Tuesday's To-Do

Yay! Monday is over! Another day closer to saturday and sleeping in!
today I need to:

1. Call AMEX. (I don't why this is so hard to do. It's just a simple phone call. Maybe if it is at the top of the list it will get done.)
   I DID IT!!! YAY for ME!
2. Print new orders
3. Process orders for painting this week
4. Clean up house so SIL can clean it (does that make sense?)
5. I want to make a banner/header for my blog
made one, but don't know how to make it work : (
6. Call Critter Care Shelter again (do I REALLY want another dog? YES! Snoopydog drives me nuts. He needs a sister!)
   Left another message *sigh*
7. Start painting this weeks orders
8. I should pour my molds, but I might wait til tomorrow to do that....
   will do this tomorrow
9. Post to my blog (Hmmmm, what to write about...)
10. Email customers that their orders shipped yesterday
11. Figure out what the heck is for dinner tonight since Challenge ate all the chipped ham and took ham bar-b-ques off the menu. I think I have lasagna in the freezer : )

Oooohhh, that's a long list. I better get a shower and get started. If anyone knows how to add a banner/header to blogger, can you clue me in? I haven't actually tried to figure it out yet....still have to take the picture....any tips would be great!

Thanks!

Monday's To-Do List

1. Print paperwork for orders that are done
2. Pack and ship those orders
3. Get 8 piggy banks ready to fire
4. Fire those piggys
5. Email customer about order
6. Order paint
7. Mail envelope to Eowyn at college
8. Call Amex

That should do it for today. Got your own list? Go ahead and post it...

The Rest of the Song

After all the trouble these song lyrics caused (I believe the site where I found them is where my viruses came from) I am posting the rest of them. Verse 1 can be found here.

Forever Young - (r. stewart/j.cregan/k.savigar)
verse 2
May good fortune be with you,
May your guiding light be strong.
Build a stairway to heaven
with a prince or a vagabond.
And may you never love in vain,
and in my heart you will remain
Forever Young.

verse 3
And when you finally fly away
I'll be hoping that I served you well.
For all the wisdom of a lifetime
No one can ever tell.
But whatever road you choose,
I'm right behind you, win or lose.
Forever Young.

I Did It!

I actually cooked dinner! I made stuffed chicken breasts with mashed potatoes and gravy. It was quite tasty....I should have taken a picture of it before we ate it all. I just can't remember to use that darn digital camera. Okay, I'm not Martha Stewart or Rachael Ray....I used Stove Top Stuffing, instant mashed potatoes and gravy from a jar. The chicken was real though. And I DID make the effort. And everyone DID like it and cleaned their plate. Maybe next time I will make real mashed potatoes. Oh wait, Leia and Eowyn don't like the lumps....well, that was a long time ago, maybe they like lumps now. And I already make home made stuffing once a year for Thanksgiving. Hey, I make real potatoes and gravy then too. See, I can cook, I just choose not to ; )

What Am I Thinking?

This is Snoopy. He is our 8 month old labra-dober-beagle-hound. He is about 35 lbs and cute as can be. He is a busy body, similar to a 2 yo child, and tests my patience every day. This morning he woke me up heaving, and threw up chunks of plastic from water bottles. He not only plays with them, he eats them. And then he tries to eat them again. I know, TMI. So at 7am this morning, I am out there with our trusty supersoaker, chasing the dog away from his own plastic vomit. What a way to wake up.



This is Darcy. Leia and I met her at the mall last night. She is an 8 month old labra-hound. She is almost full grown at 70 lbs. She is so darn cute....and so laid back for being at the mall. She is available for adoption. Can you see where I am going with this???

I We love big dogs. Zeus, who died last fall, was 70 lbs. Ziggy, who died 5 years ago was a black lab, over 100 lbs. We were hoping snoopy would grow to be a big boy. But it doesn't look like it. But he has a big personality. And he could use a playmate.....

But would it be a playmate or just another headache? Darcy is housetrained, crate trained and spayed. She is also up to date on all her shots. $100 to adopt her. Not bad if you figure all the vet stuff is done. $100 to get another collar for the invisible fence.....and then twice the dog food, twice the treats and twice the toys. AND twice the poop to scoop. But we have already determined I am a super duper pooper scooper.

