Remember?

 Just a few weeks ago, I'd counted 2 'bad things' happening to our family, and was waiting for the third one to happen. Remember that? Well, I got tired of waiting and decided that a day when I felt a bit 'out of it' was the third thing, so I could stop dreading it. Everything was clear sailing for us from there on, I decided.

I think I've just proved that the old adage, or old wive's tale, whatever it is, isn't true. Bad things don't necessarily happen in 3s. Those first 2 happened over a month ago, within the space of less than a week.

On a recent Sunday, we had 2 'bad' things happen to us in the space of a day. Hubby had made arrangements for some Klingons to come over to the house and get some pictures taken in costume for a project he's working on. I woke up that morning thinking I might have a UTI, and by the end of the day, I was 99% sure I did. Those things are painful! But I couldn't get to the doctor to have my suspicions confirmed (and get some medicine) until Monday.

The 2nd thing also happened that Sunday. After the pictures were taken, the Klingons were standing around in the garage, gabbing and having a fun time. The garage door was open to let the breeze in, and the door to the house was open so the dog could be with the people in the garage, if he wanted. I was also out there, trying to keep an eye on the dog, because Hubby hadn't put him on his leash, but he seemed content to lay under a work table and snooze.

Everything was fine until one of the Klingons left. Shortly after that, a pair of them left, and I realized the dog was no longer laying under the work table. I brought this to the attention of Hubby and the 2 remaining Klingons, and we all started looking for him. We searched all his favorite hiding spaces in the house. One guy went down the street to the corner to look for him while the other went up the street to the corner. Hubby got in his car and drove around the neighborhood looking for him. We searched for at least an hour, and nobody had seen him.

It was torture, but just a couple of minutes after Hubby got back, he went and took another look in the back yard, and there the dog was, walking from the neighbor's yard, just like disappearing for an hour was a normal thing for him to do.

So here we have another 2 'bad things' happening to us in short order. I have not found a third thing happening that week to complete the trilogy. So maybe bad things happen in pairs.

Or maybe bad things just happen. Without any real rhyme or reason.

Never Ending Errands

I usually think my To Do list is never-ending, but some weeks, it seems like the Errands to be Run list is also never-ending.

Take a look at a recent week of Errands:

Monday - we needed to run to Reynolds Advanced Materials (an hour-long drive each way) to ask questions and pick up a new supply of chemicals so we could continue casting stuff. We both do casting, so when we run out of certain chemicals, we usually have to run to Reynolds within a week or two. And these chemicals have a shelf life, meaning if you keep them sitting around too long, they won't work anymore. Therefore, we can't splurge and get bunches of the stuff at one time.

Tuesday - we had to run to the local Tandy Leather store to get some leather for re-making hubby's Darth Vader costume. We did have some leather we could use at home, but not enough of it. Since that took us to eastern Orlando, we also stopped at AEO Studios to ask Allen questions about making a particular type of mold. I was envisioning some sort of 3-piece mold, but he told us the easy way to do it. That was at least 2 hours of driving to get there and back, and we forgot to stop at the credit union on our way home. When we did get home, we promptly set about making the mold as Allen had told us, so that it was fresh in our minds. Hopefully, having done it, it won't be hard to remember how to do it next time.

Wednesday - we started out by visiting an old friend who fell shortly after he had surgery, and popped out 9 of his 13 staples. He was in good spirits, and looking forward to going home fairly shortly. Then we were off to the fabric store to pick up some craft supplies and 10 yards of muslin, some of which will be used to line the leather of the Darth Vader costume. I got 10 yards because we try to keep muslin on hand for trying new patterns, but we couldn't find any in the house. Then the credit union, which we had forgotten the day before, but we were too tired to hit the grocery store on the way home. All told, at least a 4-hour trip.

Thursday - Hubby got to stay home, but I had to hit the grocery store and the drug store. And the gas station, since my car thought it was running on fumes. At least 2.5 hrs.

Friday - Back to the drug store, both of us, to get our booster shots. And take the dog to the vet to get his kennel cough shot. Between checking in, waiting in line, waiting to see if we have any adverse reactions and going home again—from both places—at least 3 hours.

How did we ever manage to get our errands done when we were working? I don't remember.

The Tax Man

 I just got done sending in our tax forms for last year. I don't normally wait this late, but instead of a refund, we had to pay extra, and I had to make sure I could cobble together the money to pay the bill. I finally got the money pulled together, and sat down with my computer to get the forms efiled.

It didn't go as smoothly as I'd hoped.

First, the tax program kept sending me into a loop, having me double- and triple-check information I had already double- and triple-checked before today. After answering the same questions for the 4th time, I finally found a way to get it to move on to prepare the document for efiling.

Then, because we didn't use this tax program last year, I had to prove that we are who we are. It was about that time that the overcast skies opened up and threw a bunch of water and thunder and lightning all over the place. In order to read the information on our driver's licenses, I had to turn on a light AND get out a magnifying glass to work with my 'cheater' glasses so I could put that information into the computer. I sat there chaffing at each little delay, yelling at my computer to hurry up because there was no telling if the next lightning bolt might disrupt our power.

Luckily, power was not disrupted, and at approximately the same time as I finally got the forms ready to go, and provided our bank information so they could debit our checking account for what we owed, the storm abated. Whew!

So, that's done, at least for another 9 months, when I get to start the process all over again. Until then, I get to move on to other things on my To Do list. Hmm. Like filing my quarterly state sales tax report.

This Week

I've had a relatively calm, work-on-your-projects type of week. Mainly, I've been editing, formatting, writing, and working on a new website for a new marketing campaign. I like writing and editing; I think they're fun. Formatting is... okay. It's not the pits, but it's not exhilarating, either.

The worst has been the building a new website. While it came pretty much pre-built, with the anticipation I would personalize it to suit myself, even that much has not been easy. I've been at it about 4 weeks now, and I'm still not done.

It's built using WordPress. I do not know WordPress. I have watched all the 'help' videos that came as part of the support package, and I have reached the point where what I'm trying to do isn't covered by those videos. I can flounder around for hours trying to find the secret location to insert a button's link, or place to upload an e-book file. And still not find it.

Don't get me wrong, the support people have been wonderful. All I have to do is tell them that I can't get a picture in the position I want it, or a link takes me to the wrong place, and they will fix it for me. I feel stupid writing them 2 emails a day listing the things I've managed to flub up that day, but they fix it cheerfully. Unless it's a weekend. They don't work on weekends. I'm so jealous of that.

I thought I would at least be nearing the end of building this website by now, and it sounds like I am. All I have left is to input the links to 2 buttons and upload the ebook files for 6 books. Oh, but that's 5 formats for each of those 6 books. It could take me another month to get it all done. {No, it won't, I just did one book, and it wasn't that hard.}

And that's just for the books by John Shoberg. He has the most books published, so we're concentrating on getting the website up and running for his books. Later, we'll add books by Trudy Myers and Linda Joy. And then, of course, every time we publish a new book, we'll have to update the website.

It really is a never-ending job.

Oh, we did take a couple evenings to tear apart a Darth Vader costume. The pleather we had used to make the body suit had begun to seriously deteriorate, so we tore out the seams of the body suit to use the pieces as a pattern. This is the 3rd time we've rebuilt this costume, I think. We're going to use real leather this time, see if it lasts longer.