The Bitch Is Back.... Hopefully

As difficult as the last few weeks have been for me, I have had an epiphany. I can live without the computer and life goes on. Who knew? I thought that perhaps this all happened to me for a reason. I was getting far too dependent on my computer and whatever the forces were, I was compelled to come to the realization that there is more to my life than hovering over my computer day after day. It doesn't rule me and I do still have a life in The Real World. Lesson learned.That said I'm damned glad to be back! I have missed everyone and although I may have learned a valuable lesson, I've also realized that all of you mean a great deal to me, but I have things here that I need to take care of as well. Time management is now one of my main objectives and it's probably something I should have incorporated into my everyday life long ago.

We went to Austin last weekend to meet up with the kids and had a wonderful time eating and drinking our way through our mini family reunion. Snooty Daughter flew in from L.A. for her birthday, so it was cause for celebration. Since our son's birthday is also this month, it was a double celebration.

When we left here, the winds from Hell were blowing, which made for a particularly difficult drive, so I was exhausted when we finally reached our hotel. The winds were blowing in Austin but not nearly like they were in West Texas. We didn't play golf this time because of the high winds, so our son drove us around his college campus one day (St. Edwards University), which is really beautiful.

There weren't as many Bluebonnets along the way this year, due to not enough rain in the fall months. However, there were other colors, although not near as plentiful as we've seen in the past. Austin is suffering from severe drought, as are most areas of Texas. We're used to it out here in West Texas (the desert), but Austin usually gets plenty of rain.

I wish I could say I've been busy moving, but things just don't work like that around here. Mr. Snoots is far too frugal to buy one house before selling the other. I'm sure we'll have to talk & think about it for a few years before we ever take the jump. Remember, we've been in this house for 23 years. We never just jump into anything. Ever.

We had several amazing meals while in Austin, but you'll have to refer to my cooking blog to read about those heady experiences. We did eat lunch at one of my favorite spots... Trudy's. It's nothing spectacular but they do have excellent Margaritas, Tex-Mex food and attentive servers. They also have a lovely outside eating area, so we sat outside as we drank our cocktails and feasted on a delicious lunch.

Today the winds from Hell are blowing again… up around 40-50 mph. I'm so glad that I didn't bother to clean anything up outside… It would have been a completely futile act.

We also ate lunch one day at Hut's Burgers which is another Austin favorite. They have amazingly delicious burgers. Unfortunately, I was so crammed in to a tiny booth that I was unable to reach my purse for my camera. Being close to the University of Texas and downtown Austin, it was literally packed for lunch.

More Computer Woes... I Think Our Computer Guru Is Hiding Out

This morning Malware found THREE more viruses and I'm about to go insane. I'm staying off the computer as much as possible, so I have no idea how the viruses are getting in. Aaaaaargh!

To make matters worse, our Computer Guru STILL hasn't been here. I think he's hiding from us. I think this whole ordeal has become as overwhelming for him as it is for us. That, or he had the audacity to take a vacation just when I needed him most. This is so frustrating!

I just wanted to let you know that I haven't slid off the face of the earth. Yet. I'm catching up on reading everyone's posts, but really trying to stay off until the little shit sweet, wonderful Computer Guru gets himself over here. Paul... Where Are You??? I'm approaching a point of complete and total desperation.

Please pray for my sanity.... it's slipping away.

I've Been In Blogger Rehab And Thoughts Of Moving.....

Yes, Dear Readers, there is help for the obsessed blog writer. My rehab came in the form of a Trojan Horse Virus. The problems with my effing computer began a couple of weeks ago, starting out very slowly. Little things kept happening like the date & time were wrong when I turned it on every morning. I thought the computer was just having as hard a time adjusting to the time change as I. Then, I started getting pages shut down with a note from Microsoft saying I should report it so they could fix it. Yeah. Right. I reported it. They didn't couldn't fix it.

