(no subject)

[angela_o]

I'm very happy to report that I survived the week at the beach with the m-i-l. There might have been one night that I escaped out to Barnes and Noble for a couple of hours alone, but by and large it went okay. The kids had a good time and tanning was done by pretty much all. I even got a little brown on my arms and believe me when I tell you what a big deal that is. lol

My older daughter flew back to OR with her grandmother for the week and my older son left today to go spend a week or so with my mother. I'm down to only two children and you wouldn't believe how empty the house feels as a result. The truly ironic thing about that is that when I only had two children, it felt like a more than I could handle. My how perspective changes.

I also have to take the opportunity to squee for a moment. I came back from the beach on Friday to find a package waiting for me from Amazon. It was from a dear friend and is my first official 40th birthday present (the big day isn't actually until the end of August). I opened it thinking that it would be a book or a dvd box set, but instead found...wait for it...a silver iPod mini! I'm officially in love with my new toy. Now if only I could say the same thing about iTunes. *mutters that it won't import all my music from Windows Media Player* But, still iPod! Much love. :)

Has anyone else heard about the Joss Whedon/Dragon*Contretemps? Apparently they've had him listed as a guest for months, but he's posted at Whedonesque that he was never invited and isn't attending. Weird. I'm going and though it would have been interesting to see him, I just hope that the Firefly cast is actually all attending as listed.

Comments

[tasyfa.livejournal.com]

Glad y'all survived intact and had fun, Angela. Nice to have you back - complete with iPod! Wow, nice gift!

[angela-o.livejournal.com]

My Mini is indeed a most excellent gift. I think it should have a most excellent name to match. Any suggestions? :)

[tasyfa.livejournal.com]

The Pod of Snark. LOL. For the Queen of Snark, you know. ;-)

I'll see if anything else strikes me. That suggestion is from a tired mind!

[angelicus.livejournal.com]

You can never go wrong with the beach! And wow, and iPod?! I need new friends. LOL Have fun with it! iTunes takes a little getting used to, but once you get it figured out, it's quite handy.

[angela-o.livejournal.com]

My friends are wonderful. :)

Thanks for the encouragement about iTunes. Any suggestions on how to tame the beast? I'd love to hear them.

[angelicus.livejournal.com]

Make sure you assign categories to all your songs (alternative, rock, punk, etc) in the Get Info option (right click and it's the properties of the song). Also, try to rate as many songs as you can. Then you can create Smart playlists. I have playlists that are my 5 star Alternative & Punk songs, 4 star Rock, etc. It really helps manage your songs if you have a lot of them. And your iPod will automatically sort by band name so you can easily find a certain band/group/singer.

The key to iTunes is really categorizing, though. You can even make your own categories. I made special categories for Roswell music and Buffy music, then created playlists.

[janajoh.livejournal.com]

Ah, the beach. We had the best time at the Outer Banks in May (seriously, it was May? Gah, I need another vacation!)

Glad you survived your m-i-l. I actually love mine. Then again, we go to bookstores and get lost for hours! She says I'm more like her than either of her children!!

[angela-o.livejournal.com]

Funny you should mention the Outer Bank Jo. I'm heading there tomorrow with M and N. I have a friend whose in-laws have a cottage in Kill Devil Hills and she and I are going to take our kids for a few days. I've never actually been there before so I'm looking forward to seeing the Wright Brothers memorial and a lighthouse or two. :)

Sadly, my m-i-l and I aren't really kindred spirits. It definitely makes me appreciate my own mother a lot more.

How are *you* holding up by the way? I've been worried about you.

[janajoh.livejournal.com]

I'm doing fine, thank you.

It's odd because I really thought she'd be around a lot longer. She avoided doctors like the plague but she wasn't ever really sick. There was some "excitement" in the county that Friday (a drunk local evading the sheriff's department...on a tractor) which I think caused her blood pressure to rise. And I'm sure she just never calmed down.

I did talk to her at the hospital when she was awake, and she saw C (whom she loved more than anything). She wouldn't stop looking at him during our entire visit. But I do get sad every now and then. Such is part of life though. From the moment we're born, we're dying. Which is why funerals suck (for those of us left behind anyway).

Thank you for thinking of me!!

[janajoh.livejournal.com]

And KDH was great. We didn't see the Wright Bros. museum (drove by it several times....on our way to and from the movie theatre). Walking in the dunes was a lot of fun too!

I'm sure you all will have a fab time!!