Thunder Hail

It is Halloween right? October 31st? Not quite yet November? Well someone should tell Mother Nature that! During dinner tonight the skies opened up and hail came plummeting to the ground.  It was thundering and lightning and the ground became completely white within minutes. Our road out front had inches of ice before we could even get our jackets on. Of course since our road is the official autobahn of the United States - we had THREE accidents happen within minutes of the thunder hailstorm.  I do not know what in the world is just so earth shatteringly important that the drivers around here have to FLY around the corner - but they do. And we have accidents on the bend way too often.  Tonight was a complete mess.  Cars in the ditches. Cars hitting cars.  We had firetrucks, ambulances and police cars.  Mr. Yesteryear Acres and my son were once again first on the scene.  While other drivers sat in their cars waiting for the hail to stop, Mr. Yesteryear Acres and my son were helping the injured motorists. The fact that NO one got out of their car is very disturbing.  They had time to be on their phones. They had time to complain that they were now going to be late getting home but NO one got out to help.  Granted it was hailing and storming but come on!  I am pretty darn sure a little snow and ice wouldn't have hurt them. Seriously - Mr. Yesteryear Acres and my son were the only ones out in the hailstorm until the emergency crews arrived.  Luckily all the injuries appeared to be minor.  My son got to wait with the Fire Chief for the jaws of life to arrive.  This past spring my son's class had a youth-in-government day. My son was the official Fire Chief for the day and the Fire Chief remembered him.  My guess is that "I want to be a fireman when I grow up" might be talked about again here for the next few weeks.  If this weather keeps up - he will have a lot of practice.

Treasure the Memories

Sad day.  Our dear neighbor Joanne passed away.  She was battling cancer and we all thought she had at least another 6 months to live.  Joanne passed away suddenly and although she is pain free now - we are all so saddened by her passing.  The very first people to greet us here at Yesteryear Acres were our neighbors. We share a long driveway together and we deliver mail to one another every day. We share our love of the countryside, nature and the love of family. Joanne's husband, Larry, was my son's very first friend.  We moved here to Yesteryear Acres when my son was just 2 years old.  Larry used to raise cattle and every single day my son helped to feed the cows.  Each night at dinner we would go around the table and ask everyone what their favorite thing of the day was.  For about 2 years straight my son's answer was always, "Feeding the Moo Moos with Larry".  My son actually called our house, "The Moo Moo Brick House".  Since then Larry and my son have done lots of fun things together and their friendship has grown as has ours.  Whenever I can't find Mr. Yesteryear Acres, I know he is over at the neighbor's house enjoying good conversations. We are more than just neighbors - we are the closest of friends. And so today we say goodbye to one of our closest friends. We will miss Joanne's smiles, her warmth and her love of our family.  We will be here for Larry and help him through the hard times that lie ahead. The fragility of life once again reminds me that each and every day we need to remember to be grateful.  Remember to show our loved ones how much we care.  Remember to be thankful for all we are given. Remember to be grateful for sunny days, rainy days, snowy days and all that life sends our way. Life is a gift that sometimes fades away all too soon. Be grateful for the gift and treasure the memories.

Unpacked....Not quite

So today's big goal of unpacking my suitcase.....FAIL.  It is still sitting there. It is still full of clothes. It is still taunting me. I think it purposefully tripped me this morning as a subtle reminder that I need to empty it.  Here's the thing - the suitcase is full of sundresses. It has nothing but sandals and t-shirts and little cute sundresses - none of which are needed right now! I mean it is COLD outside!  I have to unpack my suitcase, wash all the summer clothes and then put them away until next year.  Clearly it isn't a MUST DO when I don't even need the dresses right now.  So once again the unpacking got moved to the bottom of the list.  Tomorrow I will unpack.  I am sure of it.  I must cross that off the list.  So what did I do today instead of unpacking???? Play with puppies of course!!!!  I mean THAT is a necessity!  I even took some pictures of the puppies while they were romping about outside.

Trick or Treat!

I am ready for my close up!

Did somebody say dinner????

We weren't eating the leaves!

I look so much better without scrambled eggs on my nose!

SUNBATH TIME!

See isn't that WAY better than unpacking summer clothes????

