Good Morning, Scoots

...although, I'm sure if I checked Donut's new website I would find that it's sometime later on this afternoon where you are.

I hope you're doing well. I think about you often and keep checking the Big Macs to see if you've had time to post a message or two - tho' I usually need an interpreter for your notes :,)

Things here are good. Had you been a fly on the wall here this week you would've laughed so hard at your technically-challenged aunt that you would have lost your grip and fallen off!

Last week I decided to get a new flat-screen TV (actually I had decided before hand but decided to wait until we had our tax-free weekend). (NOTE: The TV in the kitchen wasn't bad - it was the small one that G'ma and G'pa had. However, the bigger one I had in my living room is getting old ~ I bought it when I lived in Virginia. When it gets too warm, it shuts off. POOF! It's off. Annoying! I decided to replace that one.) So, I had checked out a couple different ones ~ I was into simplicity. 19", not hung on the wall, easy to hook up, no fancy bells or whistles. So, off I go last Saturday with 2000 of my closest tax-dodging friends to Wal*mart. I found a great little LCD WITH a built-in DVD. How cool. So I had the poor single-handed stock boy get it from out back and off I go to the checkout counter. Well, the barcode(s) wouldn't scan. They kept getting "Invalid number". Even manually punching in the # the poor clerk was getting completely frazzled. Finally a manager came over and did his voo-doo and it worked.

I got it home, assembled (installed the base) and got it hooked up then realized that my cable box did not support HD so I had to call Verizon and get a new box. No problem except that meant going through Customer Service Hell listening to this robotic maven who should be gagged. Luckily I must've hit it just right and hit the "O" key enough times and within about 2 min. I got this nice girl who helped me make all the arrangements to get a new box. She said I should get the box by Tues. or Wed. Sure enough; there it was on my doorstep on Wednesday when I got home from work.

Yippee! HD. Not so fast, Shennie! I got everything assembled and everything hooked up except the end of the HDMI cable that was supposed to so into the TV. Did you know you can't put a rectangle cable end into a round hole!? So I tried everything; I looked everywhere. No luck. There were scads of other connection points but nothing that would accommodate a flat cable end. I was convinced that my new nickname was going to be Dumb Dora. Then I looked at the box the TV had come in and it said everything on it but HD. Had I screwed up that badly?

Dejected, disappointed (I had hoped to watch the Sox in HD that night), I unassembled everything. Now the next problem. Getting the TV and its accessories into the box it came in. That's like putting 10 lbs. sh** into a 5 lb. bag. Re-folding a map is easier. I was in no mood to fuss.

So, yesterday I took the time and put everything into the box and headed back to Wally World. Before I took the old TV in, I went in and checked to see what they had. I was still confused. So there I was, in the electronics section of Wal*Mart with TVs flashing the same picture in 25 different sizes calling Ben for his help. I'm so glad your sister married a techno marvel. (If you had been in the same hemisphere I would have called you so don't feel dejected [you're probably really happy]!) Well, come to find out, my TV did support HD but just not with an HDMI cable. I could've bought a different connector, but the result would not have been as good. Thus, I decided on a different model that DID have a flat HDMI connector. Long, long story shorter - they were out of that model at that store. Is it 5:00 yet?

I went home, made some lunch and called another WW and they had 2 of those TVs. So, I went up there, got the new one (which was $14 cheaper but no DVD player) and came home. But, remember the hard time I had checking out with the original TV? Well, I had the same problem returning the blessed thing. It kept saying "Invalid Number". Somehow the clerk worked around it. I thought computers were supposed to make things easier! It's amazing how well everything goes together when all the parts fit! Then I couldn't figure out why nothing happened when I turned everything on. Desperate - I RTFM. Ah, call Verizon and have the box activated! An hour later I was watching HDTV from my new TV/cable box in my kitchen.

That was the crux of my week. Hope yours wasn't as exasperating! Is it cooling down over there? The weather here the past week has been PERFECT - in the upper 70s and NO humidity. Can we bottle this and save it?

One more week before the college kids come back and 3 weeks before missions start. The peace and quiet is over.

Well time to take a shower and run a couple errands. Then it's back home to do some laundry. As Grandma used to say: "I'm not sure if we're the cleanest people or the dirtiest people ~ I'm always doing laundry!" And, there's ONLY 1 of me.

Be well, Viya con Dios, and KYHD!

Love you,

Shennie

Hello!

Hey - I'm sorry it has been sooo long since I posted...I just don't know where the time goes! It's not that I don't think about you because I do - every day, multiple times a day.

As you can guess, life has been busy but good. Hope all is well with you. It's been a while since we last talked (about 1 month). Chelsey says she hasn't been chatting with you as much recently, I guess your schedule has changed? Anyhow, it would be great to hear from you on the phone OR on the blog.

