**Crash

In an effort to make my life easier and have my faxes print on a better printer, hubby tried to download fax software. Attached to this software - unbeknownst to us was a slimy, sneaky, wormy little (big) virus that attacked our computer like nothing I have ever seen. For the last five days we have been trying to install anti-virus software but our tricky virus blocks such anti-virus software from running.

Next came the e-mail from rogers saying "we think you have a virus on your computer. Please resolve it". Well DUH! Really? Should we resolve it? Really? I kinda like the way the computer is NOT AT ALL WORKING!

So finally an anti-virus software worked and we were sure it was fixed. Um, no. Then hubby (I really can't take credit for any of this) did something else that made us super sure it was fixed. Nope. Not so much.

Then he decided he had to uninstall everything and start from scratch (of course loosing valuable info, but what can you do? It's gone already and at this point I'd like to just save the computer that is only a year and a half old). Well the damned thing kept overheating while he was reinstalling windows...crashing while already crashed. Can it really get worse than the crashing of a crashed computer?!

If it were up to me, I'd be at BestBuy purchasing a new laptop as we speak, but he's still trying.

So as I sit on hubby's work computer catching up on five days of e-mailing and internet surfing, he is deleting everything on our computer and reinstalling everything with the computer propped up on megablocks with a fan blowing directly into the fan hole. Wish us luck. I don't have high hopes.

**Had To Share

I couldn't resist - I had to share two things my kids said today. While playing the Wii this afternoon with my son and having my best game ever - breaking my previous record, my son patted me on the back, stared into my eyes and said in a soft voice; "You finally won something on the Wii Mommy. Good for you".

Then later as I was picking chunks of blue fluff from a robe off my new backpack, my daughter asked what was wrong. I told her I was cleaning my new bag and she said "STUP.....(look of terror on face)...endous bag!".

Good rebound little girl.

**Reading Insomniac

Okay so here's a very strange problem to have. My six year old son loves to read. This is a problem. He gets into bed, he reads a couple of short books and he's awake for ninety minutes. If he does not read in bed he is asleep instantly. Am I supposed to tell him NOT to read?! That seems a bit extreme if you ask me!

NO SON! DO NOT PICK THAT BOOK UP! YOU ARE FORBIDDEN FROM READING!

Um, not so much what good parenting is all about - from what I've heard.

I suppose the reading wakes his mind up - makes him less ready for slumber and more ready for action. I've tried suggesting other (more appropriate) times to read, but there are always toys to play with and a little sister to bother at those times. When else is there nothing in the world to do other than sleep or read? Only at bedtime.

I'm not about to punish the behaviour but it is becoming a bit frustrating to have him call me up at 9:30pm and say "I can't sleep", when I know darned well that had he just closed his eyes when I tucked him in at 8pm he'd be in dreamland by now!

I don't usually ask for parenting suggestions, but if anyone out there has an idea of an appropriate way to encourage reading but ban it from bedtime, your suggestions are welcome. Right now I am going to go and listen to him sing O Canada in bed for the nineteenth time in a row - an hour and ten minutes after I tucked him in. Ugh.

**Crabby Pants

Some days I feel like a sour, unenjoyable person. Some days I feel like they should just throw me in my room, lock the door and throw away the key. Today was one of those days. It was a stressed out, pissy, bite everyone's heads off day. I'm not really sure why actually...in reality it wasn't a bad day. Nothing terrible or out of the ordinary happened, we had a pleasant afternoon and ate dinner out (which went very well). I just had a pickle up my......well, you get the idea.

So after my pissy day I tuck my kids into bed and sit down to read the comics - the only part of the paper I actually ever have time to read, and by comics I mean ONE comic - For Better Or For Worse. It's my favorite comic. I believe I have been reading it since I was able to read. The funniest thing is that the characters in the strip are very similar to myself. I digress. So I sat down to read the one comic I can muster up time to read before I have to go and call my patients for the next day, and I was speechless. It summed up every emotion I was feeling at that particular moment. It was me in a nutshell - in ink - as a cartoon character. Ironic. Check it out.

http://www.fborfw.com/strip_fix/archives/003144.php

It made my mood a bit better knowing that even comic strip characters have days like this.

