My New Dragon

My kids bought me a Dragon for Christmas.

Not the fire breathing kind, but the word processing kind.

 I really wanted this program after I saw this exciting commercial a few times.

    

It's taken me almost a month, and a lot of help from the oldest son and the hubby, but my Dragon is finally up and running.

I haven't seen any pirates yet, but who knows what could happen?

Stay tuned to see what fun my Dragon and I are going to have together. We did just manage to write this entire blog post, almost hands free, in less than two hours.   It's only going to get better from here on out.

Today I am grateful for

a helpful husband.

Kleenex and store brand mucus relief medicine.

good deals at the grocery store.

EFY registration

This morning one of my friends, who is also the mother of one of my youngest son's friends, called around 8:00 and asked if my son had talked to me about going to EFY. Especially For Youth is a week long program sponsored by the church with social activities, spiritual classes, and lots of fun for teenagers. There are many different sessions in many different locations. She said she was trying to get a group of boys together to go to the session that was being held in Ogden, Utah the second week in July. Of course I had heard nothing about this from my son, but in his defense he was in Arizona and I was in Utah. I have always thought it would be wonderful for my kids to go to EFY, but it wasn't financially an option at times and other times they really weren't interested. I told her that it sounded fun to me and I would see if I could register him. Registration started this morning at 9:00 AM.
I texted the son to make sure this was something he wanted to do and he seemed excited so at 9:00 I attempted to sign on to the website and register him. At first the website wouldn't even open and then after trying for about 15 minutes I got on to the website and was greeted with the message that basically everyone else was trying to register their child for EFY and there would be a "wait in line". That was to be expected, so I waited.
Our mother/daughter plan for this morning was to go to the back and get all of the daughters authorized on my mom's bank accounts before she had to go to physical therapy at 11:00. I was patiently waiting for my turn to register and everyone else was patiently waiting for me to be ready to go to the bank. Finally just before 10:00 I said let's just go. I left the computer on and thought maybe we'd be back before my turn popped up.
The bank took quite a while and we dropped my mom off at her appointment and went home to find the computer looking just like we had left it. What we didn't know was if my turn in line had come and gone or if I was still waiting for a turn. I didn't want to close the page in case the line was really that long and it was going to let me on any second, but I wasn't sure so I opened the same page in a new window too and waited to see what happened.
My sister who arrived yesterday had come with the assignment from her family at home to buy a web cam for my mom's computer and set her up with a SKYPE account so they could make video phone calls to her and she could see them and their families and they could see how she was doing. She bought the camera on the way to mom's house yesterday so while we were waiting for the EFY Website to let me in we decided to set up everything and see if we could get it to work. I was a little bored sitting by the computer watching the 2 screens count from 60 down to 0 over and over again so I starting trying out some of the fun photo effects that came with the camera.
This is me trying to look nice in case someone calls.

Here's the rainbow effect. Do you think green makes my skin look a little purple?


This fishbowl effect was my favorite. It made us all laugh and laugh, which by the way is a very healthy thing to do.

We decided that when my mom feels sad and discouraged she can just get on the computer and make faces at herself and that can't help but make her feel better. When my mom came home she said this picture looked just like her. I always thought I looked like my dad.
I decided we needed to document the three sisters being together so we took our picture too.

We have all spent quite a bit of time with mom recently but we haven't had the chance to be here at the same time. It was fun to get to be together and watch movies and laugh and catch up on life. I am lucky to have such nice sisters.
My mom and the sister that was staying left to go to my mom's club luncheon just before 1:00 and my other sister and I tried to decide how long we should hang out to get the son registered. Finally she decided she would call her roommate and have her turn her computer on and check it for us every now and then. As soon as the roommate came on the phone, the registration page FINALLY popped on. Hooray! When I got to the part where I actually had to commit and pay the money for the week I vacillated for a moment if this was really such a good idea (the price had gone up from years ago when I had considered trying to get my other children to EFY, but I decided it would be a good experience for the boy. Hopefully he'll still be friends with all these guys by the time July rolls around. Maybe that's not as big a problem with boys as it is with girls.