I don't know what to do....if we would have seen her before we got Snoopy, I'd have snatched her up in a minute. We've never had 2 dogs at once. Can't be that hard though....I know lots of people that do have 2 dogs. If Snoopy had a playmate, he wouldn't bug me all the time. But would he be territorial and not like another dog in his house? He's been with other dogs, but they always leave. And then there is the cat....Peanut would probably move out for good.

I don't know what to do. We have 2 acres, plenty of room, and love, for another dog. But would it be a good thing or a bad thing????? Am I crazy or what?

Are You Prepared?

So, if you were here earlier this week, you know I had computer problems. It started with spymaxx malware, then once that was gone, I had 2 trojan viruses...Qhost and vundo. Those were nasty and hard to remove. It took 2 days of research and scans, but I was finally able to get rid of everything all by myself. It is something I hope I don't have to deal with again....and that is something I say every time I have computer problems.

Each problem is a lesson....our first computer we bought used a long time ago from a friend. I had put all my business files on it, and one day it crashed. But that was before I had the online business and I still had hard copies of everything. It was a shock, but a good reason to buy a new computer. And it taught me to back up files.

A few years after that, the not so new computer simply wouldn't turn on. It was fine the day before and kaput in the morning. Everything was shot on it. There were no storms, so we don't know what happened, but there was no saving it. I lost everything. Everything was gone. I was still learning about computers and the internet, so I had very little saved on disc or cd. But I had some saved. It was still devastating. I compared it to losing a friend....but I did learn.

Time to buy a new computer : ) With the new computer I could burn everything to cd. So I backed all my important files, and all the photographs I had on floppies, I burned to cd. I tried to regularly back up files.....but you know how that goes. You do it when you remember. But I did get better about it. Then this computer starting acting up. This was last year. Shit. Of course I hadn't recently backed anything up, but I had something. It would be bad, but not too bad.

The computer was at the shop for a month. That's a God awful long time when you work at home and your business is online. Plus, if they couldn't fix it, I was going to lose files. I'd get over it, but it would be a pain to start over again. Eventually they did fix it and I got it back. And I promptly bought an external hard drive and started backing up my entire computer. I wanted to do it every two weeks, but that turned into once a month, and then into whenever I remembered.

And that brings us to this week. I hadn't backed up the hard drive for probably 2 months. Which would be okay in a pinch, but a more recent copy would be better. The malware and viruses scared the crap out of me. I have had enough computer trouble and I don't want any more. Since these problem weren't physical computer problems, it was just a matter of getting rid of the viruses and hoping there was no damage done. Worst case scenario would have been having to reformat the hard drive. Thankfully it didn't come to that. But it could have....and had I paid more attention, I could have set a system restore point in windows. And that may have been a really easy fix.

The whole point of this post is to hopefully get you to BACK.UP.YOUR.FILES. Burn them to cd. Put them on an external hard drive. Save them to an online back up. Are you prepared if something were to happen to your computer? Considering how social, and personal, blogging is, it would be heart breaking to lose that connection to the rest of the world blogosphere. Even for a short time. Take a minute now and back up what you can't afford to lose. And take it from me.....it is way better to be safe, than sorry.

Friday's To-Do list

Oh, this one will be short.

1. 1 load of laundry
2. PAINT. Orders don't paint themselves.
3. post to my blog later

That's it.....TTYL.

Motivation

Sometimes it is hard to get motivated. Today I did accomplish some things. I did 3 things on my short list, and I went out to lunch (spur of the moment) with my Aunt. I still have to start painting, but I just don't feel like it. Give me paperwork, or organizing, or even housework....I just can't seem to get started painting. I will when I am done here, but it is going to be an effort.

Why is it some days I can gets tons and tons of stuff done, and other days I am almost lazy? Could be the nice weather.... in the 60's here today and quite pleasant outside. Could be I just need a slow day. I don't know. One of the drawbacks to being self-employed is there is no one to pick up the slack. If you don't do it, it will be waiting for you later. There are no days off, really, and no sick days. It takes a huge amount of focus and discipline to succeed at working at home. Sometimes I have it....today I don't ; )
(and I don't care! ; )

Today's To-Do List

Ya know what's funny? I almost wrote Friday's To-Do List for the title today. So today I am a day ahead. I wish. Then that would mean tomorrow is saturday and I could sleep in. A little anyway. Until Snoopydog wakes me up to go out....

