Fun with technology...and other good stuff

So I was all set to post on Monday about how I'm going to try to discipline myself to blog every Monday. I figure if I set up a schedule, like I have with laundry, picking up CSA veggies (which I manage to do almost every week) and making sure Sydney gets to school with her library book on Thursdays, I might be less likely to neglect this poor blog.

What happens Monday? I spill a teensy little bit of juice on my laptop's touch pad, it seeps down around the buttons and shorts the #*$&@#( thing out. It's dead as a doornail. So, no blogging, and even better, no access to any of my work files. Usually if I'm going to be without a computer, it's better planned. Nope - I had two ad deadlines, an order to print and send, and various other things (including online shopping for Bob Dylan's new Christmas album which was reviewed on Fresh Air the other day and immediately went to the top of my list of things I must have). Sheesh!

As of this moment, I'm typing on my brand new shiny laptop. I wasn't prepared enough to make the switch to Mac in crisis mode, so I'm still in pc land. I just installed the Adobe Creative Suite so we'll see if I can actually have Illustrator and Photoshop open at the same time (the guys at the pc shop swore up and down that it would be no problem - they also had good things to say about Windows 7, which immediately put them under suspicion in my book...). So far so good, other than the fact that I still have to go through the backup I just restored and make sure things are pretty well in order. I'm so glad that I heeded the advice of other folks who have had computer disasters over the past year and got my backups in order. It's not a matter of "if", it's a matter of "when" as far as needing a good backup (or two - I have both an external hard drive and an online backup service).

So instead of hearing all about my lovely chocolate chip cookies (I found a great recipe in the book Cooking With Whole Grains that uses whole Buckwheat groats instead of nuts to add crunch to the cookies, and my kids actually love them! Score!) and adventures in stocking applique, you get stories of computer woe. I'll spare you too much detail - I've got to get back to making the head for Sydney's Halloween costume. I promised it would be ready for her to try on tomorrow morning when she got up. Photos will be coming - don't you worry!

In other news, if you're going to be in Port Townsend, WA, this weekend for the retreat at Fort Worden, be sure to pop into town and check out the Toe-Up! trunk show that's going to be spending the weekend at the Twisted Ewe. Kristine Brooks, who owns Curious Creek Fibers, is going to be hanging out in the shop with her lovely yarns (she's the dyer who did up the lovely red yarn featured on the cover of Toe-Up! - good stuff). I was supposed to go up and teach some classes and do a book signing, but alas, only a couple people signed up for one of the classes so we ended up canceling. Stupid economy! However, Suzanne has plenty of signed books, the socks and several of my best-selling Gardiner Yarn Works patterns in the shop so you won't even miss me. I'll be there in spirit!

Happy Halloween to all, and check back on Monday when, barring further disaster (like the house burning down or me breaking all my fingers) I will have another blog post. Discipline, you are mine!