**Stupid

I don't like when people make me feel stupid. I am in the process of making a big decision and while I value your opinion, I don't appreciate being talked down to, or being told that my opinion is silly. Just because you're a few years older than I am, does not make you automatically the expert on all that IS.

Hubby and I are playing with the options of either moving into a bigger house or renovating our current one. There is nothing wrong with our house, we fit quite nicely here and it has proven to be great for us. There have been no unexpected expenses (knock wood), and with the finished basement for the majority of our kid's toys, we really don't need anything larger. It would be nice to have another room on the main floor for a dining room table for entertaining, and an extra bedroom upstairs would be a great guest room or office, but neither of these are necessities. Our office/guest room serves us well and our kitchen is big enough for our dinner parties.

The wants and needs get blurred, and I have come to the conclusion that everything in my ultimate home is a want. Since we are so on the fence over this, I do appreciate opinions and people pointing out pros and cons, but don't talk down to me. Don't tell me that my justified thoughts are unjustified. It makes me defensive and it makes me feel like I need to keep talking to make you understand where I'm coming from - which makes me sound just not nice.

So I appologize, and please don't hesitate to hand out opinions to me, but don't try to hammer into my head why my thoughts and dreams are unjustified. Thank you.

**My Little Hero

My four year old daughter is my hero. I told her so myself. She ran into the kitchen yesterday and said "Mommy there was a spider in the bathroom!" I gasped. My kids know it's okay for everyone to be afraid of something, and Mommy is afraid of spiders. That's okay.

She said "Don't worry, it's gone."

"What in the world did you do with it?!" I asked, afraid of the answer.

"I squished it with a kleenex and flushed it down the toilet." "It was small so I wasn't scared."

With that, I threw my arms around her and told her she was my hero. I was not kidding.

**Uphill Climb

Apparently when you begin exercising your body stores fat and water in order to brace itself for the increase in activity. Who knew?! They should put big signs up in gyms for us people who are new members and feel like we may as well be on the couch eating bonbons because the scale is increasing and clothes are getting tighter.

WARNING! WARNING! YOU WILL GET FAT WHEN YOU START HERE!

That would be incredibly helpful.

I joined a gym a few weeks ago with hopes of increasing my energy level, making my heart healthier and if I tone up and loose some weight too I wouldn't be too sad. My theory - though a bit convoluted - is to go daily but do only a little. This way it doesn't seem like a chore, I'm in and out in 45 minutes and on with my day. Also, I can make it part of my daily routine and routines are my friend. If I were to go and work out until I'm ready to drop a few times a week, not only would I not want to go and dread it, but I would probably find it hard to find the time.

I joined a gym that is a 3 minute drive from my house. It is also a 3 minute drive from my kid's school; therefore making it easier to go between work and kid pick-up time. As a bonus, there are locations of my gym in the area that I work, so any extended break at work - I'm set. Plus it leaves very few excuses.

This recipe seems to add up to success, but to tell you the truth, that scale was increasing and my motivation decreasing in the first two weeks. Then the lovely lady at the front desk asked me how it was going. I told her I had no problem with the gym - actually I really like going - but I'm very discouraged by the weight gain. Everyone said "you're gaining muscle" - not the case. You can't build muscle that fast according to the internet. She brought me over to a trainer who explained the whole extra-activity-body-preparing phenomenon (though I take credit for that inventive name for it) and sent me on my way.

Phew. She promised that in 3-4 weeks the phenomenon would be eradicated. She had better be right or I've given up all hope in exercise, though I do have to admit that I feel great. I finish there and feel like a million bucks. My body is changing and I can feel it. Now let's see if the scale catches up.