Moving!!

Yey! Finally, about time! I'm packing up and will go pick Ms. Jill up soon to look over the unit then finish packing and cleaning up.

Then a whole crew come over tomorrow. I feel loved, thanks all :)

And I bought donuts and mini-SunnyDelight. This is going to be fun!! I need to put collars and their new identity tags on the cats - Mitch isn't going to love that too much.

Next time I post, I'll be in my new address. Let's see how the kittercats take the transition.

Have a good wkend all, if I don't see you tomorrow :)

Foreclosure map - Oakland and SF

I found this link in a comments section of an article on the SF Chronicle.

Another commenter wrote about this article from 2005 which says half of all personal bankruptcies from 2001 were due to medical bills. That's shocking. And surprisingly more than 75% of those people had health insurance; some lost their insurance during their or their families' illnesses. I think I read somewhere else that that statistic has risen. A large percentage of personal bankruptices are because the medical bills became overwhelming.

Next time you judge someone going through bankruptcy, think on that. Politicians and even credit card companies try to market all people who are having difficult financial times as foolish and spendhappy, and hence laws protecting bankrupted folk are not needed. There ARE plenty of those people but most people are just trying to pay the bills and stay healthy. Just one layoff or extended illness spells big trouble for most of us. I know I basically live paycheck to paycheck though I'm slowly building up savings so it's not close. But no amount of money can make me "safe." You just can't control that much.

Trusting God is sounding pretty good right about now.

Amazon's 30 Day Price Guarantee

I thought Amazon had an informal policy of refunding the price difference if an item becomes cheaper. It seems like they have a formal unwritten policy of it, actually.

I would think this only applies to products purchased directly from Amazon, not third party sellers.

Google and renewable energy

Glancing quickly through this article, I thought two things:

1. This is great! I'm glad a big well-known company like Google is investing in making clean energy easier and more affordable. They are very influential and will help lead the way in this movement.

2. Google is taking over the world.

Mary J. Blige iPod commercial

I really like Mary J. Blige's commercial for iPod. I'll stop fastforwarding through my Tivo'd shows to watch it. I like how it uses iPod's standard commercial format (silhuette, dancing, one song) but also upgrades to having the artist "performing" and with backup dancers and swirling colors. And I just love me some Mary :)

I've downloaded one of her songs but this makes me want the album.

Here it is for the curious.

Looking trendy

An acquaintance Susan who works in my office building stopped me in the hall today and said, "You know, me and (this other woman who works with her that I can't remember the name of) were talking the other day about how we always see you dressing so trendy and looking good." Surprised, I said thank you. But as I'm currently wearing kinda a cute outfit today (gray fitted flannel skirt with black ribbed sweater and black knee-high boots), I thought today's look wasn't really a fair assessment.

"But that's just today," I protested, thinking of yesterday's warm, casual, yet just ok outfit of black pants and purple argyle (?) sweater. She said, "No, yesterday, you were wearing those cute flats too and the whole outfit..." Now really surprised, I said, "No no, yesterday's outfit was just eh. And I always like your outfits!" A few more comments back and forth, me saying thank you, her repeating my trendiness, and we walked away.

I didn't even think that these women noticed me that much. They are two of the few ppl I make conversation in my building mostly because Susan is really friendly and kept insisting on making small talk with me in the bathroom and in the hall despite my halfhearted replies.

But the really weird thing is Susan is really trendy with the latest clothes, accessories, and styled hair. She sells expensive cars to assumedly rich people and has a great happy attitude with a polished look to match the job. Sometimes I think she's too chipper and peppy. But who am I to talk - I'm the sarcastic, realistic one. Susan, who dresses cute and always has the whole outfit coordinating but not too much, thinks enough of seeing me randomly for ten seconds to comment on my clothes? Wow.

So anyway, I started to write a post about how I don't have trendy nice-looking career jewelry because I either don't know where to find it or have a hard time dropping money on a necklace or a bracelet. And yeah I could search on the web but it's hard to fall in love with earrings on a site. And then it goes back to not wanting to pay for it! I wish I could outsource this - have someone buy me cool silver sometimes-chunky jewelry for work and fun, and I'd pay them back. Is that odd? Would I still feel like it's too much?