Time for Catching Up

I have been up late every night this week in an attempt to catch up on all my work.  I think the earliest I have gone to bed is 1:15am. This morning I was supposed to make a puppy delivery and I was just SO tired.  I was worried I might fall asleep so Mr. Yesteryear Acres agreed to make the drive instead.  Yay for Mr. Yesteryear Acres!  Even though this was a HUGE favor for me - I know that secretly Mr. Yesteryear Acres was very happy about the arrangement.  One - he didn't have to clean up poop for the day.  Two - he didn't have to do Farm Chores for the day. Three - he didn't have to pretend to work in the bedroom for the day. Four - any guesses to what store might be EXACTLY on the way home from the puppy delivery?  If you guessed Cabelas - well then you win the prize.  Mr. Yesteryear Acres left at 7:00am this morning with the hopes of returning by 2:00pm.  Hmmmmm.  Who thinks he got home on time?  Who thinks he walked in the door at 7:15pm? 12 hours after he left this morning? Yes - that would be Mr. Yesteryear Acres.  He had a nice break for the day and was quite happy to do something a little different. Even though I knew Mr. Yesteryear Acres would be glad to do the puppy delivery, I promised to tackle the Laundry Mountain in our living room, finish working on transferring the files to the new computer AND would make a delightful dinner. I got our Laundry Mountain all folded AND put away. I almost needed hiking boots to get to the top! I ended up fixing the new computer and got my website loaded and ready to go.  That was a major accomplishment on my part. For dinner - well I just happened to make Chicken Piccata with artichoke hearts and cherry tomatoes in a lemon sauce, garlic noodles, caramelized brown butter cauliflower and homemade honey oatmeal bread. I also trimmed a few doggies today - so I really get the gold star.  I got ALL my work done. Well not ALL because the kitchen still needs cleaning, the floors need vacuuming, the bathrooms need scrubbing......oh well. I accomplished my goals for the day and got the work done on today's list.  Tomorrow?  Puppy visits and maybe just maybe I will have time to unpack from my trip! Good plan!

I AM the owner!!!!

It is no secret that my laptop computer has been dying a slow and painful death.  It is simply heartbreaking. My dear old computer friend is whirring and grinding and trying ever so hard to function properly. I have been battling to the end with my programs and files and finally broke down and bought a new computer. You would think I would be happy!  You would think it would be joyous! Alas - it is NOT. First for some odd reason - my new computer does not think that I am the owner of ANY of my imported files.  If I try to open a document it says that I do not have access privileges.  ACK!  So then I have to right click and change ownership then exit then re-open and then grant permissions and WHAT IN THE HECK!?  I have at least 500 GB worth of files!  I cannot open each file individually!  I will be here until I am 60!  I tried registry edits. I tried Grant Admin Full Control. I tried Take Ownership.  I cannot get it to work unless I spend about 90 seconds per file to change its properties.  There is no joy on my face. I mean I know I should take great happiness in the fact my files are THERE but really - every single file says I am not the owner.  I AM the owner!!! WAH!!!!!  I know that if I ever get this thing working, I will be happy because I have a bright new shiny big screen and I have a serious need for reading glasses so it will someday be AWESOME.  Just not today.  Or tomorrow.  Or maybe not until the year 2031 when I finish editing all the properties on my computer.  Even my pictures say I cannot open them! I have 100 GB of photos! Sigh.  I wish I had my old friend back.  Even with the whirring - it was a faithful friend that knew - I AM the owner!!!!!

Sisters

The best thing about having a sister was that I always had a friend. ~Cali Rae Turner
This could not be more true.  When my sister and I were younger we only had each other. It was us against the world. Despite the fact my sister is 5 years younger than I am, we played together all the time. Any game she wanted to play, I wanted to play and vice versa. We could spend hours making pretend soup out of grass and leaves or making elaborate treasure maps with only a cracker being the big treasure at the end. We didn't have it easy growing up but we had each other. Now that we are grown with families of our own, we still have each other. We have faced some tough times in our adult lives as well but the one thing that has always remained constant is that my sister loves me and I love her. She is always there to support me and if I ever need her, I know all I would have to do is call and she would be here for me in an instant.  We are forever best friends. Even though the miles separate us - we are always together in our hearts.  This past weekend we made sure to take lots of pictures of us together so we could look back on our fun weekend until the next time we get to see each other again.

Here we are at the Santa Monica Pier.

We made it!

Yea!!!  The Beach!

Pacific Ocean. So happy!

Muscle Beach.  Yes. It is that awesome!

Are we in the Central Perk Cafe from the show Friends?

Yes! Yes we are!

Could that be Clint Eastwood's Gran Torino?

Yes! Yes it is!

Hooray for Hollywood!!!!

