My Dog and the Local Wildlife

I have been working all night (web design job) and for the last hour my border collie, Mairi, has been very restless. I think something's out there, if you know what I mean. It could be Bigfoot or aliens, but I doubt it.

Almost as scary, it could be a cougar. We've had one circling around through our neighborhood for months now. A few nights ago it was spotted taking a midnight stroll through the Bear Cove Cabins just downhill.

I saw it on our porch one night a few months ago - we don't leave cat food out there any more.

We've heard its call many times, but I've never actually seen one except for that one night it was on the porch. I turned on the light then opened the door as it was leaving. I am happy I only saw the back end of it... in hasty retreat.

My Mairi chased it down the driveway - brave doggie... or foolhardy. Probably the latter. She's really into protecting her family. I won't go outside at night without her... we know if anything's out there she'll be the first to react.

Computer Monitor Repair Needed

Today my daughter's monitor stopped working. It seems to have a bad switch because when she plugs it in it just keeps making a loud clicking sound, and the little green light goes on and off. I've never repaired a monitor before.

What should I do? Leave me a message if you know the answer. Meanwhile she's using her brother's monitor which he doesn't mind too much as he hasn't used it in months.

Color Schemes

I just love playing with this Color Schemer Studio. I use it for choosing website colors...

My Daughter Wants My Attention

I've had a rough day. My daughter is a teenager. I love her to pieces but I get frustrated.

For example today she sent me some bad IMail messages. I ignored them so she came out here and unplugged my computer when I was in the middle of doing something. I pointed out I was totally innocent of doing anything to provoke her messages or other behavior... she finally apologized but continued to want my attention, etc.

Lots of time spent with her.

Then she went to her bedroom... I just had to go back there to see if she was okay and then she trapped me in her bedroom. Big mistake to go in there!

Easy Template Change

It was another time management decision. Rather than designing another blog template I decided for now I'll use one of blogger.com's new templates... plus I've turned off the archives for the time being. Maybe later I'll restore the other pages that were here but for today I don't want to deal with it.

Why did I change my blog template? Because I was tired of seeing pink! It was pink, pink, pink for several years and somehow that color no longer fits my personality.

Leaving AFRA, a Time Consuming Activist Organization

Today I made a major time management decision. I said "no" to AFRA. Oh my... I cannot believe how liberated I feel. Now don't get me wrong. I LOVE AFRA. I really do. And I love the people there. That's why it was a major time-consuming addiction for me. So I wrote to the founder and the vice-president and said I'd no longer be participating.

In case you're wondering, AFRA is the American Family Rights Association. I'm an activist more than an advocate but call me either. I care about family rights and am concerned about families torn apart by false accusations. So I've had a family rights website online for four years.

My decision is to moderate my time commitment by participating only in my website and not in AFRA activities in the future.

After turning off the mailing lists and adjusting to my new activity level today I had the pleasant sensation of having time for other things like my writing (remember that!?).

Aaron Learns How To Repair His Playstation 2

More on Playstation 2 repair...

It lasted a few days then needed to be cleaned again. This time Aaron took it apart and watched as I cleaned the laser lens. Then he put it back together and it works great again.

He's really happy now that he knows how to fix it himself. As he said, now he doesn't have to be unhappy if it quits reading the disks again. It is such a frustrating and helpless feeling not to know how to fix it.

There's so much dust in our countryside environment.. I'm sure this is a skill he'll use again and again.

I should probably be writing about this in our homeschooling weblog.

Playstation 2 Repairs

Yesterday morning I fixed the Playstation 2! I fixed the disk read error problem and the disk tray, which was totally stuck. Well, Aaron enjoyed playing with it for an hour or two, then the disk read error began again. How frustrating! Now I'll have to open the box and try again.

Playstation 2 Repair Guide

Missed Communications, Shopping and a Broken Playstation

Yesterday was Mother's Day. My oldest daughter, Simoné, called me from Georgia. Unfortunately I wasn't there to get the call and she just left a message. Then I called my mom and left a message. Then I called Simoné back and left a message. Yay for message machines, but I kind of miss the old days when we used to really connect with one another more often.

I drove to Grants Pass with my son in the afternoon - to buy him shoes. That was my primary purpose for going there. I like buying the kids' shoes at Big 5 Sporting Goods because the sales on brand-name athletic shoes are enticing. Aaron got a pair of Spaulding court shoes... they look great.

Then we went to Walmart and bought paint for his bedroom and the livingroom. He chose blue and yellow paint - to be applied with a roller that will make it looked textured, like stucco. The roller cost nearly as much as the paint! I got everything we need to complete the project. My livingroom will be white with green trim.

I also got all the supplies we need to fix his Playstation 2. I found a cool repair guide online so now all I need is nerves of steel and brains... to get this thing fixed. It is the second Playstation 2 he's owned. They seem to break down a lot. Right now we're dealing with disk-read errors and a CD tray that won't open.