Anyway....I thought I might try posting a short to-do list for each day. That way I can keep track of what I have to get done, and not blame it on my memory. Plus I can cross things off as I do them : )

Here goes the to-do list for today:

1. pour piggy bank molds
2. wash slip buckets
3. order boxes
4. start painting some orders
   i started painting a little, but not much. not enough to cross this off...

And that's it. I don't want to overload myself ya know : ) Feel free to add your to do list to the comments if you want. We can watch each other get.things.done.

Forever Young

One of my all-time favorite songs is Forever Young by Rod Stewart. When you listen to the words, they really clarify everything it is to be a parent. I would love to post the lyrics here on my blog, but as far as I can tell, that would be copyright infringment. Does anyone know if that is correct? Or can I post the lyrics? I found them on another website....maybe I will post them a verse at a time. What's the worst they can do? Make me remove it?

Anyway, every time I hear the song it brings tears to my eyes and I think when my girls get married, that will be the mother of the bride song. Of course I will be bawling....but who cares. Of course, that is IF they get married...in the meantime, enjoy : )

Forever Young - (r. stewart/j.cregan/k.savigar)
verse 1
May the good Lord be with you
Down every road you roam.
And may sunshine and happiness
surround you when you're far from home.
And may you grow to be proud
Dignified and true.
And do unto others
As you'd have done to you.
Be courageous and be brave,
And in my heart you'll always stay,
Forever Young.

Shhhh....tap, tap, tap

That's me knocking tapping on wood. I think my computer is fixed now. But I am afraid to say it too loud. The evil malware meanies might hear me. After numerous, too many to count, spyware scans, I believe the virus is gone and everything is right in my world again. And I think I can even leave the house tomorrow for some shopping, since I was afraid to leave while the computer had a virus. Must be a mental thing. I dunno. But we are running out of food, so a trip to Wallyworld is on tomorrow's agenda. After I blog a little do a little work, of course.

Alas, I was wrong...

My computer troubles are not over.....while I did finally delete the spyware, I the computer now has a virus. It is particularly annoying because when I surf any websites with google ads, I am redirected to really questionable ads, and the sites take FOREVER to load. So any blogs I like to read that have google ads, and even the blogher network ads, I am avoiding until my computer is fixed. I KNOW Midcentury Modern Moms is NOT running ads about college age girls....and blogher.com is not running video of Jessica Simpson in next to nothing.

I hope to have this all resolved in the next day or 2.....I need my blog fix! I can read new posts on bloglines, but I can't comment and that makes me sad : ( I was just starting to feel comfortable out there in the blogosphere.....

Hope to be back soon!

Lynn

Hallelujah!

Hallelujah and Praise the Lord!!! My computer is working and the spyware is gone, gone, gone!!! After hours of trying to figure out what to do, waiting for the phone call from the computer guy that never came, paying for an antispyware program/download that removed stuff, but not the problem....I finally found a FREE, yes FREE, antispyware program that removed so much stuff, and the stupid spymaxx. YAY!!!

Since my business is totally online, I try to take extra good care of my computer. I run AdAware, Spybot Searh & Destroy, and AVG anitvirus regularly. I clear my cache and cookies, and I empty my recycle bin. I run defrag (oh, I should do that tonight) and scan disk every so often. I got this spyware from a stupid website that I went to, to look for song lyrics. I did NOT download anything. I just went there. So even if you are careful, it can happen to you.

The program I found is SuperAntiSpyware and it is a free download for home use. Not a trial. And dang, it WORKS! I am so happy, happy, happy : ) And actually, since I stayed off the computer for most of the day, I got things done....3 loads of laundry, poured my molds, glazed some piggy banks, did the dishes, scooped the poop, washed the windows and picked Leia up at school and stopped at the library. Oh, the kiln got loaded and fired too. So, the day wasn't a total waste....notice I didn't say cooked dinner. I still hate to cook. Don't care. We had chicken tenders and pierogis tonight and they were tasty.

Still a Bad Day.

I'm tired of this. My computer is slow and goofy and I can't stand it anymore....I want to read some blogs and post comments and surf the net, but half the links won't open now, and sometimes other things pop up in the broswer. Not to mention the numerous stinkin pop ups....argh....I am running out of things to keep me busy now. It is a nice evening and I think I am going to wash some windows....

