Memorial Day Weekend 2010

First of all, I would like to thank all the people out there who are serving in the Armed Forces. I would also like to thank all the people who have served in the Armed Forces, all the spouses and families. Being a Navy wife for 28 years, I know what the families go through. I know what it is like to raise children and run a home, while your loved one is deployed defending our country, whether it be in times of war or times of peace. The sacrifices,, of all involved are great! I appreciate being able to feel safe, here in the United States. I am thankful that the war is not being fought on our shores.

I would also like to remember those who have served and are no longer with us. You may be gone, but your courage and bravery will never be forgotten. May you rest in peace.

God Bless America!

Day Six with My Mac

Day six with my Mac.

Today was a quiet day. I slept in till 9:30, which was a little unusual for me. The past few nights I have been getting to bed rather late, so I guess I was just catching up on some much needed sleep.The mail lady brought my package from Amazon today. Inside was a brand new copy of Switching to the Mac, the missing manual. I am so excited to get it. I sat down and started reading it right away.

Amber came over around 6 pm and we went down to Salsa's for dinner. as usual, the Shrimp Taco Salad was a delight! We came back and she showed me a few things on the Mac. I am grateful for the help.

After Amber left, Greg called and we went through some installations of programs. I got Scribus, which is a publishing program. I also downloaded Google Earth. I haven't installed it yet.

Already it is late , so I will keep this short. I need to get a normal night's sleep.

Tomorrow I hope to learn some more neat stuff about my Mac.

Me and My Mac

I have been using my new Mac off and on most of the day. Have only used the PC, sitting beside it, a couple times to retrieve pass words. My memory is not what it should be, I have to refer to lists constantly! Oh well!

I gave Linda the "grand tour" of the Mac, what little I have learned about it! I actually used some of the cool tips Jeff and Emily had given me on Saturday during our video tutoring session. They were my "Apple support" for the day. Back to the story.... I find myself really liking the touchpad on the Mac! That is something, as I couldn't seem to get the hang of it on the PC. Today, when I have gone to the PC to look at something, I go for the touchpad. I use it a little on the PC, but it being so small, it doesn't have the capability of the Mac's touchpad.

Bottom line....I think I'm gonna like the Mac touchpad!

Well, it is getting late, so I am going to close for now. I'll be back at the keyboard in the morning!

An "Apple" a day.............

Me and My Mac, Learning a new way of computing.

I am wondering how the times is going by so fast! Here it is May 16th already. Today marks the 5 years since my Mother passed away. On the 31 st, my Father will have been gone 12 years. I miss them both very much.

Well, I have decided to make the topic of my blog, my new Mac. Last Friday I took the plunge and decided to change over from a PC to a Mac. I had been entertaining the thought for sometime now, but didn't think I would have Greg's support. He likes PC's and I don't think he would consider switching.

About a week before Mother's Day, Greg started asking me what I would like for a gift. I couldn't really think of anything, so I asked for a rain check. I went down to Emily and Jeff's to watch the pooches while they went to Atlanta for a few days. That Thursday, Emily and I met Amber in Williamsburg, where we spent a few days, at the Legacy of Williamsburg Bed and Breakfast. That was our Mother's Day celebration. We had good weather and a great time. When I returned home, Greg asked again what I wanted for a gift. I told him that I would like a Mac. I really had expected him to "Poo Poo" the idea, but he didn't. He completely surprised me and said ; although he didn't want one, if I did there was no reason not to get one. That was it.....the hunt was on!

I started watching all the Mac videos I could find. I looked at the different models and the features. I don't know what half the specs mean, but I do know what I have in my PC and I wanted the same or more. I decided on the Mac Book Pro 15". This past week, Greg said that he was going to finish up a day early and would be home Thursday night. He said that he was going to take the next day off. I asked him if he would go up to Columbia to the Apple store with me. We headed out Friday morn. We went to Malcolm Grow to get his blood drawn, then we headed over to the Exchange on base so he could get a haircut. We noticed there were some roads closed and some barricades up, so we figured something was going on. He headed into the barber shop and I headed for the clothing dept. Wow... I am going to have to go back there again soon. That is a goldmine for fashion. That's a topic for another day! When I asked, the cashier told me that it was Military Appreciation Day for the Air Show. When we came out of the Exchange, that was obvious, as a stunt plane was going by.