We had the best sister trip ever.

I can't wait to do something again soon!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Good ole Home Sweet Home!

I have to say that I am keenly aware of just where the expression, "Red-eye flight" comes from.  I left LAX last night at 11:15pm and then went to Atlanta where I sat for 2 hours and then finally arrived at my airport at 9:15am this morning. By the time I got home it was 10:45am. Total travel time - 11 hours 30 minutes. Total time sleeping - approximately 90 minutes. I AM TIRED! I knew I would be tired but I am really really tired.  I chose the red-eye flight so that I wouldn't lose a whole day of work. I figured it was better to lose sleep than precious work hours. Well I definitely lost the sleep but I also held up my end and as soon as I got home, I changed clothes and immediately got to work.  First thing on the list? PUPPIES!  I really missed them! I checked on all the big puppies and the new little puppies and everyone grew while I was gone.  Mr. Yesteryear Acres had a yummy lunch waiting for me so as soon as we were done eating, we got busy taking new puppy pictures for the week.
We have brand new wee little ones:

Sweet Adorable Double Doodle Babies:

And my absolute favorite.....

Scrambled Egg loving doodle babies

I think they loved lunch most of all!!!!

It is good to be home!!!!!!

The Tonight Show

Miracle of Miracle - I got two tickets to The Tonight Show with Jay Leno for today's taping! ON my sister's birthday! I mean it doesn't get much better than that! We were both so excited we hardly slept last night! We woke up before the sun and got ready for our amazing day. First up - WARNER BROTHER'S STUDIO TOUR! That had to be the best time ever. SO many awesome movies were filmed there! So many awesome TV shows too. I saw the original costumes from Harry Potter, The Last Samurai, The Matrix, 300, The Departed and more. It was AWESOME! We saw movie sets, TV stars, props, costumes, set designs - the works! It was movie heaven! I have to say the very best part of the entire tour was going ON the Mentalist set! The actual bona fide for real authentic Mentalist set. I saw Simon Baker's couch, Lisbon's office, the coffee break room, the interrogation room. It was really cool! After we toured the WB studios, my sister and I walked to The NBC Studios. We then got in line for our chance to be in the Tonight Show audience. We got there 3 hours early and we were number 65 and 66. Just because they send you a confirmation that you won tickets doesn't mean you actually get to go IN. It just gives you the right to stand in line in the hopes of getting in. I won't leave you in suspense....we got in! We were in the very first row behind the floor seats. Not bad! The studio was FREEZING. I think it was cold enough to keep ice cream frozen! We got to see Jay and the guests and the band and everything. It was AWESOME! I am now sitting in LAX waiting for my redeye flight back home. I have 3 more hours to go before my flight leaves. I said my goodbyes to my sister and gave her one last birthday present.......The Letter K! She has waited a whole year for her next letter. Man - I am such a good sister! Happy Birthday! Safe travels home. AND Dear Mr. Yesteryear Acres.........I AM ON THE WAY!

SUN?day

Well they say it never rains in Southern California........hmmmmm. I guess I am doubting the validity of that statement. I guess TECHNICALLY it wasn't raining, It was foggy, REALLY foggy. It was so foggy it was wet and cold and it felt like misty raindrops falling all over us. When I packed for my trip to Southern California, I thought, OH THE SUN! OH THE WARMTH! I packed all my sundresses and sandals and summerwear. Lo and behold, it is autumn here. It is cold here. Everyone is wearing jeans and boots and long sleeves. I am wearing a sundress and sandals. My toes were purple today and no I am not talking purple toenail polish! The funny thing is that if you look at the weather forecast it SAYS it is bright and sunny outside. BUT if you actually walk outside - it is foggy and misty and cold. Despite the cold damp day - we still had an awesome time. Foggy cold weather could never stop us from having a great time. The end of the conference went really well and the late afternoon, while cold, was still a lot of fun. Tonight my plan is to pack my suitcases (with all my summer dresses) and then crawl into bed with a ton of extra covers and blankets. I am going to store up as much heat as possible. Tomorrow is a packed day of fun adventures before I take the red-eye back home. Come on toes.....WARM UP! We have major walking to do tomorrow!