But then I remembered the interaction with Susan, and I still feel surprised especially as my current thoughts were on my lack of cool jewelry. I try to buy trendy clothes but I didn't grow up in any way stylish and will always feel a bit stylish-insecure. I remember talking to my friend Mark in/right after college about my clothes and that I would like to dress better, and he was like, "What are you talking about? You're totally trendy." Surprised me then too.

No, I'm not writing this to get compliments or critiques on my clothes!! But just an observation about what we think about ourselves doesn't always match how other people think of us.

Sad story

I just read a sad story about a pizza delivery man who got shot in Richmond when he was delivering a pizza. He was trying to save money to bring his mom over from Cambodia. He had just become a citizen in September. The people who killed him didn't even take any money. He ahs lived here 13 years and has two kids, a 3yr old and 18mo old.

Is there a fund being set up for his wife and kids??

Thanksgiving

I spent most of this wkend with my family; two days in Salinas at one brother Joe and sis-in-law's, one day at the other brother Mark and sis-in-law's, and one day at church with parents, Mark, and Rebecca, Mark's wife. A lot of details I just typed :)

Our family can be pretty flexible especially around the holidays. So on Thursday in Salinas, we went on a short hike, at a late lunch at Denny's (what? you didn't have a Denver omelette at your TG dinner?) and played Settlers. The next day we did some light Black Friday shopping and ate lunch at a Chinese restaurant, family style. And my family pushed me helpfully to get a nail/screw thing stuck in my tire fixed. Good thing, bc the whole tire needed to be replaced.

Saturday Mark and Rebecca hosted us and it was very yummy. She made hot cider in their crock pot (love the idea), Mark finally lived out his dream of deep-frying a turkey, and there was asparagus, rolls, meatless-stuffing, mashed potaters, and apple and pecan pies for dessert. They showed us their new backyard with tile they put in and their new built-in grill. They did a lot of the work themselves which is mighty impressive. It looked really cool.

Church on Sunday was really cool and I'm glad my parents, Mark, and Rebecca came. I'm especially glad they made the extra effort to be on time :) There were a lot of people at church which was a pleasant surprise. Three people shared their family's immigration stories and it was really honest and lovely. I felt like I was home, being surrounded by so many friends and friendly faces. It also felt easy to bring my family there - very accepted as we are. Having a casual dress-code helps. I was grateful for people who came up to talk to my family, who said they gave a quick prayer when they saw us, who helped me merge my worlds.

Showing my family my new place went better than I expected. Mark and Becca had a ton of helpful things to point out about the place; things to repair and cute ideas about utilizing the unique corners and nooks. They all thought it was super cute and were excited to see what I would do with it. It made me feel better about moving into a small space.

So yep. Now starting today with a new branch manager and moving this Sat. This week is going to be full times 10. I'm glad to get back to my life, my friends, my space.

Amazon's Kindle - thumbs down

Have you heard about this new product from Amazon, a wireless reading device? It's called the Kindle and it's a simple electronic book with web access to download new books. Priced at $399, it's the size of a paperback.

I couldn't download a pic of it so here's the link to the Kindle on Amazon.com. You know, I love Amazon.com and all, really strong love, but this thing sucks. And it's disappointing. And I don't care how many reviews with 4 or 5 stars from ppl who got to preview it you put up there that exclaim "It's AMAZING!" I'm not buying. I'm not buying the product, the hype, or the tall-tale you're trying to push down my book-loving throat.

I can't sum it up better than this reviewer named Griffin Fariello "Grif" from San Francisco (emphasis mine):

"[Amazon.com founder Jeff Bezos] doesn't seem to have read a well-published book if he thinks they "disappear" as you read them. The experience is there in your hands, from the jacket to the binding to the texture and shade of paper. How all that fits with the typeface and enhances the author's words makes the book a vibrant artifact of craft and art. This he wants to replace with an ugly sliver of plastic? I have a wall of books in my apartment. They are as warm and reassuring as the art on my walls. What Bezos, in his entrepreneurial haste, does not understand is that the object itself, not just the words within, is of great worth as well.