Next, my computer was flat out freezing up, often refusing to shut down entirely. There were several instances I had to shut it down manually, which is irritating enough. I finally called my computer guru who suggested that I use yet another program to search for viruses. Mind you, I have two full-time anti-virus programs already on a daily basis, but dutifully followed his suggestions. Bingo. Bango. Bongo. Trojan Horse Virus. I quarantined the virus, and deleted it, thinking my problems were over. Ha!

Two days later, the problems started again, in pretty much the same succession. By this point, I was ready to pull every last little hair from someone's head. I wanted to find the little devil hackers and torture them slowly. Oh, if only I could. I ran the Malware again and guess what? Yup. Another Trojan virus. So, I once again called my computer guru who told me it would be several days before he could make it over here to see what's going on. Argh!

Oddly enough, I didn't go insane. I used this painful time without a computer to do some much-needed spring-cleaning. You know. So that when the winds start blowing again, as they always do, they will have a fresh start spreading dirt everywhere. Yes, I'm tidy like that. Yes, I clean before the maid comes too, as insane as that sounds. I really got into the cleaning thing, for the first time since… well, ummmm… since I started blogging. In the midst of all this, I decided it's time to get this place in shape so that we can put it on the market and move to a more manageable sized home for life without children. The following photos are of the townhouse, NOT our home.

One thing that prompted me to start getting the house ready to sell is that one of my favorite houses ever has just hit the market. Actually, it's a townhouse with no yard, a few flowerbeds, swimming pool, 2 car attached garage, 3 bedrooms, 3 baths, formal living & dining, den with wet bar, and a fabulous kitchen with a casual dining area. I've been waiting for this place to come on the market for years, but should have been ready for it. Now, it will probably sell before we ever finish getting this house presentable. I could just cry. Wah! Homes on this particular street almost never become available unless someone dies. Or gets transferred or loses their job. Apparently, hard times have hit our city hard. This street stretches out over 3 city blocks and was designed to look just like a street in The Quarter, in New Orleans, cobblestone streets and all. It is so charming, as are all of the townhouses.

Imagine, if you will, how much clutter and crap we have after living in this house for 23 years. When we moved in our daughter had just turned one and our son was three. It took 23 years to accumulate this much *stuff*, so I'm pretty darn sure this isn't going to be easy.

Our home has 4 bedrooms, each with it's own private bath, two living areas, two dining areas, an enormous kitchen, and sits on what is referred to as a double lot. In back, we have a guesthouse that used to be my art studio (now just stores more *stuff*), a large tool shed (yup, more *stuff*), the vegetable garden area, with an old playhouse at the other end (which also now stores more *stuff*). The front and back yards are enormous and there are two large side yards as well. The front has half a yard size with grass & trees, flowerbeds, a circle drive with another yard size flower/tree bed in front of that. While it was the perfect home to raise our two children, it has become too much for the just the two of us to take care of. Frankly, we passed that point when we packed our daughter off to college. It's been out of control since that time and we've allowed many things to fall into disrepair, but mainly outside things. The inside is merely cluttered with too much *stuff*.

So, what I'm trying to relay is that I've been a cleaning-out-throwing-away maniac. Instead of going to a support group to maintain this detox effect, I am going to have to limit myself to four days a week on this blog and on my cooking blog, which I've decided I wasn't quite ready to give up on. I'm going to limit internet time and spend at least 3 days per week doing no more than check & answer emails. Period. The remainder of those three days will be spent cleaning out, throwing out, and giving things away. I'm a woman on a menopausal crusade to change my life and this is where it starts.


In closing, we are headed up to the Texas Panhandle for a funeral, which is the second one in two days. Our Galveston friends' (the wife's) father died and we're driving up there for the funeral. Today we attended a celebration of life for Mr. Snoots' step-Aunt who passed away last weekend. I guess I'd have to say this has been a fairly depressing week, all in all. Next week has to be better....