Happy Memorial Day!

After a fun day out on the lake with my family, I'm enjoying a relaxing evening at home.  The kids are freshly scrubbed and in their jammies.  The friends have all gone home.  I'm sunburned in a warm glowy kind-of-way, as opposed to the miserably fried kind-of-way...  And as I just said to The Mister, I love holidays that fall on a Monday.  We got to enjoy all the fun and togetherness of a Saturday, but tomorrow we don't have to rush off to church meetings and obligations...  It's a bit of a perfect scenario.

Memorial Day has always been meaningful for my family.  While we spent today on the lake, I remember many a Memorial Day spent driving from one cemetery to another to clean the family headstones and place mums or other florals upon the graves.  In the past few years there have been several additions to the graves that we visit...  Not only have some of our loved ones passed away, but through genealogy, we have identified other lost family members.  I joke that I don't want to take over the "older" generation's commitment to the cemetery pilgrimage...  But the truth is, I'm glad they do it, and I hope that somehow it will continue to get done.

And for those who have served, and who continue to serve our country, Thank You.  You, too are remembered today.  And I'm certainly grateful for all you have done to serve me, my family, and our glorious country.

Invasion of the Shutter Snappers

I live in a picturesque neighborhood.  It's not my opinion, it's just a fact.  As proof, I offer today's activity.

This evening we had an invasion of shutterbugs.  We first noticed the strange girl in the colorful dress...  She was standing out on the point, taking pictures of herself with the assistance of a remote shutter release and a tripod.  Just in case you were wondering, the poses were interesting, as was the outfit.  Let's just say that I'm not one to put a print dress with purple tights and blue shoes and a cherry-red sweater...

While colorful-dress-girl was shooting herself just off my back deck, short-shorts-girl was shooting from across the street in front of my house.  She appeared to be shooting the landscape (not herself) which is the real reason why most people chose to practice their photography skills around here.  And it probably made for a prettier subject, not that she wasn't cute (after all, who am I to judge...) but she was wearing bright orange short-shorts with her green sweatshirt and hiking shoes...

While short-shorts-girl and colorful-dress-girl were walking back to their modes of transportation, yellow-car-dude pulled up.  He appeared to be into shooting the view, and brought with him a cheering section of children...  Maybe he should have included  them in the view shots...?

Anyway, the light is fading and the shutter snappers have fled ahead of the swatting that I was tempted to deliver...  I love my view...  MY view...  

Flamingos don't like snow

This flamingo picked the wrong place to stop.  

The weather isn't exactly balmy out...

(photo taken in my front yard this morning)
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(and no, I don't usually decorate with flamingos!)

night at the ballet

If it isn't one thing...

Well, the fun just keeps rolling...  It would appear that while iMac was off getting his innards replaced (again) the tech fairy was having a little fun at my expense.  I can't seem to find the cables that connect my camera to my computer... hmmm...

I think I took some great photos today and (although I'm hesitant to trust my not-so-trusty iMac to store and protect them) I would still like to upload and preview them.  But maybe it's better this way.  I won't embarrass myself by advertising my lacking photography skills...  And the afore mentioned photos will stay safely in my camera--where they are unlikely to suddenly and inexplicable disappear.

So, imagine that this post is accompanied by really incredible photos.  The gray clouds breaking apart.  Just enough early morning sunlight spilling through to illuminate the glittering beads of rain clinging to the tender limbs of my blossoming trees and bushes...  The luscious, verdant quality of my lawn.  The graphic twisting and contorting of the darkly wet branches of the scrub oak...  The crisp white mountain peaks in the background...  Because I'm sure that is exactly what I caught with my camera lens...  yeah...  I'm sure...  It was awesome!

7-Eleven

Do you remember Summers spent in flip-flops and rainbow t-shirts?  Lying on the driveway to get warm after running through the sprinklers?  Tire swings, tree houses, and sand boxes?  Those things speak of my childhood Summers.

I grew up in a small town.  No stop lights, no grocery shopping on Sunday.  No fences between neighbors.  Backyards that were shared by all the neighborhood kids.  Block parties, freeze tag, and tubing down the creek...  Winget's for treats on the walk home from the pool.  Cluff's for Cokes, and the POD for dances...  But no 7-Eleven.  My Summers were filled with fun and excitement, but what I really wanted was a Slurpee.

Slurpees--the epitome of Summertime treats.  The one thing (besides grape Mike & Ikes) that I craved while pregnant with HRH.  That cold, refreshing, burst of icy, sugary syrup.  That drink that leaves a tell-tale sign if your teeth aren't freshly brushed.  That supreme creator of Brain Freeze, served with a spoon-bottomed drinking straw. That was always my wish for the perfect Summer treat.

Last week I noticed a change on the corner of 1200 W Center.  The Sev was still there, but where did the gas pumps go?  It's not like I make a habit of stopping at 7-Eleven to fill my tank (I prefer the prices at Costco).  But if I were to be in need of a little topping-off, I would certainly consider The Sev as a great place for filling the car (while fulfilling my own snacking and beverage needs).  But now, without the gas pumps, I'm not sure I will ever stop at 7-Eleven...  I just don't see myself needing the calories and caffeine enough to make the extra stop for snacks.