Digital TV

Perhaps I should begin this post
by saying that I am not a big fan of TV.
I'm pretty sure I could very happily live
without even one TV in my home.
Unfortunately I am the only member
of my household that feels this way.
My husband is a major TV fan.
I have to admit that I have known
since my very first encounter with him
that TV is a very important part of his life.
In fact, if it weren't for the fact
that he didn't get TV reception in his basement apartment
and his TV was "living"
in the apartment that I moved into
when I returned to BYU following my mission,
I might have never even made his acquaintance.
I should be grateful for TV
because it brought us together,
but usually I'm not,
because most days
I feel like it drives our family apart.
The boys in the family room
watching their shows
and the hubby in the bedroom watching his.
Me talking and never being heard.
Because of my dislike of TV
we have 2 very old, very small
analog television sets with rabbit ears.
Because of my dislike of TV
we do not subscribe to cable or satellite.
Because of my dislike of TV
I haven't been all that worried
about the switch to digital TV.
So what if the TV
doesn't work after February 17th?
Hooray!
Because of my dislike of TV
when my husband ordered coupons
for converter boxes
I put them away in a safe place
and then forgot where that safe place was.
No one told me they had expiration dates,
which by the way,
I think is absolutely ridiculous.
Well, the other day
when the hubby was talking about going out
and buying converter boxes at full price
I slipped and said,
"Maybe it would be smarter to just buy a digital TV."
You should have seen his face light up.
Ever since that thoughtless moment
all I've heard is "I better go look at TVs".
Well, tonight he suggested we go by Walmart
and check out their TVs.
I do try to be a supportive wife,
every now and then,
so I said OK.
We walked into the electronics department
and there on the far wall was a sea of TVs,
all big enough to view from across the room.
I tried to act interested
and walked closer with him
and the closer I got
the more I realized
I am definitely not a fan of digital TV either,
especially not on a big screen.
There were snowboarders
on every screen and I was sure
I was going to plunge to my death momentarily.
It was all very, very well defined
and I felt like I was on
the STAR TOURS ride at Disneyland
(which I will admit here,
but no where else,
I usually ride with my eyes closed)
and was going to loose my hot dogs any second.
Maybe it was the number of sets,
all showing the same highly defined image,
but I got vertigo like you can not believe.
My husband thinks it was just an excuse
to not buy a TV, but I am not lying.
It just about did me in and
I had to get out of there.
The oldest son says it's OK
if I can't watch the TV.
They'll put it in the family room
and I won't ever have to look at it,
except to dust it I'm sure,
but at least then it will be turned off.
Such a thoughtful child.
The family says they'll "only" get a 32 inch screen,
so maybe that won't send me over the edge.
I'm pretty sure we're getting a new TV
any day now
and my husband works hard and deserves one.
Those are my words not his.
See I am a supportive wife.
I also buy him TV shows on DVD
because I love him and he loves them,
even though I know he'll ignore me
when he watches them.
As long as he doesn't watch them
in high definition maybe I'm OK with that.

One last thing.
Can anyone tell me why
the government cares
what kind of TV reception I get?
I just don't understand
why this is a government issue.

I just finished reading a book
about a new government
that is ruling earth
after earth as we know it is destroyed.
The centralized government
doesn't like the fact that the
districts around North America
rebelled against them and
they squash the rebellion and
then as a reminder of who's in charge
each year the government requires
each district to send 2 of their young adults
to the hunger games -
a reality show
where the last person alive wins
and gets to stay alive.
The citizens of the districts
who can't afford food,
who live without electricity most of the time,
and work to provide luxuries for the leaders
are required to watch day after day
as these games transpire
and the youth kill each other
one by one.
Amazingly, there is always enough electricity
to power TV sets
either in homes
or in the public square
during this time.

Please hurry and explain to me
why the government cares
what kind of TV reception I get.

