The Marines have landed [on my house].

Since it's Monday and all, I think I will list some random coolness:

• My better half got our American and Marine Corps flags mounted on the front of our house yesterday. Complete with solar powered lights (which work nicely and look sweet. The icing on the cake was.... I love to watch him work! We're sure to get lots of attention as I think we're the only Marine family within at least a 10 mile radius. Oohrah.

• He also pulled down the putrid awnings from the front and side doors and helped the 9 year old resident plant a nice garden. I can't wait to see if the pumpkin, in particular, grows!

• I've had the nicest, most helpful correspondence from FelineFido on Etsy about some of my products. She ordered some and likes them. She gave me great feedback and even some tips. She's got to be the nicest person I've never met and I'm excited to order Tyler Hansbrough __________'s collar very soon.

• I'm slowly but surely learning to use my MacBook. It's still far more savvy than I'll ever be, but it's good to aim high.

• Spring seems to have finally sprung here and, along with it, my mood. I'm definitely a winter depressed/summer happy kind of girl. So bring on the joy and relaxation. Or.... at least the joy!

• Last but not least: to girlfriend in the Apple Bottom jeans/boots with the fur........ this one's for you, homeslice.

Angst in the female form.

My better half told me that yesterday's blog entry was angsty and not at all like me. I took that as a compliment. And I'm glad to say I think he's right. I'm usually a very upbeat, easy going kind of girl. I just detest injustice, even at the smallest level. My blood pressure was up and it was therapeutic for me to vent. And I wouldn't be much of a human being if I weren't capable of frustration, would I? Usually I never let 'em see me sweat (but opt for finger gestures instead). So it's back to that now as I have calmed down. And sanity-- in my own insane form-- prevails.

Speaking of insanity, my little girl has morphed into some sort of villainess (which spell check is telling me isn't a word-- but I don't accept that ruling!). She's perfecting the drama queen act and it's becoming very annoying. I think I'd rather hear fingernails on a chalkboard than listen to her newly acquired screaming skills. Its seems for right now that she's just experimenting. So I hope that my expert parenting skills prevail... although I'm not sure how much effect my own mimic-tantrum had with her yesterday. It did puzzle her enough to get her to stop for a moment, though. The silence was welcome. It's worth mentioning that's it's not for want of something that she's recreating the infamous horror movie shriek. She's merely doing it sporadically because she's figured out that she can. So I'm trying my best to make sure she knows that while she can do it, the juice isn't worth the squeeze because no one is interested. In the meantime I am searching for an affordable but slobber proof pair of earplugs.

The princess will be one year old on Friday. Time just flies.

Speaking of flying, I'm off to get her presents before I forget to do that, too.

If I hadn't just uploaded this design yesterday and wasn't too cheap to pay for expedited shipping, I might order this for her:

As it is, though, I'm off to get her a little throne chair since she has fallen in love with the neighbor kids' Sponge Bob mini-recliner. I hope I can find something more her style, though. Although, she does like tools....

Gluttony... and disease. On my PC.

So there's this weird dealio going on with my computer right now. Something to do with the Adobe Flash Player. I keep getting other, seemingly non-related error messages every now and then. It's not too bad-- it's not like my computer is shutting down or anything. There are just some shenanigans here and there. And Microsoft, in their infinite wisdom, keeps displaying a custom (yet the same each time) message letting me know that they have pooled their massive brain power and found a resolution to my problem! In each instance I am given a link to the Adobe download center where I can download the newest version and cure all my ills. The brains, however, fail to realize that I have already done this 3 times in vain. I know this is an issue I can fix when and if I decide it's more important than everything else I'm doing. The same would apply to the other little glitches I've had in the past month or so since we "upgraded" (term used very loosely) to Windows Vista. Starting with a new printer being required for compatibility reasons and branching out into other running issues. There are still a ton of issues to be worked out with Vista to make play more politely with other software and to make it run more smoothly in general. This according to one of my very favorite mags, PC World. In the meantime, they suggest , among other things, that if your train is running slowly, close down (or get rid of altogether) the snazzy gadgets on the Windows sidebar. They're ultimately just a sap on your pc's resources. You can get your RSS feeds through any desktop email source and you probably already have a clock running in your bottom right corner, anyway...

Check back tomorrow for my suggestions on resolving world hunger and the national deficit.

On a brighter note, as a die hard thrifter, lately I am finding the web to be a vast playground. What, in terms of utilities, can you NOT find for free online? Often the paid versions of things are better, but usually not necessary for lay people such as myself. I promise I don't have profit sharing with any of the following but here are a few of my current favorite steals that are either free or very affordable:

• RoboForm: OMG-- how awesome is this thing?! I have about 2,900 different log ins and this thing stores them all. I don't even have to go to the page first-- it will even do that for me once I choose where I want to be. It's Free.
• Wix: I just adore this resource. I only found it about a week or so ago. All you MySpace addicts: pay attention. Cooler comments and layouts were never had. These are free, customizable flash files. You make what you want and then you copy and paste it wherever. Or, in most cases, you can have Wix do it for you. Keep in mind that MySpace doesn't allow certain types of code (like links to outside sites) but for looks these things are great. When you paste the code in, it imbeds their flash into your site by remote. See it in action at the top of my Blogger sidebar (where the pictures actually link back to my store), or on my profile page (where the links are inactive because of MySpace's preferences). Or, check out this whole website set-up that I am using temporarily on usmcwives.com. Wix is still developing and is accessed by invitation only but when I requested access I was granted it within 24 hours.
• Widgetbox: Name a widget. Any widget. It's yours. Or you can make your own.
• FormAssembly: I used this free resource to generate my questionnaire. It's beautiful.
• GoDaddy: For domain name purchasing/registration. They also have good, free site building tools if you want one of their free sites. I registered some domains recently (of which usmcwives.com was just one) and it was a great deal. And I received a professional but friendly follow-up phone call from a service rep to check if I wanted this thingy or that whatsit to go along with what I have. He didn't even laugh when I told him I only understood about half of what he was saying (as techno-diva is not my title!) and I wasn't pressured in any way. They let me know they were there and appreciated my business. That's nice in this day and age.

And, last but not least,

• My Store: Well, I suppose this one is just me being biased, huh? True enough. I just put some new stuff in there and aligned everything all to one space. I'm not done tweaking the layout yet... Gee, how often do I say THAT? But seriously, there seems to be some interest and I'm both flattered and happy because any proceeds derived from this will go to my web project. I don't/won't advertise the store on the site because the site isn't there for sales-- the sales are there for the site. I want to instigate something great. And I'm keeping my fingers crossed!

My blog is better than yours.

Well, not really.
Actually, no, of course not. But my blog is nifty today because I can finally say I added some designs to one of the stores. Took me long enough! This is most of them but there are a couple more on there as well. And this weekend I am FINALLY getting to do some of my bead stuff for Etsy. My snazzy charms finally arrived! =)



Free MySpace Comments - Wix.com