I'm finally getting over my latest illness. I took Sambu Guard throughout, and I think it helped quite a bit.

After much work, I managed to finish graphically correcting my dad's slides of his paintings for his upcoming web page. There were about 85 paintings in all. I adjusted the paintings in perspective, color corrected and sharpened them, and removed lint specks, corner shadows, and smudges. Looking back over the finished product, I can hardly believe the Gimp was able to do all that! It gave me a great feeling of accomplishment!

I watched the Survivor finale last night. I'm glad that, out of the final three, Sandra won. I really like Rupert though! I hope he wins the All-Star game!

I am getting over being sick again! Can you believe it? I'm a wheeling bag of contagions. I really need to get better so I can finish digitally enhancing the slides of my dad's artwork. This whole process is taking me way to long because I am having severe trouble staying motivated to do anything. I guess it has something to do with it being winter. I am going into hibernation mode.

Well, the PC is my main computer of use again. I use it on Lee's desk even though the desk is too low and it hurts my arm to type too much on it. But bleeding iMac eyes are not fun either. I changed the wallpaper on the Mac to my tried-and-true, ultra-dark (in more ways than one) skeleton theme. The muted colors help, but not enough to make the Mac my primary computer yet. Maybe when I start fiddling with the video editing software, I'll change my mind. iTunes is a really good "juke box" though. It's cranking out This Mortal Coil currently.

I slogged through enough of Grokking the Gimp to get to work digitally enhancing my dad's slides of his art work. I feel so freaking professional and empowered. I can remove lint specks, tweak perspective, and balance colors like a pro! Well, at least I think so.

Dang, I have no idea what the problem is, but if I look at our new Mac screen for more than hour, I feel like my eyes are going to bleed. It could be because the default window and application background colors are black on white. I called Mac support on the phone and posted a question about this on their support website and no one can tell me how to change it. It is so frustrating because it is as easy as pie to fix on Windows. I also turned the brightness down all the way and tweaked the gamma settings, but looking at it gives me horrid headaches. Fr Steven mentioned something about flatscreen monitors being hard on the eyes. This could be it too. I'm just really frustrated! I'm about ready to ask Lee to put the PC back on my desk!

Lots of changes around our household. First off, Lee quit the Primerica job after a scwabble with his trainer. Second, we bought an iMac. It's really cool, but as usual, I do not do well with change. Long ago, it took me months to mentally transition from OS2 to Windows. I never was quite able to get used to Linux. Now it seems like certain Mac features decide not to work exclusively for me. It took me hours to install my voice dictation software because I am a moron. It kept saying my microphone was not plugged in when I'd run the diagnostic tests. That was because I just silently sat there instead of reading the testing sentence like I was supposed to. Duh!

The next couple of months are going to be very busy. Lee has decided to stick with his full-time job until the end of the year. That way we do not have to cover living expenses for three months while he is training for the Primerica job. Plus his work will reimburse him for tuition at Xavier this past quarter. But because of this, he is now working at a full-time job, training two days a week for the new part-time job, attending night classes two nights a week in college, and spending all this extra time cleaning up his dad's house so we can settle the estate. I feel like I'm never going to see him again. At least not for the next couple months.

With some life-insurance money we splurged and bought a iMac. It currently is sitting on Lee's desk and is very hard for me use. From what I've seen, it looks very nice, and has a lot more capabilities than our current PC. I am especially anxious to start using the video editing software. But I need to wait until we put the Mac on my computer desk so I can reach it. I'm also hoping that I can somehow transfer my voice dictation sound files over to the Mac to use with ViaVoice on Mac.

I had the bizarre experience yesterday of writing checks to pay off all our unsecured debt, besides the mortgages on the two houses. Never have I 'spent' that much money in one day. It's still too early to determine how I feel about our newfound financial freedom. In a way, it's unsettling because I know our old lifestyle of indebtedness has died. Now I'm going to be extra spastic not to get into debt again. If anything, I think I'll be even more frugal than I was! Plus I'm still not 100% convinced about Lee's new career path as a financial advisor. I need to trust him!

I spent most of the day vegging out in front of the TV, watching all the shows I had hoaded up on video tape for later viewing. I watched 48 Hours, Cold Case, and Law & Order. (Last night I watched Joan of Arcadia, which I think is my new favorite show of the season.) And at 3, I watched Dr. Phil. For my strenuous efforts, we were awarded by getting the bank account book for the life insurance claim. I'm not sure what to think of it. It actually made me feel rather nauseated and unworthy. Of course, I usually feel nauseated and unworthy.

Once again, the kids' school is having another fund raiser. They are selling wrapping paper and candy.

So click here and buy some stuff. Of course the more stuff they sell, the cooler prizes they get.

We just returned yesterday from our yearly pilgrimage to Buck Creek State Park near Springfield, Ohio. Every year Lee's mom's family has a huge three-day family reunion there. We rent cabins, build huge campfires, and drink a lot of booze. This year was fun as usual. On Sunday we attended Liturgy at St. Gregory of Nyssa Church in Columbus, Ohio, and then visited our good friend Dave, who is in graduate school at Ohio State. We also ate our traditional lunch at Tee-Jayes, our favorite countryfried restaurant in Columbus.

This whole inheritance thing is weird. There is a good chance our mounds and mounds of debt could be completely eradicated. Lee and I have been discussing options that we never thought would be possible, like him getting a part time job and going back to school full time. Maybe we will gear up the eBay business again. And Lee is thinking about resurrecting his Dr. Silicon computer repair and consulting business. All this means that Lee would probably be home more during the week. We will be able to do things together, like going to auctions and estate sales. It's weird to think that all my personal needs during the day might actually get taken care of, instead of me being home alone all day while the kids are at school.