Introducing Sally 2

Today I am the reluctant owner
of a new cell phone,
thanks to faulty pants pockets,
"wild" teenage driving and
my loving hubby.

I have a very difficult time with change
and have had the same style of cell phone
since I became a reluctant cell phone owner
back in the Fall of 2004.

I have actually had 3 different phones.
First my original plan issue.
Then my oldest son's identical phone
that I acquired
when he needed an upgrade and
I needed buttons that actually pushed.
Most recently I had the exact same phone
courtesy of my youngest daughter's
necessary upgrade to a sidekick phone
with a keypad
for easier texting and internet access.

I had a flip phone
(also a hand-me-down
from the son)
for a week
and I hated it.
I took about 200 pictures
of the inside of my pocket in that week.
I kept accidentally hanging up
on people when I tried to answer it
and the space button
and capital letter button
and puncuation button
were in different places
than I was use to
when I tried to text
and it frustrated me no end.

Now, I know all you
younger than 30 text messagers out there are saying
"You don't use puncuation when you TEXT!"
but I pride myself on my puncuation
and my complete words
and my capital letters
and my precise spacing.
That is why it takes me 10 minutes to send a
5 word text message.
That and the fact that I despise T9.

My husband was going to buy me
a new cell phone a while back
so we went to the T-mobile store and
looked at our options.
I thought I was going to have an anxiety attack
right there in front of the display cases.

So Many Choices.
So Many Bells and Whistles
and Cameras and Colors.
I had to get out of there and fast.
That's when I decided that
I could always scroll up so
I didn't really need a down arrow that worked.

I hate change
but now it has been thrust upon me
and I will just have to get use to it.

I couldn't even make myself go to the store today.
The husband went with 2 of the kids.
I made the hubby promise me
no flipping,
no sliding,
and no picture taking.

Just a boring new phone
like my boring old one.

My kids were so disappointed.
So of course,
the daughter had to purchase an upgrade for herself.


Today I am thankful for

a husband that will go buy me a new cell phone so "my heart doesn't have to go all crappy". That's what happens when I walk into a cell phone store, a car dealership or Costco.
a husband that is willing to be one of the few men watching a "chick flick" because that's the movie I wanted to see.
a husband who loves me even though I think too hard.

My birthmonth present to myself today was going to see "Mamma Mia" for free with my library reading program gift cards.

The new thing I learned today is that there are 293 ways to make change for a dollar. How many can you come up with?

Modern Technology

The jury is still out in my mind as to whether or not technology is a good thing. I will be the first to admit that there are times when I love my cell phone, my computer, my DVD player and so on. It was so nice to have the boys watching the computer the whole trip to St. George and not complaining to me, it is great to be able to be in contact with people you are looking for or meeting or leaving at home to take care of things, and it is fun to get to blog about all my experiences. However, at other times these advances seem to make life more complicated and less enjoyable rather than easier and more fun. Take for instance when my hubby would rather watch his TV shows on DVD rather than cuddle with me or when the cell phone doesn't work because you don't have a signal or when I would prefer to have a conversation with my children rather than text them or watch while they text other people.

My daughter and her husband used some of their wedding money to buy a Garmin GPS system for their car. The husband really wanted one and my daughter said it was OK as long as they bought the pink one. He was fine with that. They were excited to use it on the trip, but it kept telling them to go a different way than we were choosing to go and then it would have to recalculate. It recommended going through Las Vegas and that would never be the route I took to St. George by choice. I got to ride in her car today and she used it to give us directions to the bookstore and scrapbook store we were going to visit. Although it was nice to have a "talking map" I kept trying to figure out why it was sending us the way it did and second guessing what it told us to do. I also got a little annoyed having this "British woman" telling me where to go in Utah. Heck, I AM from Utah. I think I would probably throw the cute little box out the window pretty quickly even if it is pink. I don't like to be told what to do or where to go and I often enjoy taking the scenic route. Just ask my kids. Apparently I come by it naturally because my sister took the newlyweds on some scenic routes with my mom's help. Perhaps when the newlyweds get rich they can buy all us Cheever women a GPS of our very own.

