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.

Last summer, in late June, my husband and I got a much newer car after getting a letter in the mail saying we had been pre-approved for a good sized car loan. Then, in early August, he was about to pull out of the driveway in front of our apartment to come pick me up from the office.

A woman who had been visiting the neighbor in the building across from ours had borrowed the neighbor's truck. She was backing out from the other side of the parking lot, and my husband laid on the horn, but she wasn't watching what she was doing. She smacked into the passenger side bumper...then had the nerve to pretend she didn't understand English...until a Spanish speaking police officer arrived to take a report. (And, of course, none of the neighbors who were out on the balcony in the other building saw a thing.) The woman had insurance as did we. (A day or two AFTER the accident our insurance was cancelled because of a missed payment that didn't arrive in the mail in time for the deadline, so we now have a different insurer.)

So...a few days pass and the investigator for the woman's insurance company comes. He listened to my husband's account of the situation, and said it was clearly the woman's fault, and his company would pay for repairing our car (which is a 2004, as opposed to the 1995 we traded in to buy it). He said he would process the paper work and the company would notify us when the check was ready. Then, the woman's insurance company claims adjuster said the incident was my husband's fault, and the company would not pay the claim for the repair because my husband was in the protection of a parking spot, and the whole thing was HIS fault. Bull. By now, both of us were upset. Our own insurance company sent the body shop a check for $600, which was the amount of the estimated cost of the repair work minus the $500 deductible (which we did not have then and don't have now in our tight budget. We eventually told the body shop to send that check back, since we couldn't afford to have the work done. So...now we have an almost new car with an unsightly dent in the passenger side rear bumper...and life goes on...but everytime I saw the damage, it made me upset to think that woman got off scot-free.

Then, on Wednesday of this week, the phone rang, and it was a man at the body shop my husband picked from the yellow pages. He told my husband to bring the car in so he could look at it...because he might be able to fix it without it costing us a dime. My husband did take the car over later that afternoon. Pretty soon, I got a call from the body shop. The man said my husband was there with him and he wanted the man to tell me what he'd told my husband. The man went on to say that it is his job to deal with insurance companies, and if we agreed, he would let my husband have a loaner vehicle while our car was being repaired. The man told me on the phone, "your car is beautiful, until you look at it from a certain angle, but we can restore it so that no one will ever know the fender was dented." He went on to say that often an insurance company does not pay directly to customers for repair work; too many customers take the money and run, I guess. But, if a body shop is on the phone, the insurance company then knows the customer is serious about having the repair work doen, and they will oftentimes pay up.

I have to admit, I was pretty skeptical...but I agreed, with the understanding that we do not have money for the repair bill, and no work would be done unless money was obtained from the insurance company. Jay drove me to work this morning, and I suggested he call the body shop to see what was happening.

Before he could do so, the body shop called him and said the car was fixed, and he could come pick it up this afternoon. My husband dropped off the loaner car and picked up our car just before he picked me up from the office tonight. The repair work was done so flawlessly it's impossible to tell the car was ever even damaged. The body shop used all new parts, and everything is as good as new.

So, yes...there are still wonders in the world! We are extremely happy with the work, and you can bet anyone needing body work done on a vehicle will be speedily referred to that body shop.

...and have fun doing so. I found a new online game that is a real challenge: Babble There is a free version and a Pro version (at only $9.95USD for a lifetime membership it's a real bargain), and there is a community of players who chat and offer not-so-easy clues at the same time if you happen to get stuck. Plus, there is a message board with lots of helpful resources. The rules are simple, but finding all of the words in a puzzle is no snap. If you enjoy a good, challenging word game, be sure to check it out.

The following is from an e mail I received today. Please feel free to pass it on; doing so could help save someone's life.

"During a BBQ a friend stumbled and took a little fall - she assured everyone that she was fine and had just tripped over a brick because of her new shoes. They got her cleaned up and got her a new plate of food - while she appeared a bit shaken up, Ingrid went about enjoying herself the rest of the evening. Ingrid's husband called later telling everyone that his wife had been taken to the hospital - (at 6:00pm, Ingrid passed away.) She had suffered a stroke at the BBQ - had they known how to identify the signs of a stroke perhaps Ingrid would be with us today."

RECOGNIZING A STROKE

Now doctors say a bystander can recognize a stroke by asking three simple questions:

1. *Ask the individual to SMILE.

2. *Ask him or her to RAISE BOTH ARMS.

3. *Ask the person to SPEAK A SIMPLE SENTENCE (Coherently) (i.e. . . It is
Sunny out today) If he or she has trouble with any of these tasks, call
9-1-1 immediately and describe the symptoms to the dispatcher.

After discovering that a group of non-medical volunteers could identify facial weakness, arm weakness and speech problems, researchers urged the general public to learn these three questions. A cardiologist says if everyone who recuves this email (or reads this post) sends it to 10 people; you can bet that at least one life will be saved.

BE A FRIEND AND SHARE THIS ARTICLE WITH AS MANY FRIENDS AS POSSIBLE, you could save their lives.

...Christmas around our house. We finally got rid of all traces of the phone books; now there are paychecks pending, and those should arrive early this week. Jay and I did some work on our indoor decorating last night, and even if I do say so myself, the results are impressive. I have a good tip. I figured this out last night when we were putting ornaments on our tree. The hooks for the ornaments were in packaging, but they were all tangled together. I separated them, and put them on a plastic drinking straw by crimping one end of the hooks closed over the straw, making sure the other end of the hooks faced the same direction. They slide easily off the ends of the straw, but now, no more mess. I put the drinking straw with the hooks on it in a ziplock bag, and put the bag inside a small metal canister with a cover so that they can be stored with the rest of our decorations when we take everything down for storage. We also do use original packaging for most of the ornaments, and put everying into large plastic storage containers with tight fitting covers for extra protection.

I've planned our Christmas dinner menu, and have a shopping list for the meal and a small one for gifts. All in all, not too bad. although the phone book venture put us easily a couple of weeks behind schedule. Jay says he wants to put up our outdoor decorations today.

If we do the phone books again next year we will know better what to expect, and will plan accordingly. Jay did manage to complete 7 routes, and Lauren did three. She and Keith are excited; they will be moving (with Dylan, of course) into a two bedroom duplex right after Christmas. Lauren told me her maternal grandfather (a licensed minister) may perform their wedding ceremony. I like that much better than a justice of the peace.

In the coming year, I am going to make a concerted effort to write in my blogs every day. By the end of the year, I want to have a sort of snapshot of the events of the year, both personal events and notable ones from the news.