Terrorists: don't read this!

I know how to shut down the WHOLE world... just cause everyone's computers to crash!! Yup, that will do it.

I mentioned a few posts ago that we were having difficulties with our home computer. That was irritating enough. I kept going into Paul's study to get online for one reason or another and daaa, no computer. So then I'd have to wait until I got to the office and hope that I remembered what I wanted to do. Atleast that was the case until Monday when our server here at the office decided to shut down and not wake up again. Now that would be tramatic enough on any given day but out of 365 days, it chose to let us down on only the 2nd most stressful day of the year in our office = October 15th which in IRSese is the last day people who extended their tax returns from April 15th could file their taxes. Believe me it was not pretty here on Monday. We usually pride ourselves in taking care of business with no excuses but Monday we were nothing but excuses. Actually just one, big FAT excuse ... a crashed server.

No, things have not gotten much better since Monday (thanks for asking). Our IT guy is pretty full of excuses too. Apparently this is all our fault (?!?!?!?!) Doesn't matter whose fault it is, we just need it back up and serving us again. Our payroll clients don't really care what the problem is because they just need their payrolls so their employees can pay their mortgages and credit cards. So you can see what a "dominos effect" this little stroke of bad luck is.

We are having to resort to different tactics to get our work done and into the hands of our clients. We were able to file every one's tax returns and we have been able to get payrolls done and quarterly taxes that are due this month have still been getting figured out but it is taking probably 3 times longer and those are not billable hours that we can pass on to our clients.

We have all become so dependent on our computers and internet and connections in the cyberworld, it is really scary how fast it can all come crashing down. I'm not saying computers aren't wonderful because they are and they serve us mostly problem free. But we are terribly vulnerable in this area... but then I wouldn't be surprised if the terrorists depend on their computers too!

Sunday night at Grandma's

We hadn't seen the kids and grandkids this whole week (at least not since Monday night when Collin came for a sleepover) so I invited everyone over for dinner. Yesterday I cleaned and organized until I could hardly move but with a clean, organized house I felt like having visitors come over -- of course, these kind of visitors pretty much defeat the purpose of house cleaning! But the Mom's do deserve a dinner break and I had a new issue of "Everyday with Rachel Ray" and I wanted to try out some new recipes.

Katie told me that Aspen had been sick for a day or so -- she had started throwing up Friday night while they were out and the poor babysitter had to deal with it so I wasn't too surprised when Katie called to say she didn't think they should come over... I could hear some major disappointment in her voice. But then she called back to say that Cameron and LaRane felt OK with having Aspen over since they have been kind of sick all week too! This doesn't bode too well for Paul and me -- i hope it isn't too late to get flu shots!

When Katie and Clark and Aspen walked in about 4:30 this afternoon, Aspen was so listless and her eyes were droopy and she just laid on Katie's shoulder. She felt really hot and feverish and clingy and that is so not like her. Shortly after Cam, LaRane, Collin and Cache showed up. Aspen did manage a big grin for Collin. By the time dinner was ready and on the table Aspen was "losing her cookies", if you know what I mean.

The food for our dinner was really good (despite the few distractions)... "magazine recipes" have never been a favorite for Cameron but I think he liked this one. I know the dessert was a hit: pumpkin cheesecake with chocolate wafer crust. After dinner we all went down to the playroom and much to our amazement... Aspen was totally back to her rambunctious self again! She was running and playing and laughing and teasing --- you wouldn't have imagined she had been so sick just an hour before! After a while, Collin and Aspen were asking for something to eat so we fixed them hot dogs and Katie directed Cameron as he attempted to recreate Katie's world-renowned chocolate chip cookies (he did a really good job for his first try but of course, he was under the supervision of the master!). I just hope Aspen doesn't have a relapse because it won't be a pretty sight when all that stuff reappears! (she totally enjoyed licking the mixer beater).

Actually I think there is some special aura here at Grandma's house that makes booboos and oweees go away. The house was feeling a little droopy and untidy by the time every one left but oh well, it will get cleaned again in a week or two! Just another delightful Sunday night at Grandma's! PS: we missed you Swapps!