I am now using my brainwaves to contact the computer man....fingers are on my temples, my eyes are squeezed shut, maybe you can join me and chant, "call soooon, call soooon, call soooon...."

You Know It's a Bad Day When....

You turn on the computer and find out you have downloaded spyware.

: (

My day is going to pot right now....I have spyware that I can't get rid of and it is driving me nuts. I can't stay online too long because really random windows start popping up and who knows what is happening then. I have a call in to the local pc expert, so hopefully I can fix this soon.

In the meantime, if anyone knows how to remove spymaxx (the stinkin spyware), please let me know. Email might be best because having IE open makes me nervous....

Lynn@korfforiginals.com

Thanks! I'll update everyone later.....I am off to paint and try to get my mind off this. I can live w/o a lot of things, but I love my computer!

Me, Middle Aged?

I started my blog a little over a month ago. It was generally just a way for me to let you peek in on my daily life. Boring as it may be. As a blog newbie, I started looking for places to list and promote my blog. Yes, I did want someone to read it (I guess). Somewhere along the surfing line, I realized that you could read and link up with other bloggers. Duh. I'm not stupid, but that thought never really occured to me before. Go figure. Well, there are millions (I mean gazillions) of bloggers out there....I wanted to read blogs of women that shared my pain. Had thimgs in common with me. Worked at home, had older kids, were around my age.

So in my quest for brilliant, like-minded women, I found eMoms at Home. A very nice work at home blog site. Like it there. And from there I found BlogHer. Ooooo, excellent women's blogging place. And from there I found Midcentury Modern Moms. Most excellent site for moms with older kids.

And so I started reading and commenting on blogs. I found women who I had things in common with.....but what I never expected to find/find out was that I am now middle aged. Me, middle aged....mid life. wow. I am so usd to being a daughter, niece, cousin, mom, I never noticed time really was passing and here I am all grown up and half way through my life.

After reading some of the other blogs, I am honored to be included in their "group" per se. But now instead of having a blog to let me ramble and roam, I can see that they are going to make me think about where I am in my life. I never really thought about it before. My life is my life and it is a good life.

But....maybe there is more......am I really where I want to be, doing what I want to do? For now the answer is yes....I really do have a good life and I do enjoy what I am doing. But maybe there really is more I need.....and so my journey will begin into finding out what middle aged and mid life means to me. And as long as I can have chocolate, ice cream and cheesecake to sustain me on my journey, I know I will enjoy it. Oh, and pizza. Don't forget the pizza. I love pizza with bacon, onion and banana peppers.....what do you like on yours?

Staying Focused

I have paperwork to do today. It is going to be a challenge to get done since I will have to sit here at the computer to do it. Blogging is way too tempting and addicting. I hear the blogs calling me.....but I will resist. I MUST resist. If I don't get this paperwork done, no one will do it *sigh* and it needs done.

My reward will be to blog hop when I am done : ) Or at least see if anything new has been posted at the blogs I like to read. Or maybe I will have something extraordinary to post on my own blog....woohoo! I do have to send props/kudos out to the Midcentury Modern Moms blog. I love that place : ) If you are a mom of teens, check it out.....it's nice to find a place for mom's with older, diaperless kids. And older, teenage problems.

Okay, back to work.....I will make my spreadsheets add up right. I can do it, I can do it, I can do it....stay focused and get.it.done.

*****************************************

UDATE: I literally sat here for hours, completely focused on the task at hand, and I only ended up with a headache. I do a little book keeping for a parent's organization at school and I cannot get the numbers to work out and I quit. For today anyway. I am frustrated and aggravated and I need some chocolate! Now maybe I can do my own business paperwork. Woo hoo! (I hate paperwork)

Am I a Bad Mom?

I hate to cook. Nothing about it turns me on except maybe eating the final product. I don't like shopping for the food, and I don't like spending hours in the kitchen making something that 1. no one will like or 2. I will eat by myself.

I ask my family, "What do you want for dinner tonight?" And they say "Whatever you feel like making". Well, duh. I wouldn't ask if I had something in mind. And, honestly, I don't EVER *feel* like making anything. I only do it because if I didn't, I wouldn't have anything to eat.