"And we are to pay $400 for this device? What if we happen to forget it on the bus or it is lifted from us? If a book I can easily buy another, or take another down from my shelf. With Kindle I'm out 400 smackers and there goes my library as well. What if it gets rained on, dropped in the bathtub, spilled upon? What if the dog chews on it or a child takes a hammer to it? And what of our friends who wish to borrow a book? Must they own a device as well and we then bluetooth a copy across to them? Or is a loan out of the question for we have a license for only one copy that can't be duplicated? And what a paltry gift a digitized book would make. What is there to unwrap and admire?

"And what of the author? When someone asks what I have written, or when I turn to my shelf, in those doubtful moments wondering why I didn't go to law school instead, what will be there? An empty shelf? A solitary slice of plastic? And with digitized books selling for $9.95 or less, how are the majority of writers, those in the great middle in sales, to eke out a living? Almost all major publishers are owned by a handful of tight-fisted conglomerates. Contracts already include "all future technology." The longest section of contracts these days is that covering author royalties - every reason imaginable, no matter how paltry, to cut your royalties in half or even more. With the future Bezos imagines we'll be making .25 or less for every copy sold. Thank you very much, Mr. Bezos.

"As someone who is not only an avid reader, but as someone who's been in the book business from selling, writing, and publishing most of my adult life I hope this thing falls flat on its face."

I don't want to read books electronically. I don't care if the font looks more like book font than computer font. The fact that it's not in color really does not impress me (seriously black and white? I know it saves power but ugh). I want to hold a book, smell the ink and paper, turn the pages, turn a page back if I want to reread an especially delicious sentence or remember a character's name, and look at the pretty cover. Yes, I do sometime pick books based on their covers. Yes, I do remember that a clever quote was on page 84 or that a certain book had 1084 pages (to my best memory: Gone With the Wind). How is a book a book without a number of pages? How do you retrack your steps if you want to reread something that was around the first third of the book, right after a new chapter, on the top left-hand side? I admit I hesitantly tried audio books and liked them when I had a long bus commute but I probably stuck with Audible.com bc I had an one-yr commitment to fulfill my $100 iPod discount. I canceled it right after. I've considered buying another audio book but am ok so far.

And to the reviewer who loved that she could read the NY Times on her Kindle in the morning without having to climb out of the bed to get the physical paper? I'm all for alternate news sources as I get 95% of my news from the internet and 5% from Jon Stewart, but do you really want to skip the experience of getting out of bed, grabbing the rough inky heft of news and reading it? If you're a person who reads the paper daily, I'm befuddled that you'd prefer this Kindle thing. I use my MotoQ to check websites when bored or my email when urgent but at least it's in color. And just when the iPhone has come out with color websites that really look like websites, you'd choose this black and white device?

And to people who are glad the Kindle saves them from having to carry a book? It is a small inconvenience but I like carrying a book too. Maybe bc I have my MotoQ for web access and my PalmPilot for Solitaire and jotting notes that I don't feel the need to carry a book everywhere if I have 10 minutes of "bored time" (which I am not mocking; I totally understand the desire to not be bored). So maybe the Kindle is for people with just a simple cell phone, and the Kindle's dazzling ability to download a book in a few seconds is like magic? Sorry, that's a bit mean. But true??

Technology is changing so many things. But books are books. I welcome technology to come in but for Amazon to have all these authors flaunt their new love for this Kindle, my head just turns sideways, confused. Don't you authors love holding and devouring the physical book too? Isn't that part of the experience? Don't you want to share a book with a friend? Audible and Kindle let you only buy a new book, not an used one or share with someone else.

I don't know how to end this. Would I like it better if Kindle came in color? If Amazon had paired technology with the iPhone instead of trying to create their own product? Or if they just let us readers alone to read our books.

Bay Area - Don't eat crab right now!

