Grrrrr computers!

I love my computer, I really do.....when it's working! It's been giving me some trouble on and off for a couple of weeks now, the kind of niggling bugs that mean that something vital will give way any ol' time and on Friday afternoon it did just that! The motherboard was toast apparently and the machine just kept trying to restart itself and the processor was being fried alive by heat. Because Doug was sure he could get a replacement at a really good price from the computer market on Sunday morning I couldn't work, blog, email or wander aimlessly around the net like I sometimes like to do for all of Saturday and most of yesterday too because it took so much longer than expected to fix the machine. Doug had to do a nuke and rebuild (so basically wipe everything including the operating system and reinstall EVERYTHING). 10pm last night I got my computer back, with a few nips and tucks and looking better than before. So that's why I haven't drawn my RAK winner yet but it's here now - the winner of the Marah Johnson Rock Star RAK is Brigitte!!! Yay for you girl - thanks for commenting on my blog. If you can email me your addy I can send you your RAK asap.

Well my work hours have been changed AGAIN! The chick who left decided that she didn't like her new job and wanted her old one back and they gave it to her!!! So now I'm only working two days per week instead of five but God does make sure you get what you need and the amount I'm earning will still pay for the rent when we move over Christmas which is all I really needed from the job. The extra money would have been nice but the money to cover the rent is what we really needed so I feel blessed that we still have that. Slow going today though because when the computer had its rebuild yesterday my custom dictionary for Microsoft Word was nuked as well and Doug forgot to save it before erasing the whole hard drive and reinstalling everything. No problem really, he talked me through a data recovery program over the phone and we've rescued everything that was on the original hard drive and now I need to wait for him to get home so he can search through all the data and find the dictionary before getting rid of the other stuff again. The dictionary is my list of shortcuts and abbreviations I use all day long in my medical typing. It's taken me years to accumulate all the corrections on there and so today has been really slow going while I have to type everything out in full because none of it is in the system. Oh well, hopefully all fixed tonight.

The weekend was pretty quiet, I had a class Saturday morning at the shop and then Saturday afternoon we went to Garden City for a wander around. Doug wanted to look at something in Toys'R'Us and I wanted to try some Dreamy Donuts. They're meant to be the same as Krispy Kreme (got the taste for those after our Sydney jaunt!) and wow were they good!!!! My favourite was by far and away the raspberry filled with a huge slab of white chocolate on the top. There are just not words for how good it was and therefore I have resolved that I should probably never EVER eat one again lest I fall into its evil clutches and be forever hopelessly addicted to them! lol The last thing I need as I pretend to give a remote toss about my weight is a brand new food addiction! I've given up on the diet shakes though - the coupling of those milk based shakes plus the basic necessities like Diet Coke make me so sick that I ended up throwing up last week so that's out the window. I keep looking for the "magic bullet" or something that will make it easier or faster to lose weight but deep down I know that what I really have to do is be more careful about what and how much I eat and I need to shift my fatty boombah bum and do some exercise - whether I like exercise or not! I have been going to the gym but only once or twice a week and given that I'm not exactly the strictest person when it comes to what I eat, that just isn't enough to do more than break even. Certainly isn't enough to make me lose any weight, just halt the gaining process.

So Sunday was a trip to the computer market to buy some parts for my computer so that I'd actually have a working computer. I also stopped in at Target and bought some new thongs - yes I am totally a complete dag and I do pretty much live in thongs all summer long! I already have a great pair of hot pink ones so I ended up getting a pair of lime green ones with white polka dots and a white pair with cherries all over them. That should cover just about any fashion contingency of the season!!!! Remember when I bought Caeligh some new shoes last week? The red embroidered suede ballet flats for the bargain price of $5??? Well she was wearing those when she was in the backseat of the car late last week and she thought it would be a good idea to open a 4 litre bottle of motor oil sitting on the floor in front of her and pour half of it all over the carpet in the back of the van and ALL OVER THE BRAND NEW RED SHOES!!! I tell ya, there are not words some days for that girl..........I'm sure it's nothing that a firetruck full of degreaser won't fix (the carpet in the van that is) but I'm pretty sure the dainty suede ballet flats are a write off. If you have any safe way to remove motor oil from suede I'd love to hear it (when you all stop laughing cos I know, that's just a ridiculous proposition cos clearly they're ruined beyond salvation and what kind of optimistic fool am I?........).

Well tomorrow is our big launch of our first Everyday Garbage challenge! We're all so excited and have our takes on the challenge sitting waiting to share them with you! I'm the only one out of the five of us (cos I do most of the posting, only because I have a bit more time in front of the computer than the other girls) that has seen everyone's work and I love how different we all are in our styles and the way we approached the challenge. Still can't believe how lucky I am some days to be junking it up with some of the best in the business! The whole plan so far is that all the hints we've given - the last one went up this morning - will point to the challenge we'll be putting up tomorrow. If you have time to go and post a comment on the hints at all then we'll be drawing a random name to receive a RAK as well plus you'll get to see what other creative minds have suggested for the hint items we've posted. There are some clever chickies out there I am telling you!!! We're hoping the blog will be a real source of inspiration for people and something new and different for scrappers to have a go at. For some people we know that the whole found objects thing is really hard so hopefully the ideas you see on the site will get you to try new things, think "outside the square" cliche as that sounds, and just give you a reason to have a little fun with your layouts. I will say right now that I very much doubt that my layout is acid free and completely archival safe but I did it because I wanted to and it's meant to be about creativity and fun. I have albums and albums of perfectly preserved archival safe layouts - this time I wanted to be able to be as creative as I liked without having the constant worry of it all being acid free yadda yadda. I know some scrappers are reeling in horror at what I've just said but hey it's a bit of fun and the layout will last as long as it lasts and I'll keep creating my other stuff as well. Trust me, my kids will never be short of layouts about their childhoods! lol

Our very first Everyday Garbage challenge will go up tomorrow, Tuesday 18th September and you can access it from here. Come have a look at what we're up to and join in if you can!

I have to say thank you to Lisa Le-Ray for her much needed cheer up for me the other week. I will get back to you soon. Jilly I hope your day hasn't been too exhausting (yeah right!!!) and rest up when you can. Kat and Peta, thanks so much for Friday night - we always have so much fun when you guys come hang out with us!

Back to the typing grind but I'll be back again soon. Have a great week, love Lu