We got up to Columbia Mall and parked in the usual area, by LL Beans. Walked all throught the mall and arrived at the Apple Store. It looked like it was pretty busy, but there were some Macs open, so we went over and started checking them out. I took notice of how we weren't approached by and salespeople, which was good , at the time, as I wanted to get on the Mac and play around and see if infact it was what I wanted to get. After a few minutes, I had made up my mind and went in search of someone to sell me one. I was told that someone would be right over. I watched and waited, and we weren't the next ones to get helped. Guess I was a little impatient, but I was ready to buy and it didn't seem to matter. We left. I'll admit that I was a little down, but we were being ignored, and I knew that I could go up to Annapolis and try there. We went down to the lower level and had lunch at the food court. We had to take the esulator to get up to the level to exit from. Greg asked if I wanted to go back and try again. I was torn, I didn't make my mind up till I got to the top, as to which way I would go. I turned right and we headed back to the Apple Store. When we arrived, there was a salesman at the front door, he looked like Santa. It was as. if he was waiting for us. He asked if he could help us. Then he walked us through the process of purchasing my first Mac. While he went in the back to get the Mac, some young men decided to steal an ipad off the front display table. At first I heard this shattering of glass and some gasps. I thought someone had dropped something on the floor. But it was much more serious than that. I looked up just in time to see three boys running out the front door. The alarms then went off and Apple employees started running towards the front door. It was too late, they were gone! When our salesman returned with the Mac, he said that it is a normal occurrence. Funny thing is, when we first went there earlier, there was a policeman standing guard at the front door. He wasn't there when we came back.

It is Sunday afternoon and I have had my MBP for 2 days. I can already tell that it is going to be a good relationship between us! BTW I did also get the One to One policy, so I can have Apple help for the first year. That's for when I can't ask one of my three experts, ( Jeff, Emily and Amber), for their help.

Yesterday morning I had a three person video conference with Emily and Jeff. That was cool! I also love the back lit keys, what a plus!

So stay tuned to learn how the relationship is going.

Later

Reliving the past 24 days!

Wow, hard to believe that it has been 24 days since I last blogged! Time is going by much too quickly. I am sure lots has happened since I last wrote. The question of the night will be whether or not I can have a "total recall" of what has taken place.

On March 6th, Linda and I went to a seminar given by Ancestry.com.at the Lexington Park Library. It was an all day thing. I ended up winning one of the 2 grand prizes, a year subscription to "Ancestry World Deluxe Edition" We also joined ranks with the St. Mary's Genealogical Society. We went to our first meeting on the 22nd. I think I am going to like it!

First off, I am no longer on Jury Duty. I did get called in for a murder trial, but after 2 hours of juror questioning, my number didn't come up, so I was dismissed. I really would have liked to sit on a trial, but not a murder trial for the first one. Case ran four days, jury didn't deliberate too long. They brought back a guilty verdict.

Emily and the pups came up for part of her Spring break. We had a lot of fun. We went shopping, went to Roy's in Baltimore, Crabby Oyster in King George and Salsa's in Leonardtown. I finally got to meet Rachel and Aaron, Emily's friends from NC. They came up and spent Friday night with us. Saturday they went to the National Harbor to check out the Flagship "Peep" store.

Gonzo and Bella came to stay with us the following week, as John and Amber went out to Las Vegas. That is where the welding competition was held. They had a good time. We had a great time getting to know our "Grankitties"

We had our duct work cleaned out. First time in 22 years. I would highly recommend it!

Greg and I went into the city last Saturday. We went to protest the health care bill. The rally was a last minute thing, but lots of people showed up. A lot carried flags, some carried signs, and some wore slogans on their clothes. Greg did the sign carrying and I wore the slogan. It was his slogan, I stole it for a shirt while he went up to Waldorf at midnight to CVS to get poster board for his sign. I had the shirt done when he got back. I was all proud of it, but he didn't look at it the same way I did, see ..he was going to put that same slogan on his sign! OOps!!!

The weather was excellent on Saturday morning. We met some nice folks on the subway, Paul and Ruth. They had driven down from PA to participate. They asked if they could tag along to get to the rally, as they weren't real sure where to go. We also met this gal from Forestville who said she works/volunteers for Charles Lollar, who is running for Steny Hoyer's seat. She was a gaboholic, but interesting. We stayed till about 3. We were tired and hungry. You know me when I get hungry....or maybe you don't... let's just say, it can get ugly. We went to Toppilinos in Clinton. It was good!

Jeff will be coming home on Tuesday! Praise God, my prayers will have been answered.

Tonight we went to church for a spaghetti dinner, to help the Senior's raise money. It was good. We sat with Gary and Pam Craven. Dick Harbaugh was there, but left soon after we got there.

Greg went to band practice and I worked on the computer. I have been keying in Naturalization records for Ancestry.com. Pretty interesting work.

Also had a surprise friend request on face Book this afternoon....My cousin Lil Eklund from Sweden. She found me two years ago exactly, through Ancestry. We found our great grandfathers were brothers. We email regularly and now we are hooking up on face Book, how cool is that?

