Eye of the Storm

The past five days I have been in the eye of the storm, to put it mildly.  It all started Thursday afternoon.  I am working on a job due Monday, today, when my computer starts running slow and stuttering sort of every few seconds.  It is highly annoying, as my cursor would freeze every few seconds, and I would have to pause typing or editing. 

So, I do a Windows update.  It says it is configuring, and then it says something along the lines of failure to configure, backing out the update.  When the computer restarts it will not boot to Windows.  I proceed to spend the next approximately 8 hours, until midnight that night, trying to do a factory reset, and to no avail.

So, I get up at 4:15 a.m. with DH and tell him I have to purchase a new computer, and pronto, as the job I was working on is due Monday, and obviously I need to work.  He is not happy, but I have to get one. 

So, I decide to take the non-working laptop into a repair shop near our home, as they promise to fix any computer for $79, plus any applicable parts.  The laptop is only two years old!  And DH's laptop is ancient, so I figure we fix mine, recycle his, and I get a new desktop.  And everyone will basically have a new computer.

I proceed to spend the next three hours researching what type of desktop I should buy.  I find an all-in-one touchscreen desktop for $657 at Best Buy.  So, I order it online, choose the option to pick it up in the store, and wait, since the repair shop and Best Buy do not open until 10am.  So, I get some chores done around the house, and have multiple cups of coffee.  LOL.

At 10am I am at the repair shop, then off to Best Buy, then back home, where I spend the rest of the day until 5:30 p.m. transferring files, downloading software, and figuring out how to use Windows 8, because it is VERY different than Windows 7.  But as you can see the computer screen is bigger than my TV!  LOL.

We go out to dinner, put up the Christmas tree, and I am in bed by 9pm, as I now have to work both Saturday and Sunday to get the job I could not do on Thursday or Friday because of my computer. 

Up on Saturday at 4:30 a.m. and I get a chunk done.  That night we have dinner with my mom/stepdad, dad/stepmom, my sister, and DH, SD, and myself at Outback Steakhouse to celebrate DH and I getting married in September.  We were supposed to go to Texas Roadhouse, our favorite, but a half hour beforehand my dad calls and says Texas Roadhouse has two Christmas parties going on and they cannot seat us until 7:30.  Our dinner was to happen at 4pm because my stepdad had something to do in the evening.  So, off to Outback we go.

At the dinner my dad/stepmom give DH and I each an unopened pack of scratch-offs, each worth $300!  So, with each scratch-off being a $5 one we each have 60 scratch-offs to do.  We were very surprised.  So far DH has won $180 and I have won $75.  I still have a lot to scratch off, though!

Mom and stepdad had purchased this plaque online, and my mom told the maker the wrong date for our wedding!  We got married on September 7 and she told him the 17th.  Luckily, she is getting it fixed (the 1 is being sanded down and removed) by a friend who does woodworking, but she went on and on about it, how she did not want to spend another $75 to order another one with the right date.  And she was lamenting at the dinner about how her gift was so unique.  And then when DH and I expressed complete surprise and, let's face it, joy at getting the scratch-offs she seemed to get offended, like we did not appreciate her gift.  Ughhhhhhhh.  I am not sure why, but it seems as if she is always in competition with my dad.  But that is just my perspective. 

I am in bed again that night early, as I still have much work to do on Sunday.  Up Sunday at 5:30 a.m. and get another chunk done.  I was planning on doing grocery shopping that day, but Mother Nature had other plans.  So, I did some stitching, believe it or not, and watched probably the most nail biting Ravens football game of the year. 

I worked on Alessandra Adelaide Needleworks Christmas Ornament from the November/December 2013 Just Cross Stitch issue.  I am using 28 count Crossed Wing linen in Bayou and DMC Color Variations in 4150.

I tell you that in the past week I have started and scrapped about five different projects.  I do not know why I have major indecision when it comes to stitching most times.  I envy those who seem to know exactly what they are doing and are happy with it.  Or maybe they just don't put all their messiness and craziness on their blog like I do!  But I am liking this one, and working with one color is less taxing on my brain.

I am anxiously awaiting opalescent gray fabric from Silkweaver so I can start Country Cottage Needleworks Frosty Forest!  I am on an auto program for all of the patterns from Down Sunshine Lane, and I am vowing to keep up with the series and stitch them all on one piece of fabric!  On Saturday I received the first pattern, floss, and button.  I see all of the fabulous finishes of the Santa's Village and regret not stitching all of those! 

Today I am finishing up that job, as it is due by noon, and then going to the grocery store, picking up the repaired laptop, and doing some Christmas shopping.  I like Christmas, but it is a lot of work.  We put up the tree, I buy and wrap gifts for my side of the family, I buy and wrap gifts for DH, I help DH buy and wrap gifts for his daughter, and then the running around we do on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day.  I like getting gifts as much as the next person, but I will be glad when it is all over in two weeks!

And, finally, I will wrap up this post with a pic of Mirabilia's Fairy Moon I stitched a long time ago for my dad and stepmom.  When I was over there for Thanksgiving I spotted it and had forgotten I stitched it!  So, had to take a pic.

Until next time...