something they did when they were angry. I was born with a very short fuse. My parents always said it was because I was a redhead. Maybe so, but I worked hard to learn to control it, and have no respect for those who look at anger as a sign of strength or superiority. I slip from time to time, but it is always a source of great embarrassment. It is difficult to withhold a snicker as I watch someone having a temper tantrum. There is ALWAYS a better way to handle the situation, and it shows a major character flaw on their part. I guess it is the adult version of laughing at the teacher because her slip is showing, only anger problems are far more serious! In fact, there is little difference between an alcoholic and someone who refuses to take responsib...

  I can't even tell who it is, except I recognize the hospital logo and all four were born at different hospitals. If I get three people posting they want the answer here, I will post who it is. Otherwise, I will just email it to whoever cares.

  This is Mother's cat Wrenn. Actually, I would still call her Pete's cat. She likes the sink.

Yes, I had three days without a computer. Cold turkey. It was tough. I was able to hack into a neighbor's unsecured system for ten minutes, but then the connection faded. I would have dialed into AOL, but Jeff had the line tied up on his computer. I would use the other line, but Mom canceled it. And then I forgot the computer when I saw Allen and we had a dinner at a place with internet access. Bummer! Allen is now a proud graduate of Advanced Individual Training and an official member of Psychological Operations in the Army. He will be learning Mandarin Chinese. He is now going for three weeks to Fort Benning to learn how to jump out of airplanes so he is a paratrooper. It is silly that they spend all the money on training and THEN send them to jump out of airplanes. Think about it. He is thriving. He is really enjoying his work and direction in life. He is justifiably proud of himself and I am, too. I had a great time seeing him. We took some of the others out for ribs for lunch....

The ten most common passwords are: 1.) password 2.) 123456 3.) qwerty 4.) abc123 5.) letmein 6.) monkey 7.) myspace1 8.) password1 9.) link182 10.) your first name Add to these the name of your pet, kid, mother, spouse, or street. David had a college class where he taught that the default administrative password for HP computers was xxxxx and most people never got around to changing it. The next morning, the mainframe HP computer at the college had been hacked into, using the password xxxxx. (The computer and password have been changed in this story to protect the guilty.) Protect yourself online. For you lazy people, have one password for the accounts you don't care about because no one can harm you if they get them. For the others, DON'T use the same password. I would love to set up a site where I would promise a free game or joke but you would have to "sign up". I would take the usernames and passwords from those who sign up and go to the major financial instituti...

 

(Background. We have all been waiting anxiously to find out what language Allen will be learning for his training. He was supposed to find out weeks ago. He finally knows.) PFC Allen: Hi! Are you coming down for AIT graduation this Thursday? Me: Of course, I'm looking forward to it. PFC: Good, I got my language assignment. Me: What is it? PFC: Let's just say I was a little bit surprised. Me: What is it? Farsi? Chinese? PFC: Well, I think I'll let you think about it a little. Me: Tell me now or I'll wet my pants! PFC: *click* (ring, ring) Me: Okay, are you satisfied. I wet my pants. What's the language? PFC: I need to let you think about it. Me: What's the language? PFC: I'm in formation. Love you, gotta go. Me: What's the language? PFC: I don't have time to tell you. Really, I'm in formation. I'll tell when I can. I don't have time. I gotta go. *click* What's the language? (Actually, I think once I find out I'm not allowed to post...

Yes! I made it through the night last night without getting sick! Now I get to go meet the photographer at the Red House for pictures for the newspaper article. And I THINK the big feature article comes out this coming Sunday. I will put an ad in the paper for an Open House and put a sign out front for the same day. YOUR job, dear friends, is to send good vibes my way and tell all the lovely spirits in your dwellings to come visit the Red House for the day and give it a good feeling!

Okay, everyone together now and let's get this over. "I TOLD YOU SO!" Yes, my doctor asked me to get the flu shot. Yes, I laughed him off and said I seldom get sick, and never for more than a day. Yes, I deserve it *hangs head in shame*. But my 24 hours isn't up yet and I plan to be all back to better tomorrow. If I live that long. Oops, gotta go.... %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% Apparently it isn't the flu but a form of the Norwalk virus, so there! The shot WOULDN'T have helped. I am on the mend, but weak. Keeps me appreciative of the good health I have. But David's flu shot isn't going to protect him. 24-48 hours incubation. He is in Richmond for the weekend at a ham radio convention. %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% (Added Sunday morning) David is fine. I had a relapse last night. Sheesh!