As this article in the SF Chronicle discusses, local fishermen are not catching crab from the Bay until the crabs and fish are declared safe after the oil spill (decision expected Nov. 28). But Oregon fishermen are coming down, getting the crabs, and at night unloaded the crabs in Monterey Bay. Those crabs are now being sent up to San Francisco. Most distributors are not buying but some ARE. I personally am not eating crab in the Bay Area for quite awhile. I like to be healthy. There do seem to be some companies getting safe crab from other waters but who knows which is which?

So to recap:

Oil spill + crab/fish + Orangecat's tummy = bad.

Food poisoning = bad.

Global drought

An article from Salon.com about the drought in the Southeast US, Europe, and Australia. The point the author writes, which I ask also, is why haven't we heard about this? Why is the mainstream media not covering this? And why aren't they asking and trying to answer the question: What happens when the water runs out? Especially as Atlanta is said to have 80-120 days of water left.

This will mostly affect the poor if widespread migrations start. Not in other countries but here in America. What if Atlanta becomes another New Orleans? And other cities follow. This is the kind of thing that history books record as ending empires.

Writers strike

Here's a clip that explains well, in a funny way, why the writers are striking.

Another clip explaining the strike.

Napa with Esther

Esther and I drove to Napa today for winetasting and an impromptu dinner at At Hoc. Fun, relaxing, and full of beautiful pictures.

A few fave pics from the years

New camera!

I'm really excited and happy. My new camera came yesterday and I've been setting it up and playing with it last night and this morning. It's only my second digital camera and I bought my first one in 2002 - I think a 5yr average is pretty good. I'm not one to constantly upgrade on toys; I've only had four cell phones since May 2000 and the last one I upgraded to because it's a work phone (yey btw to work paying my cell bill!). I've bought one laptop in 2004 and though I dream about a Mac, this PC is working just fine.

------------------------------------------ grrr spacing --------------------------------------

I've been wanting a new camera for a long time but going to Turkey/Greece and then Cabo and relying on friends' cameras has clinched it for me. In Cabo, I took 13 pics mostly at the airport and the first hours in San Diego; the other 300 are from Esther and Pin. I was trying to decide if I should wait for the December sales but as my family is coming up for Thanksgiving, I went for it and bought one a week ago from Amazon. I saved some extra dough with a $20 gift card.

Ok, so here are some pics from last night:

My books

Self-pic (the day's eye makeup not completely taken off)

Nora!

Mitch!

The kittercats :)

Fall

I think my favorite season is fall. Though when spring comes around, Easter is my hands-down favorite holiday with the bright colors and eggs and warmth, and summer is great as fruit season and with its popsicles and playing in the water.

But fall has leaves changing color and football and orangeyellowbrown colors and being able to wear sweaters and scarves and turn the heater on and snuggle in and new TV shows and did I mention football yet? And fall brings early winter with peppermint ice cream and pumpkin pie. I love peppermint ice cream to its peppermint death and it only is sold in fall/beginnings of winter.

Yes, I do think fall is my favorite season.

PS. I want to make this Peppermint Ice Cream Candyland Cake.

Busybusybusy

Life has ramped up quickly. Last week was kinda slow and space to daydream and think too much. This week is full though of course I squeeze in time to think too much. It's me and that's just part of my DNA unfortunately :)

I'm going into the city tonight to meet Cary Tennis at his book reading in the Haight. I'm looking forward to it - the whole experience of listening to an author read his first book, in a bookstore. I really respect his writing and his publishing the book himself after bigger publishing houses wouldn't print it. I admire his taking the next step in living a creative life. So I guess I'm going to meet him and support someone trying to speak out his creative voice. Go writers!

"Project Runway" started last night. I'm trying not to get too into it bc I can only three episodes before I move into a new place with no TV or cable (do they show the eps on Bravo.com?) but I do love it. I was thinking this morning as I watched my tivo'd show, that it's so popular bc it's PG rated. It's not about sex or romance and the designers are really skilled. It's totally the show that as I watch, I admire their abilities more and more, and realize how different I am than them. Other reality shows sometimes make me think, "Oh, I could do that." I like a show that raises the bar and shows how they're experts and I'm not.