Eowyn and Leia used to be really picky eaters. They've grown and so have their tastebuds. But not my cooking skills....or my interest in cooking. Part of the problem is that we rarely eat together. Challenge (aka hubby) gets home from work at 3pm and is hungry. And so he eats and eats and eats....whatever he can find in the fridge. I'm sorry, I am not cooking dinner to eat at 3pm. Does that make me a bad wife? Eowyn is at college, and Leia will eat with me if she is home. But a couple times a week she goes to her friend's house and eats a good home cooked meal. And so I generally am eating alone. And since I don't like to cook in the first place, I am not going to do it just for myself....give me a hot dog on my george foreman and I'm a happy camper : )

Another issue is with Challenge and his love of hot sauce, hot peppers and anything garlic. Now I have nothing against garlic, or hot sauce, in moderation. But even if I do spend time cooking a meal....if I try to make something tasty, Challenge immediately gets out the hot sauce and pours it ALL over. Everything. He doesn't even taste it first. I used complain, but after 20+ years, I gave up. And so I get discouraged and cook as little as I can. Why try to make something fancy when it will be covered in hot sauce? *sigh*

Am I a bad mother because I don't like to cook? I imagine I am not the best role model in that respect. BUT, I have been in business for almost 20 years now, and I know I have shown the girls you can do anything and be successful if you put your mind to it and work hard. Plus I am home for my family, while working almost full-time.

Remember when our moms told us to marry a doctor or lawyer? Money and the easy life was the goal. I tell Eowyn and Leia to marry a chef. They just snicker at me and roll their eyes....

To Blog or Not To Blog (everyday)

Okay, I admit it. Blogging is fun. And addicting. I'll sit here at my desk with a specific purpose in mind, and then next thing I know an hour has passed and I forgot to pay my bills AGAIN. I am losing time blog-jumping, or blog-surfing, or whatever they call going from blog to blog reading posts. I'll start at one blog, click on someone who has commented, and go to their blog and on and on and on....I have to conciously make myself stop so I can work. I really do work at home.

OMG, and then I get someone commenting on my blog!!! Holy cow! That is so exciting I can't stand it! I suppose all this excitment is from being a blogging newbie....maybe that will pass over time. I don't know. There are so many blogs out there to discover and read....it is truly endless.

Actually, I am blog-hopping trying to find women like me....or maybe around the same age. At least with older kids. Something in common so I don't feel so isolated here at home. So far I have found a few blogs I enjoying reading. As soon as I take the time from blog hopping get some free time, I will start a nifty updated blog roll over on the right.

My real thought today was, should I blog every day, or every other day, or maybe just a cuople times a week? Does anyone read my blog daily? Does it matter? I guess as long as I have something to blog about, and have some time, I'll blog whenever I can : ) I just really have to keep painting too....people aren't going to accept "I was busy blogging" as an excuse for their order shipping late.....

I Did It!

Ha! I did it. My blog is one month old and I have been posting regularly to it. I am proud of myself (reaching around to pat self on back). Still not sure what direction it is taking, but hopefully someone out there is enjoying the mix of working at home and real life.....

As it seems to be popular among blogs to mask your family and friends identities, I am going to start my second month of blogging with my *new* family. Hubby will remain hubby, eldest daughter is now Eowyn and youngest is now Leia. I think I will leave the pets as Snoopy and Peanut. Since my name is posted all over my website, I guess I will still sign things as Lynn, although Cinderella seems appropiate at times *sigh* I am still waiting for my pumpkin to turn into a coach and still waiting for the birds and mice to clean my house. Or is that Snow White? Hmmm, I feel more like a dwarf....hi ho, hi ho, it's off to work I go. Okay, I don't actually go anywhere to work, except to the basement.

Alas, my life is no fairytale, not matter how much I wish it were. I have my prince, but no fairy godmother to make life easier. I have found that nothing in life is free for me. I have to work hard for everything.....but that's okay. I do something I love and it does teach the kids a good work ethic. Although they may be tired of hearing "I don't have money for that." But it is the truth.

And now I must get to work....someone has to pay for the DSL and the electric bill, or I will be blogging no longer....and then I would be sad....

Signed, Cinderella/Snow White/Me