Conference Time

My day started bright and early here in lovely Santa Monica. We are learning all about conformation and making sure your doggies and puppies are healthy and sound. We have had so many visual aids. Slideshows, diagrams, books, pictures and.......puppies too!!!!! We have the cutest little puppy demonstrators here. 8 week old Papillon puppies. Bernese Mountain Dog puppies. Awwwwww. I just know I love what I do when the second I am away from my own doggies, I can't wait to play with the puppies here. I am the one going, "awwwww look how cuddly and sweet." I am the one snuggling and petting and loving the puppies. I truly love puppies and doggies. The very best part of the conference so far are the sweet puppies that are visiting. It is nice to have some sweet furry babies to love!!!! I have learned a few things here and there today but mostly I have learned - I am doing things just the right way. That is a good feeling to have. I find myself nodding, saying to myself, I know that. I do that. That is how we do things. My favorite part of being here is spending time with the other doodle breeders. Lunch today was just the best. We laughed until we cried. It is so great to be with other doggie lovers that all have the same "awwwww" inside their hearts. People who love doggies are my kind of people. Speaking of loving doggies.....I wonder if we can bring the puppies to dinner!!?!!

Too Much Fun!

Today was awesome! We went to Universal Studios Hollywood and had the best time ever! We saw everything! Movie sets, production sets, props, costumes, the works. I was in movie heaven!!! I love movies. I love everything about movies. This was a dream come true for me. SO much movie history and movie memorabilia. I was surrounded by a mecca of movie goodness! Honestly - I looked like a little kid all day long. I had the biggest grin on my face the entire day. I was smiling from ear to ear! My face hurts from smiling so much! I think I took 1,000 pictures! I can't wait to upload them all. I can't get the picture posting to work from here and I don't think the blog posting to facebook is working either but never fear! As soon as I get home, I will be sure to share all the pictures. We did a great job seeing everything there was to see and making it back in time for the labradoodle gathering. We got back in plenty of time and spent a couple of hours chatting about doodle doggies before we all headed out for a delicious Thai dinner. I was happy so many people were willing to take the long walk tonight becaust the food was delicious! I want to go back again for more. Mmmmmm. Tomorrow the labradoodle breeder's conference starts bright and early. I am ready for another day of fun!!!!!

Sunny California

We made it! My sister and I landed within 10 minutes of each other and found each other at LAX with no problem. Our first stop......In and Out Burger!!! mmmmm That was tasty! It was a most excellent start to the day! When we got to our hotel, our room wasn't ready but they let us leave our luggage at the hotel so we went and walked to the Santa Monica Pier. The sun was shining, the ocean was sparkling and all was right with the world. We walked down the beach for hours and soaked in every bit of sunshine we could. It was delightful. We spent the entire day outside walking and walking and walking. We couldn't ask for a better day. This evening we met up with some of the doodle breeders and all went out for a fun dinner. We forgot our camera but I think the cell phone camera didi a pretty good job of capturing the happiness....

I'm Leaving on a Jet Plane

Ooooh tomorrow at O'dark-thirty I am boarding a big shiny silver jet and heading to.......... CALIFORNIA!  YEA!  I am so excited.  Every year I attend the IALA/ALAA Labradoodle Breeder conference. I have been going since the IALA/ALAA held the very first Labradoodle breeder education of excellence seminar in 2006. The conferences are a great time to connect with other doodle breeders and I always learn something new every time I go.  We have great speakers and demonstrations. We have had reproductive specialists, dog training experts, veterinarians, rescue organization representatives and many more awesome guest speakers. The roundtable discussions are my favorite. It is always interesting to hear how other doodle breeders go about their day to day business. It is also really nice to share time with other people who know exactly what it means to clean up puppy poop ALL day long.  We always have some really good laughs.  This year, as a special treat for me, I invited my sister to meet me in California.  We are going one day early and then staying one day later than my conference so we will have 2 full days to spend together having fun.  We have never ever been anywhere - just the two of us - and we are SO excited!  I think I talked to her about a million times today.  We didn't know what to pack. We didn't know what to wear.  We still haven't decided what to do or where to eat!  All we know is that Sunny Southern California awaits and we are going to be there!  We are meeting at LAX tomorrow morning and then the fun begins. California....Here We Come!!!!

