On Friday afternoon, January 27, I had the joy of attending my daughter's wedding. She and Dylan's father finally are husband and wife, and I couldn't be more pleased. The ceremony was small, with just a few family members present, but it was completely lovely. Lauren chose a simple but beautiful dress and veil, and a professional photographer friend offered his services gratis, which is what prompted a change in their plans. Originally, she and Keith were planning only to have themselves and her paternal grandparents present and have a reception for the rest of their friends and family later.

I did much better than I expected to; I got a little misty eyed, but didn't make a complete mess of my makeup crying. I thought I'd probably be a basket case because I'm usually really weepy at times like this.

Lauren and Keith have been through a lot, and they've made some big and important changes in their lives. It is such a joy that now they truly have a committed relationship in which to nurture Dylan. I am proud of both of them, and I will enjoy being a mother-in-law.

After the ceremony, we shared a light dinner (baked ham, sweet peas with pearl onions, green salad, rolls, wild rice, and of course wedding cake.) Then we brought Dylan home to spend the night so his parents could celebrate. He was adorable, dressed in black dress pants and black dress shoes, white dress shirt and black vest. The minute we got into the car, off came the shoes and socks. He didn't go to sleep until after midnight, and was awake most of the day yesterday before he finally took a two hour nap. He is at the point that he picks up words like a sponge soaks up water. He has learned the girls' names, and he is so cute when he calls them.

The past couple of weeks have been lively. I gave Jay his own computer for Christmas, and he's going through "new user anxiety" with it. He has discovered that this computer, like most others, do not work "right out of the carton"; there are many things other than screen savers and wallpapers that need to be done to get it set up to his liking. He's been used to my machine, where everything is already set up and loaded...now, he's figuring out how to download, install and work with software. His original OS was Windows 98 SE, and it worked well, but there was a problem with the graphics and display that were causing discomfort as well as frustration. The other day, Adam came over, and we reformatted his hard drive and installed Windows XP Home edition. Much better! He's more accustomed to XP anyway, and there is better software selection available for it. He is much bettter with hardware that scares me to death than with software; I am more comfortable with software, so it's a balance.

We both use Firefox, and I have freeware and software that he also shares without violating EULA's. Both machines share the same internet connection. Next up is networking them to share files and the printer.

It's just a small thing, but I got another piece of good news this morning. When I have to order new checks from my bank, they will not cost anything. Every little bit helps. We've taken care of signing our new lease for what I hope is the last time; we will be seriously looking for a house this year. The mamagement has a good deal going so if we do find a house, we only have to pay $250 amd turn in the documentation, and the rest of our lease will be cancelled. The girls have had all their shots, and they're both healthy. That's another thing we don't have to do until next year.

The weather is unseasonably warm (85 degrees, more like summer than winter. I bet when it finally breaks, it's going to be wet, cold and very unpleasant.
I got a new flash drive, so I'm collecting portable versions of my favorite software, plus I've put the folders containing my personal pages on it. Now, I can take Firefox and my pages with me everywhere. It doesn't get much better.

Just a couple of days ago, I posted about Babble, an online word game that is fun and a real challenge to play. Today, I decided to collect the links for all of the resources provided on Babbler's Anonymous, the message board and resource center for the game, and put them all in one easy to access location. I downloaded a fresh, new template from OSWD and in just a couple of minutes I was ready to create the page I needed for the links and resources. I wrote a quick introduction for the game, then copied the game's rules from the game's website into the body section of the page, and a section by section analysis of the Stats Page on Babbler's Anonymous. I also included a section for my own tips for game play that I will develop as I play more. I placed the links for the Babble home page, Babbler's Anonymous, the Stats page for each day's puzzle, the Contact link for the game's developer, a link to the Chat log and one for the DevLog into the menu section at the top of the page. In the sidebar, I placed the links to the various help tools I found in the Toolbox of Babbler's Anonymous in one section, links to quotation sites in a different section, and links to my player profile and the log in page in a third section.

Then (and this step is completely optional) I created a new Firefox profile specifically for Babble. I set the new page I created to open in the profile as my homepage, which leaves plenty of room to open the resources links as needed in their own tabs. I can load both my original (all-purpose) personal page and the new Babble Page I just created in their own respective tabs in Firefox, in any profile I care to use, so the Babble-only profile is not a necessity, but more of an experiment. Now, everything I need to have a completely wonderful time playing this great word game online is readily available and, as usual, easy to access and edit as needed. This also saves time because I don't have to constantly be trying to access deeply nested pages; they are linked to directly on the new personal page.

Happy New Year! I have a strong feeling of promise this year; perhaps more than I've felt in a long time. There is an important personal milestone on the way for someone I care about. It will be very interesting to watch developments. I don't make New Year's resolutions per se; I simply try to make the most of every day. To me, that seems a far more attainable goal than making resolutions for an entire year only to have them broken within a few days or weeks.

We spent a quiet night at home, and I was not awake at midnight, but I did get up shortly after for a little while before going back to sleep. Dylan will be two in just a few weeks, and his growth and development is exciting to watch and help with. Lauren and Keith are settled into their new home and are both working hard. Adam is also well; he may be starting a new job soon. Jay is doing temp work for now, and I of course still have my job. My loved ones are all healthy and happy, and it is a blessing.

I'm making my usual black-eyed peas; it's one New Year's tradition I borrowed from my grandmother; my Aunt Doris says she doesn't care for them, but I do like them, and it can't hurt. Champagne is chilled for later, so it will be a good day here.