After noticing the removal of the 1200 W Center pumps, I saw the thing that actually gave rise to this post...  There is a new shopping center going in on State Street.  There is a sandwich shop, a scooter store, a restaurant, and something new going in.  For days, every time I passed by, I tried to figure out what the new business would be...  I was stumped, as the colors looked like a 7-Eleven, but it seemed like such an odd location for a gas station...  That's when it occurred to me, The Sev is no longer a gas station...  And, although that is how I have always seen it, maybe it never really was just a stopping point for refueling.  I'll be interested to see how many people stop in for a Slurpee after going to The Chev or Costco for refueling.

The Green Sloth

If you have children who watch Animal Planet, then you may have been introduced to the sloth.  It's funny, but that slow-moving animal is exactly what I keep thinking about in regard to Spring this year.

I've been watching for changes in my backyard for the past few weeks.  I keep waiting for the little buds to appear and spread their green across the bare branches of the scrub oak trees.  The truth is, while the aspens have budded (and then frozen, turning a sickly black), the scrub oak are as barren as they were when the snow began to fly last Fall.  

I can't help but compare the slow progress of my landscape's rebirth to the slowness of the sloth.  Did you know that the sloth can remain motionless for nearly indefinite amounts of time?  And that it can sleep for 20 hours a day?  That it is so slow-moving that it actually turns green from the algae that grows on its fur?  I think Spring has taken on a slothful nature and complacency.  I wish I could shake things up a bit and get things moving!  I'm afraid that if the little buds don't get to work soon, the only green I'll be seeing on my trees this year is that same algae that grows on the back of the sloth!

I'm moving on.

I've attempted everything in my power--I've even attempted some things that turned out to be outside of my power...  But I still cannot recover any more of my photos.  It looks like I've lost everything since sometime before Christmas.  That means no Christmas, New Years, or The Buddies' Birthday.  No Nutcracker,  no Hansel, no Gretel, no forest friends...  No Easter, nor birthday for The Boy.  Sadly, those photos are no longer with us.

Can we have a moments of silence, please?

Ok--now I'll move on.

But tell me, how does everyone else back up their data?  Carbonite claims to have found additions photos (they claim 999) that were corrupt and unrecoverable.  What's the use of that?  Is there a better way to safely save duplications of the photos I take?  We have an external hard drive, but those don't always seem reliable either.  Suggestions?

It's a sad, sad day...

Well, after nearly a week, our iMac file recovery is complete...  Or, more accurately, it's finished, but the files are incomplete.  I've lost thousands of photos.  And who knows what else...?

Words cannot adequately describe how I feel at this moment.  I'm sick, sad, frustrated, annoyed, incensed, angry, and generally despondent.  Although I'm stymied as to why Carbonite didn't seem to back up everything, mostly I'm just highly irritated that this happened at all.  Apple has the worst customer service around, and their warranty is pathetic, too.  I can't believe that I find myself in this situation for the second time in less than a year!  And they offer no help or assistance.

I know the iPad just came out...  And the iPhone will keep vying for attention...  But don't talk to me about Apple products right now.  I'm NOT a happy camper!

Still Waiting...

I've had my fingers crossed for nearly a week now...  I sincerely hope that the pretzelification of my hands is reversible.  I guess we'll know once I get a peek at the restored files on iMac.  If the restore wasn't successful, it will be devastating.

We are at 91.1% restored and (so far) not a hint of any digital images has reappeared.  I have to admit that I'm getting a little nervous!  But The Mister keeps insisting that they were the last to reappear last time, too. How unfortunate is it that we even had a last time to compare it with!  I've got to do some serious thinking about why we've had such bad luck with the iMac.  Apple likes to continue to insist that it's just my bad luck.  Ironic, since I've always considered myself to be lucky.  I have to believe that there is an inherent problem with the design somewhere...

School is coming to an end for the year, and HRH has been a little frustrated with the unavailability of iMac.  It's hard to do your homework without reliable technology.  I feel her pain...  I'm frustrated by not being able to upload and edit photos, download my BodyBugg data, or keep on top of the blog...  I'm sure you're all frustrated by my lack of consistent blogging--don't despair, it will get better. (lol)

For the past week, we've been placing bets on how long the restore will take.  The Mister's guess expired yesterday at 1pm.  My prediction is for later today...  Maybe early evening...  Although my initial guess was the first one to lapse, so what do I know?

Wish us luck!  I hope Monday brings happy news, along with the rain!

Yay!

Well--I hope it's a "yay."  We got iMac back yesterday afternoon and began to recover the lost data.  We're only half way through the restore process, but I'm keeping my fingers crossed that we will recover everything.

In the meantime, life is just rolling along.  I've had a very frustrating week, and I don't see it getting better anytime soon.  It's amazing how easy it is to let other people affect your mood.

But enough about that--fingers crossed that the recovery works.  Hopefully I'll be back online tomorrow!