Fluffy Bed

It is true.  A miracle has happened.  Mr. Yesteryear Acres and I have WON the battle of the bees!  Yesterday's bee count....ZERO!  Today's bee count....ZERO!  Do you know what that means??????? MY FLUFFY BED awaits!!!!! We are actually going to go UPSTAIRS to our own bed to sleep tonight!  No more couch!  No more too short, too cold, too hard, too saggy couch to sleep on tonight! A REAL bed. An honest to goodness REAL bed.  I have washed all the sheets. I have washed the comforter. I have fluffed the pillows.  Everything smells clean and is soooooo soft. I cannot wait. I bet I fall asleep as soon as my head hits the pillow. I bet that I dream that I am sleeping on a fluffy happy cloud! I think it has been at least 3 weeks of sleeping down on the couch. Every night when I go to sleep on the couch, I think about how much I miss my bed.  Every night when I wake up every half hour because I am "sleeping" on the couch, I think about how much I miss my bed. Every morning when I wake up with a stiff neck and sore back, I think about how much I miss my bed.  Well tonight - I promise you this - I will NOT miss the couch!!!!!  FLUFFY BED!  HERE I COME! It is PAJAMA TIME!

One more picture upload please

My computer is definitely on death's door.  Even the computer repair technician told me that I have limited time left with my dear sweet computer. Evidently my motherboard is dying a quick death.  Sigh.  I really don't want a new computer.  I love this one.  We are old friends.  I like the missing "m" on my keyboard.  I am used to the bare spot on my space bar.  The fact that my computer runs at approximately 500* Fahrenheit is endearing to me.  Good ole computer.  It is a tragedy that we will soon part ways. I now have to shop for a shiny new model and so far, none have the appeal of my old friend. I will stand by my computer until the bitter end.  Today I whispered....just one more picture upload please and my computer listened. I was able to get all my pictures uploaded to the website. I held my breath with each picture upload but they all made it!  Here's a look at this Monday's Puppy Picture Happiness

It is so bright and sunny!

We love it out here!

One big armful of puppy love!

Cute little sleepy puppy

Perfect Pile of Precious Puppies

On the lookout for more leaves!

LEAF ATTACK!

Happy Monday Everybody!

And then she was gone

So there is a very good chance that I cried like a baby after I said goodbye to my younger daughter this afternoon.  I mean I knew she was going back to college so it wasn't like it was a big surprise or anything but OH MY GOSH I ALREADY MISS HER SO MUCH! Having her home for the weekend actually made me miss her more!  All of the sudden there she was - keeping me company, baking with me, smiling with me, laughing with me, watching my favorite shows with me and then.....she was gone. WAH!!!!!!!!!!! I am so sad. I think this goodbye was even worse than the goodbye back in August.  We had prepared so much for that goodbye, I think I was mostly ready for it.  This one seemed worse because having her home only reinforced how much I miss having her here.  Sigh.  Thanksgiving seems like a long time from now.  I know we will make it but - having someone you love far away from home - just isn't easy. We did manage to hold onto a fun childhood tradition while she was home.  Mr. Yesteryear Acres brought home 2 pumpkins so that my son and daughter could carve their jack-o-lanterns.  For just a moment - it was as if time didn't fly by so quickly....

An Ice Cream scooper makes the best jack-o-lantern cleaner

Notice the doggie on the lap....essential for good pumpkin carving!

You always have to draw the face on with a pencil first!

And use precision tools

The finished Jack O Lanterns

Ta Da!

SO CUTE!!!!!

Leaf Chasing

Mr. Yesteryear Acres did an awesome job delivering puppies all by himself and he is my hero for the day! I am usually the one that makes the long puppy mobile drive but he was sweet enough to take a turn this time. That gave me more time to spend with my younger daughter for her very short fall break.  I was SO glad to be able to be at home with her and so glad that Mr. Yesteryear Acres did such a great job driving the puppy mobile to the east coast and back.  He said the puppies were SO good and the trip was just beautiful.  The fall colors were out in their full glory and he enjoyed every minute.  My daughter and I stayed behind and made sure everything was running smoothly here at Yesteryear Acres.  We did the farm chores, took care of the puppies, cleaned the house and then had the best time this afternoon playing with the puppies outside.  The wind was really blowing hard and the leaves were skittering across the yard which delighted the puppies to no end.  They spent a good portion of this afternoon chasing leaves and hopping into big leaf piles to play.  It was hysterical to watch. I am not sure who had more fun - the humans - or the puppies!  Tomorrow is my daughter's last day home. Luckily Mr. Yesteryear Acres made it back home tonight safe and sound so tomorrow we can enjoy a little bit of family time before she heads back to college.  I can see homemade bread, cookies, applesauce, pasta and meatballs are on the list for tomorrow! I have to make sure to send my daughter back to college full of good memories, happy times, puppy smiles and of course, good home cooking!

