TBT Reprints from CJ's Whine and Cheeze

   In 2003, Ma had a stroke. Dad was her full time caregiver until he he had a car accident that totaled the car. So in 2006, I became their chauffeur among other jobs.

At the time, to deal with the stress of running two households and working, I kept a blog entitled CJ's Whine and Cheeze. Egged on by some friends who enjoyed the first read through, you'll see your part when it comes by. 

Friday, August 31, 2007

Grandpa's Internet Cafe

At a recent family gathering, Dad was congratulating himself on the money he was saving on his phone bill. I was glad he was happy.

Since The Eldest was heading off to college after the last doctor visit, we decided to surprise Grandma and Grandpa with a visit. They were delighted to see the grandkids, and the girls happily suffered through the hugs and kisses and then escaped upstairs to play on Grandpa's computer.

After a half an hour of small talk, Dad decided he had to show me the modem that was installed for the FIOS. He was proud of the small, black tower with flashing lights. I was glad he was happy.

I turned my attention to the monitor.

"Oh, I don't know what that is, so I turn it off," explained Dad.

Help me, Lord! Windows was trying to update. There were so many updates, the poor CPU choked trying to keep up. The virus protection was also out of date.

When I tried to log on, his ISP informed me the account was cancelled and had to be reinstated to activate his account under FIOS which was installed last month.

"You haven't turned the machine on since the technician was here, have you." I meant it as a statement of fact and not a question.

"No."

I tried to re-establish the account so the virus shield could be updated. Course, we were running late so I couldn't see it to the end. I made a note to arrive early next Tues. before I had to take Ma to the foot doctor.

Himself stopped the other day to mow the lawn. While there, he had a brilliant idea. He told Dad because of the FIOS, the way to turn the machine on and off was to push the button on the monitor. This way, the machine would always be running to do Windows updates and the virus shield.

Since Dad doesn't really use the computer, if you are in the area, I invite you to park in front of Dad's house. You'll have a ready Wi-Fi hot spot. Fire up your laptop and follow the wizard to establish the network connection. Welcome to Grandpa's Internet Café!

The Empty Page Journal

 

This page was a bonus class for this month. One thing that I really like about Lindsay's classes is she shows how to make your own journal fodder without running out to buy rubber stamps or stickers.

For this class, we used circle designs from the January class that Lindsay had for us to download. These were cut out and painted with watercolors. Another sheet of mixed media paper was put down to paint the circles. We didn't have to be careful how we painted, just slapping color down not only on the circles, but on the background paper.

Then the circles were glued to the background and wavy flower shapes cut out. These were glued to the journal and then doodled and decorated to look a bit more like whimsical flowers.

Lindsay had a Spring Blooms saying for us to letter using a dot technique and a line technique. I decided not to use use the lettering for this page. While I like it, it seems to me rather than using my own voice, I'm copying her work. 

Instead, I found some short quotes about flowers and wrote the quotes as stems for my flowers. I also made a photocopy of one of the pages to test coloring in the leaves. I decided I like the spread the way it is and didn't color in the leaves..

I'm enjoying the fact that I don't have to finish a page, but can keep going back and adding detail if I want. That was something that never occurred to me before. Most likely because I worked small, I've always been able to finish in one sitting. It's freeing to know that there's not a completion date/time for the pages. 

T Stands For Lunch in the Big City

 

We were up in the big city running errands. Suddenly, it's lunchtime. I didn't have a very substantial breakfast so I was hungry. Himself suggested we stop at Jimmy's Tavern and Grill as it was on the way home.

Himself ordered Seafood Stuffed Mushrooms for an appetizer. I had an Arnold Palmer (1/2 lemonade and 1/2 ice tea) as my beverage.

I ordered The Fried Egg Burger, a hamburger, cheddar cheese, bacon, and a fried egg, sunny side up. Delicious.

Drop by hosts, Bleubeard and Elizabeth’s blog to find out what the rest of the T gang is up to. If you want to play, include a beverage or beverage container in your post. Don’t forget to link your blog from Bleubeard and Elizabeth’s page.

Monet and Me

 

put up the Spring wreath. We found the floral pick and ribbon at the Dollar Store.

How Does Your Garden Grow?

If you embiggen you might see the large, wet, snowflakes

that left a coating of snow. Happy Spring!

Himself put up an Easter decoration. From the front window I thought it was a snowman.

Daffodils by the lamp post.

One day there was nothing on the hill by the driveway, and the next there were some crocus.

How does your garden grow?

The Happy. Little, Time Waster

 

Soap in a microwave turns into a monster

The Friday Five Good Things

 

Five good things that happened this week.

1. We enjoyed a new to us series Dan Brown's The Lost Symbol

2. Because I had been sick, we postponed St. Patrick's Day corned beef dinner. I made corned beef, 2 loaves of sweet Irish soda bread, and we watched The Quiet Man.

3. Fun trip to the Dollar Store for Easter goodies for the Great Nieces and Great Nephew

4. I finally sorted a box of scrap and fodder for journaling.

5. I completed another tutorial on painting fun birds

How was your week?