Well, that is it for catching up tonight. I'll try and see if I remember how to put photos on here, we have a few pics from Capitol Hill last Saturday.

Have a great weekend all

Anticipation....

Here it is March 2, 2010. There are so many good things, coming up, to look forward to. I feel like a kid before Christmas, so much anticipation, knowing good things are around the corner.

First off, next week, Emily is on Spring break from school, and will be coming home for a few days with the pups. I am so looking forward to spending time with Emily, Charlie, Sammy, Dolly, Baby Girl, Peanut, Fred, Henry, Chester and Blind Girl.

Then on, Friday, Rachel and Aaron are coming to visit. I am looking forward to getting to meet them in person. They are friends of Emily's from church. When I first got started in Face Book they became my friends to help me out in Farmville. Then we all started playing Cafe World. The rest is history. They are coming up from North Carolina to go to the National Harbor to visit the flagship "Peep" store ( as in marshmallow peep), in the country.

The next exciting thing to look forward to is having Bella and Gonzo stay with us while John and Amber are in Las Vegas for the wielding competition. It will be nice having a couple kittys running around. Like the old days. Plus we will get a chance to know them better. That takes us up to the middle of March.

With April comes Jeff's return form Afghanistan. I don't know the exact date yet, but it won't be afar off. I will be so thankful to have him home. I pray that Jeff and Emily won't have to be separated for long periods of time anymore. I wish there were enough troops, so that no one person would have to do more than two rotations, unless they wanted to. I know what it is like to have my husband away. Mind you our longest separation was 7 months, but I endured that for 28 years. We made it through those times, and I am a stronger woman for it. But I know God didn't intend for families to be separated like that.

Drum roll please............Then comes May...One of my favorite holidays comes in May...It's Mother's Day. I am so blessed to be the Mother of two wonderful people. They couldn't have turned out any better. I am proud to claim them as my children. They have given so much joy over the past 28 1/2 years. (well maybe not the three months of morning sickness). I know the best years are yet to come. And Amber and Jeff, well I love them as my own. I couldn't have picked out better spouses for my kids.

This year for Mother's day, Emily, Amber and I are going to a Bed and Breakfast in Williamsburg, VA. I am so looking forward to it (hope I don't bust before we get to go). We started this tradition three years ago, and I hope it continues.

That is a glimpse of what I am looking forward to in the coming months.

Always looking forward with anticipation.

One never knows what God will bring into your life.

Until I blog again.......

Road Trip Destination: National Harbor

I wasn't quite sure what topic I was going to blog on tonight. It was a very interesting day, with several events that would be worthy to "go on" about....

I had jury duty this am, but after rounds of questions, I didn't make the cut. Better luck next time.

My BFF and I went up to National Harbor to check out the new "Peep" store. Yes, it was filled with all sorts of peeps and peep accessories. You have to see it to believe it. They even had peep mouse pads for under $5, Wal Mart's mouse pads aren't even that cheap, oh cool for that matter.

While we were right there, we decided to tour the Gaylord Hotel. That was like nothing I had ever seen before. There was a Chik-fil-A convention going on. We knew something was going on when we pulled into the parking garage and every other car or truck was cow painted. And reading the vanity plates on some of the cars was a give away...EAT MO CHIX

We had lunch at McCormick and Schmick's, oh that cashew crusted mahi mahi with Caribbean salsa was splendid.

The view from the harbor place was really nice. Looks like Disney is going to build a resort there in the near future. It is really worth checking out, I would wait for a nice Spring day, as today was overcast and breezy (cold).

One of the highlights of the entire trip happened while we were enjoying lunch....There was a couple sitting across from us. This man and his wife were very well dressed and were very professional looking. When they finished and were ready to leave, the gentleman came up to our table and said that he didn't want to interrupt, but he wanted to tell us how much we encouraged him and his wife, by praying and thanking the Lord for our food before we ate. He said that they frequently eat out and have never seen that. He said that it was good to know there are other Christians out there. He also said that he and his wife were going to record us, but decided not to. They thanked us, and I thanked them for it encouraged me to have him make a point to stop by and tell me that.

Sometimes I wonder how God is going to use me as a witness, and times like this today, encourage me knowing that God is using me, and once in awhile, He lets me sneak a peek as to how. What a blessing it is to be a Christian, to have been forgiven for all my sin, past present and future, to be loved by My God who will never leave me or forsake me. And to think... all I had to do was to ask Him to forgive me of my sins and be my Savior. Friend... have you asked Him? He is ready... all you have to do is ask.

I hope you all have a blessed night