Fall Break = Fall Happiness

When I went to college way back in the day - we didn't have a fall break. Evidently many colleges these days do.  At first I was thinking that was a totally ridiculous idea.  Who needs a break in October?  School just started!  Breaks are for sissies! Well guess who is a big sissy?! ME!  Because I miss my daughter SOOOOOOOOO much!  I am SO happy her college has a fall break! I drove 6 hours yesterday and got my sweet little girl. Ahhhhh happiness!  I just keep hugging her and smiling.  It is SO good to have her home.  The doggies are SO happy too.  Her little doggie is almost crying with joy to see her. Every single step she takes - there is her little doggie.  They are inseparable.  We are inseparable.  We have spent the day baking and laundry, and playing with the puppies and working on school scheduling and catching up. It was a great day. I don't think I am going to take her back.  I think I will lock all the doors and hide her inside.  No one will find her.  She can stay here with me FOREVER! Good plan!  Whoever thought of Fall Break....GENIUS!

Have I been struck by Lightening?

I believe I may have been struck by lightening without my knowledge. Or perhaps I am electrostatically charged, am radioactive, carrying some sort of gadget gremlin, or basically have the power to make all electronic devices stop working.  Don't ask me how - but it is true. 

Fact: Facebook has now hidden their import external blog link and I cannot find it. My blogs will not update automatically. I cannot find a way to fix this issue.

Fact: My younger daughter got a brand new cell phone and there was an internal java error and it would not activate.  ERROR JAVA ERROR FOUND.  Even the repair expert at the cell phone store said he has never seen that before.

Fact: Blackberry continues to keep my emails from transferring to my phone. Evidently they are all being kept in some secret lair.  I hope someday, I will get my emails once again.

Fact: My windows based computer has big black rectangles that mysteriously appear on my screen and then disappear just as quickly. The black rectangles pop up about every 30 seconds and well let's just say.....are slowly driving me crazy.

Fact: My Microsoft Outlook program keeps crashing. I get the famous "Microsoft Outlook is not responding" with the fun little circle that goes round and round.

Fact:  When I type, I cannot see the letters on my screen until approximately 30 seconds later.  Long sentences don't appear until I am typing 5-6 sentences further down the page.

Fact: I have run EVERY virus detector type program and they all say my computer is perfectly fine.

Fact: All my artwork, album covers, movie posters from my iTunes have disappeared.  I have a blank page picture for every single song, TV Show and movie on my iPad.

CONCLUSIVE EVIDENCE POINTS TO..... I have been struck by lightening. Gee, I always thought it would hurt more. Hey, I know!  MAYBE THE BEES DID IT!!!!  ARGH!  I certainly hope my electronic gremlin goes away! This is NOT fun. WAH!

Internet Electronic Software FAILURE

ARGH!!!  My day has been SO frustrating!!!!!!!!!!!!!  I have a computer, Internet, software, electronic, communication gremlin of mass proportion!  I am so not happy. It all started with RIM Blackberry's mass outage. I realize that the RIM Blackberry's situation has global impact - but I am without my emails and I really really want them to fix it.  No emails are making it to my phone. No emails are sending from my phone.  I cannot get my work done.  Then on my laptop, my Microsoft Outlook stopped working today.  Because well you know if I can't get my email on my phone so wouldn't it be AWESOME if I can't get my email on my computer either?!!?  Every time I open an email that has to retrieve its information from the Internet, my outlook crashes.  I have restarted my outlook program a gazillion times today. I still have loads of emails to answer.  On top of this - my iPad did NOT like the iOs5 update and has been stuck since 10am this morning. Sooooooo no emails there either!  AND I keep getting these random black rectangles that appear and disappear on my laptop computer screen.  And everything keeps hanging up. WAH!  I am actually really good at fixing software issues and I have NO idea what is going on.  I have updated, restored, rebooted to no avail.  My favorite part has to be writing an email or my blog with only .......................
one
letter
at
a
time
showing
up
on
my
computer
screen
despite the fact I have already typed a paragraph. AND the import your blog link on facebook is GONE.  I cannot get facebook to import my blog!!!  What is happening?  Who sent this computer gremlin to me? Why is it affecting every piece of electronic communication device I own? Where are these black rectangles coming from? I am going to hope that when I wake up tomorrow morning - all my electronics will be back to working order.  I will hope that all my artwork and music will be restored. I will hope that all my emails will open. I will hope that my computer will turn on.  Mostly - I will hope tomorrow will be a better day.