Dad and I will be heading to Nashville, TN for an executive meeting of the Memorial Hospital board and others. We will be gone the first weekend in Sept for that. Then in Oct we are going to San Diego for a MGMA (medical management) meeting. That will be for a week around the middle of the month. After that we are staying put until Rebecca makes her debut!

Jennie and Ben are starting to work on Rebecca's room. They have picked out the theme (Winnie the Pooh) and now have to pick out paint. Ben chose a wallpaper border yesterday so that will help with the paint selection. They have also registered for lots of goodies @ Babies "r" Us. It is lots of fun to walk through the store and just scan the things you want! Jessica is putting a baby shower together for Jennie and 'Becca for early Oct. Anything you want me to get for her to be from you?? Just let me know.

Jess and Craig are doing well. Their basement is done for all intents and purposes. It looks very nice and they are enjoying having a place to watch TV, etc... that is out of the way for company.

Any luck with your internet yet?? Do you think you will have service before moving back to the states?? Oh well.........

I guess that is about it for now. Just by way of reminder....Ben's b'day was yesterday, Jennie's and Dad's are in 2 weeks and Jessica's is mid Oct. By your b'day, you will officially be an uncle!! How about that?? Feeling old yet??

Love you & KYHD!

mom

Is it 5:00 Somewhere?

I have been suffering through 2 days of Red Sox - Blue Jays games. Let me put it this way ~ I could have pitched better than any of the Sox pitchers and I throw worse than the proverbial girl thrower!

And I've had the honor of watching these games on my new TV ~ sorta. Yesterday and today Gov. Patrick granted the Bay Staters a tax-free weekend. Anything less than $2500 ~ with certain exceptions ~ is tax-free until midnight tonight. So, I took part of my check from "W" and bought myself a flat screen for the kitchen. It's an Emerson 19" with a built-in DVD player. I got a pretty good deal on it and I didn't have to pay tax. (Note: Everyone is complaining because the state is missing out on all this revenue; think about all the income tax they're getting from all the extra help stores had to hire this weekend. It may not be even, but they're not losing out completely.)

My new TV will be even better when I get my new cable box that delivers hi-def! I called Verizon yesterday afternoon and actually got to speak to a live human being within the first 2 minutes of pressing buttons. How novel. She was really nice and we had a couple laughs. Her office was about 45 minutes south of here and it had just poured buckets there and we were enjoying beautiful sunshine. (Note: The weather this weekend was perfect - low 80s and NO humidity.) The box should be mailed out tomorrow and I should get it by Wednesday. It'll be great. I'm moving the TV (Grandpa's little one) that was here in the kitchen to the living room and then have to get rid of the big one in the living room. Don't know how. Our transfer station doesn't accept TVs or CRTs any more.

I wasn't quite sure about hooking it up, but you'll be pleased to know that I got it done without any problems. Actually, there was only 1 cable to screw in. I did have help - I read the manual - sorta. You'd be proud of me, Scoots.

Well, laundry beckons. I hope everyone has a good week.

KYHD!

Shennie

Weather

It has been crazy here the past couple weeks.

I don't think I can remember a day within the past two weeks where we did not have a horrific thunderstorm roll over our area in the late afternoon. During the day it'll be sunny and bright with some regular clouds. Then, about 3:00 in the afternoon everything changes. The sky will get very, very dark and ominous and the next thing you know the wind has kicked up, and the heavens open. Without any warning it will be pouring. There have been days when I was looking and talking to someone in my office with my big window behind them. Almost instantly I will see rain just pouring down behind them. Yesterday on our way back from the farm stand, we were watching the clouds and there was actually a huge rectangular formation up ahead of us. It was perfectly shaped. Don't see that very often.

Farmers are complaining. Usually about this time of year they're all complaining that they need rain and they're irrigating. This year it is just the opposite. Everything is too wet. They're even promoting drying agents for the plants so that mold and fungus doesn't grow on them.

We've even had a couple tornadoes. Up in New Hampshire. I think there was even a spout spotted in Barrington, RI, where the mom went to college.

Sometimes the thunder and lightening is scary! It'll be right over head. We've even had a couple crop up in the middle of the night. I hope this cycle soon comes to an end. I feel sorry for the poor folks who have tried to have a vacation the past couple weeks.

Nick and I had one or two storms while we were out at the cottage. Mostly it was HOT and MUGGY while we were there. Now, they finally have the shower back in order. Not while we were there. Oh well.

Wish I could send you some, Scoots. Sleeping has been wonderful. Think about you when I'm bitching about the heat. If you can do it, so can we!

Back to the Olympics.

Miss you! KYHD!

Love,

Shennie