My short story, Beauty and the Beast II: One Year Later, won first place in September's ACW Club's writing contest! Now I need to either focus on coming up with something for this month's story, entitled Never Forget, or think of something else to center my creative energies on. Maybe I'll read more about the Gimp.

We didn't get to go to St. Tikhon's on our trip though. Sniff...

I dislodged the offending pill Tuesday night. Talk about some protective coating! The thing was still half intact after being lodged in my throat for 20 hours or more.

We are getting ready to go to Pennsylvania for a wedding. It's a nine hour trip each way. Yuck! But we may get to visit the St Tikhon of Zadonsk Monastery Church on the way home and attend Divine Liturgy there. Woohoo! I love monastics!

Last night when I was taking all my medicine, one of my pills got stuck in the back of my throat. And I swear it is not dissolving. It bounced around from side to side in my throat all last night, and this morning its carcass is still there. It's horrible! I feel like I have a furball!

Lee has made his weekly trek up to Dayton this afternoon to work on cleaning his dad's house and settling his estate. This will probably be typical of every Saturday for quite some time, except for weekends when we will be out of town. It really sucks but somebody has to do it. At least I'm not in constant danger any more of suffocating on snot! Maybe I can accomplish something creative during this "down time".

OK, I need some motivation here! Last week I got so much accomplished. I wrote two news articles and put the finishing touches on my ACW monthly contest short story entry. This week I've done nothing. I keep telling myself I'm going to learn how to use the Gimp or start to read the stack of library books that has been gathering dust in my living room for months, but instead I sit in front of the computer like a lump.

I finished up my article today about the OCMC retreat I attended this past weekend. It deals mostly with the presentations given by Mother Ines, of the Hogar Rafael Ayau Orphanage in Guatemala, and by Presvytera Renee Ritsi, a representative of the OCMC.

I started writing a first draft of my OCMC retreat news article. I'm afraid I have a little too much information for the concise report I think I'm supposed to write.

Tonight is the deadline for entering the ACW monthly writing contest. I'm anxious to see what others have done with the title.

Today I went to a MDA clinic to get a special prescription for getting new electric wheelchair. The doctor I saw was in a wheelchair too, and I thought that was pretty cool!

I guess I'm recovered. At least my antibiotics are gone. I finished up my article for our Church newsletter, and now I have to write up a news article on the OCMC retreat held at our Church yesterday.

I had to get fingerprinted today for a criminal background check with the FBI. Yes, me! Can you imagine me as a criminal? (On second thought, don't answer that.) But since I'm one of the church school teachers this year, I needed to have it done. The fingerprinting technician marveled at how unpronounced the ridges of my fingerprints were. He had a hard time getting accurate prints. It probably wasn't good, but I was excited to find out that if I was a criminal, crime scene investigators would be hard pressed to find my prints at the scene of the crime. It was a cool experience though. I told the guy I felt like I was on CSI. One point was a little weird though because this cop came in that looked strangely like my late father-in-law. I don't know what was stranger though, seeing someone that liked like him so soon after his death or seeing someone that looked like him dressed like a cop!

I revised my story and finally sent it to the ACW monthly short story contest coordinator! Am I glad to have that done!!!

Just when I thought I was getting over my illness, I had another choking on snot and gasping for air episode last night. Of course, Lee was not home. He was at school. I had the girls try to squeeze the snot out of me, give me a dose of Claritin, and give me a couple squirts of my inhaler. Nothing helped. The minute I would cough up a lot of stuff, I'd start filling up with more stuff. I ended up calling Lee home early from his class to lay me in bed so I could cough. I'm beginning to feel like such a nuisance!

Celebrating my mortality, I found and enjoyed perusing this site.

I am slowly beginning to recuperate, enough so, that I was able to get a first or second draft written of my short story for this month's ACW writing contest. On my husband's suggestion, I am setting it aside for a few days so I can revise it with a fresh outlook. Now I must concentrate on writing up a children's book review for our Church's bimonthly (quarterly? semi-annual?) newsletter.

Earlier today I watched all the memorial services about the 9/11 anniversary. I think I'm dehydrated from crying!

I doped up on Benadryl this morning to keep the snot at bay. Hopefully I will not have anymore gasping for air episodes today! I really need to get some writing done.

Unfortunately, Lee thinks he's getting my infection now. I hope he isn't. It's miserable!

Well, I had to ask Lee to drive all the way back from Dayton today because I was so congested and needed him to help me cough. My wimpy, SMA lungs just don't do the coughing thing very well anymore. He was in Dayton sorting through the mess left at his dad's house so he and his sister, Lara, could meet with a lawyer this afternoon to start getting his late father's estate through probate. He ended up driving back up there for the appointment this afternoon. It's an hour trip each way. I felt like such a pathetic nuisance. Breathing through phlegm for an hour while waiting for him to drive back was a nightmare!

I hate being sick. I haven't been this sick in a long time. Unfortunately, there is no restful recovery time in sight. Lee still has to work. The kids still have school. I still have to pay bills. Maybe I'll veg out in front of talk shows for a bit today as a compromise.

I'm still sick. I have acute bronchitis. My doctor gave me this antibiotic to take called Levaquin. There is a full-fledged nuclear assault going on in my bloodstream. Need sleep...

I'm still sick. Now I've added Contact into the drug mix. Hopefully all these chemicals will not interact and turn me blue. If I'm not significantly better tomorrow, I'm calling my doctor.

I wonder if you can OD on Benadryl? I've been so sick and congested with allergies the last few days that I've been taking it along with my generic Claritin. Sometimes I even throw some NyQuil into the mix. See appropriate song lyrics here.

This is my official first posting on my blog. I also frequently post on my DeviantArt website journal and on my Kuro5hin diary. There will probably be a bit of overlap.