Time to start packing hardcore. My books are first as they need the best strongest boxes (yes, I move so much that I keep my hard-fought good fruit boxes from Safeway). I've been slowly cleaning out stuff, throwing away, donating to Hopalong, donating to Salvation Army, starting to lend to friends. I like to take a move as a month-long process of slowly cleaning out my life and making a new one. I like moving and creating a new space (looking forward to having my own space again) but the day of the move gets me anxious. I'm trying to pray through and release all the worry and just enjoy moving in. I waste a lot of time preparing for the worst and I want to think differently. Not the first time I've come to this realization but I am working toward it anew.

Life and stuff

Wow, the Colts/Chargers game last night on Sunday Night Football was crazzzy! I started watching in the middle of the third quarter when Chargers were leading 23-10. They had been leading 23-0. Peyton Manning is so strong and drove his team to come back SOO close but they missed a 2pt conversion (go Chargers defense!), MISSED a 29yd field goal (what the??), and Peyton threw a personal and team record of 6 interceptions (thought the 6th one was the last play of the game) to lose in the end. I wish I had gotten to watch the first half where Chargers scored two touchdowns on the opening kickoff and a punt return. And one of the Colts' 4thQ touchdowns was when Rivers, the SD QB, fumbled the ball in their endzone and the defense scrambled for it. Easy 6 points but then the stopped 2 pts.

Damn that was a heart attack game.

I finished Cat Among the Pigeons by Agatha Christie. A good one. I won't tell who did it but I love her misleading plots.

YEY to my 28 minute commute this morning. I love commuting on Federal Holidays!! Seriously though, thank you Veterans.

I started eating more organic food including organic yogurt and milk. And buying non-cage eggs (where the chickens roam free and don't have their beaks cut off). It costs a bit more but as I focus on what I eat and buy, I find I buy less - only what I need. Or at least I try my best to. Last night I got yummy food from Trader Joe's including papaya mango salsa, asparagus, organic lowfat milk, meat lasagna, oldstyle potato salad, Asian peanut vinaigrette, molasses/chocolate/sugar cookies and maple turkey slices. I can't wait for my meals this week :) When I got home, I made this meal of salad (romaine lettuce, shredded carrot, warm chicken slices, and the peanut vinaigrette), milk, and half a small prepared pizza. I'm trying to make meals more of an event so I used a placemat and sat at the table. I tried really hard to not watch TV but the above mentioned football game was on. Then I put two cookies on a cute plate and ate my dessert while I finished watching the game. I was done and didn't eat after. Let's see if I can continue the trend!

I FINALLY bought a new digital camera. Long time coming esp as my last two trips I relied on my friends' cameras instead of my ancient five yr old Kodak digital. I ordered it from Amazon and hope to see it this week. Excited :)

And I finally finished the MyPublisher album on Sat too. Four hours on Sat, maybe a total of 20 hours or so. The limit is 100 pages so I had to go back and tighten things up. I'm actually glad for that, forcing me to edit. I think it was good I did it slowly over a month, time to come back with fresh eyes and edit constantly. I'm going to wait to order it after I move so it's not another thing I have to pack and unpack.

Cat Among the Pigeons

I started a new Agatha Christie novel this week, written in 1956.

Here's the Book Description from Amazon:

Another term has begun at Meadowbank, a prestigious, well-respected British girls' school. The indomitable headmistress is preparing to retire and name her successor. There is a disconcertingly mature Middle Eastern princess among the students and several new staff members in residence. And a brand-new sports pavilion is the pride of the campus.
But the school year suddenly takes a deadly turn when one of the teachers is found shot to death. As the investigation ensues, it becomes clear that the killer was not an outsider—and equally clear that no one at Meadowbank is who he or she seems to be. It is up to Hercule Poirot to determine who is who—and, more importantly, what has drawn the killer to the school—before anyone else falls victim to the cat among the pigeons.

I find it interesting that Christie likes to include the Middle East in so many of her novels.