Also, I think each one of us has our own opinion of what modern technology really is and how much is really necessary. Is it a high speed hook up in every motel room, a GPS system in every car, a cell phone in every pocket or this fine example I happened upon on our road trip.

PHone PHrustrations!

Isn't it interesting how when things in our lives work right we hardly even notice them, but when they quit working they become so noticeable? Apparently on Saturday our home phone ceased to function correctly. Usually we figure out that we have a problem when the Internet won't connect, but for some reason the DSL continued to work. My mom and sister spent all day calling me, wondering where I was and I spent all day wondering why they didn't call. Finally, in the evening I called them on my cell phone and discovered that something was wrong with my phone. We have a portable phone with one hook up but three bases and three hand sets. One of the bases got ran over by the vacuum cleaner and one of the phones has disappeared, but we still have two. Unfortunately the handsets get left off of the bases and then they run out of battery or get under the couch cushions and accidentally get turned on when someone sits on them. In other words, I felt like there was probably a problem with the phone this time and I couldn't blame the failure on the stupid phone company and there inept ability to repair the phone line adequately a month ago. On Monday I went to Target and bought a new phone. Another one with one hook up, three handsets, three bases - $59.99 on sale. I took it home and low and behold the phone still had no dial tone. I decided perhaps it was time to contact the phone company. Since this kind of thing is what I have a hubby for I immediately called him and asked him to call and request a repair. Being the wonderful, loving man that he is he did it without complaint, later in the evening after he got home from work. Of course, when you call any business now you do not actually get to talk to a person. You get to carry on a conversation with a voice that asks you random questions and then tells you to speak your answer into the phone, but when you speak the voice starts talking again so the voice doesn't understand what you say. The first thing you usually hear upon calling Qwest is "For some reason, we are experiencing a high number of repair calls and there may be a delay in your service". This is a polite way of saying, our repairmen are mostly a bunch of idiots who don't know what they are doing and therefore we have to keep repairing the same mistakes that we supposedly fixed last month and so we have quite a backlog. Eventually, hubby got a repair scheduled for sometime on July 1st, the next day. Hooray! The repairman arrived in the late afternoon (after driving up and down the street for about 20 minutes) and wasn't at all deterred by the vicious attack dog (Poky) who met him at the door with me. After about an hour and a half we receive a call from him that our phone is now working. I always find this humorous because of course it is working, you are calling me on it. At the same moment, the son and I were trying to sign on to the Internet to work on some health. Three tries and no connection. I check the modem box - flashing lights everywhere. STOP that repairman! Too late, there he goes off down the street. Perhaps everything just needs reset. Unplug, unconnect, turn off, re-plug, re-connect, turn on - same results. Once again I call the hubby, he calls the phone company, try these things when you get home, we'll send someone out tomorrow. Tomorrow, July 2, arrives. About 10:00 I receive a phone call with a "message concerning our phone repair." The repair has been completed and everything is working now. If we have any more problems please call this number. I run to my bedroom to check. Still flashing lights. Perhaps everything just needs reset. Unplug, unconnect, turn off, re-plug, re-connect, turn on - same results. Good thing I wrote down that number! I call the phone company. (Hubby is trying to work and I am capable of talking on the phone once in a while.) After speaking to the voice and pushing a multitude of buttons and listening to how valuable I am to Qwest and a sales pitch for every item they could possibly sell me I get to talk to a real, live person. I ask "Was the repair call I receive regarding the old repair or the new repair?" Who knows. I explain the situation and the real person says hold on while I test the line. More sales pitch and valuable person propaganda. The line appears to be working fine. It must be something to do with the DSL line. Let me connect you with the Internet repair department. More of the valuable customer spill and information on how to sign on to the Internet and get help at their website. I would love to sign on to the Internet and I would definitely love to get help. Now I decide to do a hand off to the eldest son to discuss the technical aspects of the problem because that's what I have sons for and I'm tired of listening to the same message over