Technical difficulties

Our home computer has gone to the computer hospital for a checkup of sorts. We have made some changes lately like adding a webcam and downloading the Skype (sp?) software so we can chat with Heidi and kids in China and now the computer doesn't like me or my blogging efforts -- it is shunning me! So we sent it away for an attitude adjustment. But how long it will be gone??? I just don't know. My photos are all on that hard drive so I'm hoping the troubles aren't that serious. So until it comes back -- happy and humming again -- I guess I'll just hang low and think about what I want to tell you next.

Not much exciting is going on this week anyway because Monday the 15th is the last big tax deadline of this year... Yup everyone that has procrastinated until the bitter end has got to finally come forward and get their taxes off to Uncle Sam (and we have about 100 or so clients in this category). Next to April 15th, this is the 2nd worst day of the year for us and of course, it falls on a Monday so there goes our weekend. Maybe by Tuesday the taxes will all be filed and the computer will be back and life will go on... it will anyway but still I want to be able to talk about what's going on. So until then, have a great weekend and I'll just keep being entertained by reading every one else's blogs!

Actually don't feel too sorry for me, I just remembered that I bought new shelves and storage containers so I'm going to organize all my scrapbooking goods -- mostly from the Heidi Swapp line:) -- so I can scrapbook our summer and fall adventures. It really frustrates me when I can't see or find all my supplies so I'm going to put ALL the goods on a big set of shelves so I can be totally inspired and productive plus I really need to catch up with my Big Picture Scrapbooking class! Well that cheered me up. OK... here's to a computer free weekend!

Moab rocks!

Here are just a few more pictures from the ATV trip last weekend. The first picture is of a very cool rock formation called "Secret Spire". It is called secret because it is really hard to find. We were so proud of ourselves when we caught a glimpse of it about 100 yards off the dirt road. It looked so small until we actually walked up to it and stood beside it. It is quite massive. It looks fragile and like it could topple over at any moment -- not to mention that it was so windy while we were standing there that we were a little hesitant to stand by it for very long -- but it is actually very massive and sturdy. The cool thing about this spire is that it sits out in the middle of no where with no other rock formations around. It just sits there on top of a dome of slickrock. Very impressive.

I gave Paul a GPS for his birthday last April. I thought it would be great for bicycling and ATVing but we had never used it. We brought it along on this trip and we were stoked with how great it is to carry along. We knew the coordinates for the Secret Spire and with the help of the GPS we were able to find it. Those things are amazing. Of course, it has more "bells and whistles" than I'll ever know how to use but hopefully Paul will figure it all out!

The second picture is from our 2nd ride. We did this one Fri. morning. It was a really easy ride out to a big rock formation with a couple of arches. This one is called "balcony arch" and the other one we saw was called "picture frame arch". The arches are so cool. I don't understand geology and why this area created an arch in this spot but it is fun to come across them. There were sand dunes on this ride as well. At first I was afraid that we'd get lost and our tire tracks would get blown away but the dunes weren't that big and except for one spot where I did get bogged down and thought I was stuck and Paul was getting farther away from me (he doesn't look back often enough!), it was a lot of fun!

The last picture is from our Fri. afternoon ride. We went up a canyon called Onion Creek canyon. This was so picturesque! The ride was not technical at all but the scenery was amazing. Thankfully we didn't have to watch the road too carefully so we could take in the surrounding rocks. The trail crossed the Onion Creek 22 times. I loved crossing the water. It wasn't deep at all but it is still fun to splash through. We passed mountain bikers, jeep riders and hikers. That is another thing that is so cool about Moab -- there is something for everyone! Kayakers, road bikers, mountain bikers, OHV's and ATV's, rock climbers, dirt bikers and people camping everywhere (in designated camp sites). Because of the National Parks there are lots of foreign visitors especially Asians. Except for being seated at dinner one night next to a table of 14 loud, drinking, laughing, rowdy Canadian men who I think were actually there golfing, it was great to interact with lots of diverse people.

So there you have it... We can hardly wait to go again!