again. This was a very good decision since the son gets to run around the house and stand on his head and connect and unconnect cables for the next 20 minutes. The final determination is that we need a new modem because apparently ours is fried. I get the phone back to discuss the financial portion of the deal. I can get the modem from them for the low price of $59.99 (think I already spent that amount on this problem this week). I query why we need to purchase the modem from them. The original modem didn't come from them. I receive a lengthy lesson on car repair and how important it is to use parts from the maker and not facsimiles thereof. I see. "How long will it take to arrive?" "3 to 5 business days." Hum, not good. We have health to do and we are going out of town on the 4th. I express my concern. "Oh, I am so glad you told me about your concern. You can just go to Best Buy and buy a modem right now." How convenient. I would have liked to know that 15 minutes ago at the beginning of this discussion. That is what I will do. I get off the phone and eldest son says, "I don't think it's the modem. We had a brand new modem (that we bought when we bought the original one and thought we needed two but really only needed one and so never used) and I tried it too with the Internet tech guy and it didn't work either. He said it must be bad too, but I don't see how it could be since it's brand new." Interesting twist. This is the same modem that I will get in my hot car and drive to Best Buy to purchase. I don't really want to do that if it isn't going to fix the problem. I know. I will call the phone company again and see what they suggest. What a good idea! At least I'll try a new phone number. More voices, more buttons, more valuable customer garbage then finally a real person. I explain my situation. "Hold on and I will check your line to see if it's working." "It's working. I'm talking to you on it." "It will just take a couple of minutes. Let me check it." Now I get -upgrade to a faster Internet speed and get 2 months free. I should be getting something free since I'm not getting what I'm paying for! Real person comes back on "It appears the line is working fine. Let me connect you to the DSL department." Been there, done that, but sure let's do it again. I wish the phone company just had elevator music when they put you on hold. DSL person, "Have you...?" "Yes." "Have you...?" "Yes." and so on and so on and so on. "I need to test your line to see if it is working correctly. You need to hang up and I'll call you back in about 2 minutes." Great. No body's thought to test the line before. Half an hour later. "The line seems to be working fine. I have one of our computer specialists on the other line. I am going to bring him on and he is going to help you try one more thing. Here he is." "Thanks." "I'm going to stand on my head and count to 200 and hit this box with a ding dong wrapper and see if that helps. I need you to unplug your modem and I'll tell you when to plug it back in." In case you haven't guessed that's not what he really said, but what he actually did worked just as well as I think that would have. "Plug the modem back in." and we'll carry on some casual conversation while we wait to see if anything happens. "Umm, nothing. Well, it's possible that something didn't get hooked back up correctly after the repair yesterday. I will put in an order for a repairman to come out. He can be there very late tomorrow. Is that OK?" "I guess it will have to be. We are getting ready to leave town and my son has an online class he needs to work on before we go but I guess we can go to the library to work on it." "Well, actually you need to be home to greet the repairman tomorrow and although I don't think he will get there until late he may be there early so you will need to be there." "O.K." X-nay on the library-a. "By the way, what happened to the repairman that my husband scheduled to come out today? Did he come?" "Let me check. No, apparently no order was ever submitted on that call." "Perhaps I could get the repairman there in the morning tomorrow.How about between 9:00 and 1:00." Just lovely. I know this story has dragged on long enough and obviously my computer is once again working since I am posting a blog. The repairman came about 11:00 and "completed a very easy repair." Apparently there are two connections in the box out in the alley. One for the phone and one for the Internet. Somehow the Internet one was left unplugged following the first repair. Imagine that. I am so glad I am one of Qwest's valuable customers and I get to enjoy their company on such a regular basis. Does anyone have a new phone carrier recommendation? By the way. We now have 5 working land line phones, 4 cell phones, and a "fast enough" DSL connection and no one wants to communicate with me. What's with that! The son did get some health done though so that is a plus. I am grateful today for Phones and computers - that all work at the moment. A blog - where I can vent and feel better. Vacation - that I get to go on tomorrow!