Ok, my early guess is it's the main headmistress who built the place and runs it, knowing every detail. I'm not exactly sure what her motive is. To be honest, I don't think it's her but I think it's fun to imagine what the plot would unfold to look like if it was her.

There is yet another character named Elspeth (??).

It may seem like I own all of the series because I write about them so much. But I only have eight of the revamped novels. I guess writing this blog kinda fell in line timewise with reading the novels.

GRRR why is the format coming out all messed up? I put spacing in but it doesn't show. grr.

Being a daughter

I was touched by reading this today. It's an exerpt from "Because I Said So: 33 Mothers Write About Children, Sex, Men, Aging, Faith, Race & Themselves."

I had to stop at times and read other websites before going back to the nonficton? memoir? story. I was touched by how the author thought through her desires and motivations and struggled against her wanting to make her 13yr old daughter a friend after a divorce. It's somehow healing to see that a mother realized the temptations to befriend her almost adult but still very young daughter or the temptation to give into anger about the girl's dislike of the mom's favorite books. To set boundaries for safety. I'm sure she wasn't perfect and she made mistakes but even in stopping and considering, I think she did more than many mothers do.

Saddest cubicles

Ahh, these are sad...

He-Man!

I guess He-Man is in process to becoming a real action movie. This I would pay to see on opening weekend! I think my brothers played the most with He-Man and Transformers because these are the two toys I have strong memories of. I think they had the He-Man castle and I definitely remember the girls' costumes especially Teela with the gold cobra-like swirls on her boobs. (But I didn't remember the names before I saw the article).

FNL and Extras

I think I have a crush on Kyle Chandler's character Coach Eric Tyler on Friday Night Lights. Not sure if the crush is on the character or the actor. Let me watch more to find out :)

Watched Ricky Gervais in Extras' second season yesterday, so funny. I got the first disc from Netflix and loved the episodes with Orlando Bloom and Harry Potter, both playing caricatures/tools of themselves. Watching Gervais play the straight man and be constantly dumbfounded and shocked at what his agent, friends, and the stars say is sooo funny. I laugh right now thinking of some of his reactions. As he describes in an interview, they're not making fun of people with disabilities or homeless or whatever but making fun of the anxiety people feel around those topics. And isn't that just summarize comedy well? Yeah, I cringe and laugh frequently at the show. Seasons 1 and 2 are now on my Amazon Wish List. Kate Winslet guest-stars in Season 1 and is hilarious too. Plot summary: Gervais plays a character named Andy who is an extra on movie and tv sets. He meets stars and had completely inappropriate/embarrassing interactions with them. Ashley Jenson plays Maggie, Andy's best friend and a fellow extra. She is also on Ugly Betty playing Christina, Betty's best friend.

Here are some clips from Youtube:

http://youtube.com/watch?v=KmGaW-z2g3Y With Andy and his agent

http://youtube.com/watch?v=43sbtkQM6zc Andy with Sir Ian McKellen "you look confused" HA HA

http://youtube.com/watch?v=trUssiW0O5s Maggie with Orlando Bloom "everyone claps" lol "take a better look at me, see the attractiveness" LOL

http://youtube.com/watch?v=iME60JZInfw Andy and Maggie hang with Daniel Radcliffe. I guess the older woman in the clip is a well-known Dame. "Still going to use it?" "Yeah, it'll be fine." lol

Cary Tennis Book reading

From his website:

"Cary Tennis Live at the Booksmith

The Booksmith, San Francisco's celebrated Haight-Ashbury independent purveyor of fine books, magazines and cards, hosts Cary Tennis in a reading, discussion and book signing on Thursday, November 15 at 7 p.m., at 1644 Haight Street, between Cole and Clayton. If you have not heard Cary perform, you are in for a treat. Please join him and his many fans as they celebrate the publication of this long-awaited volume."

His book drops Nov. 15th. Since You Asked: The Best of Salon.com's Cary Tennis -- Readers' Favorite Advice Columns on Love, Drugs, Sex, Dreams, Creativity, Adultery, Addiction, Abuse, Narcissism, Hyperacusis, Grief, and Where the Hell Does My Boyfriend Really Live, Anyway?

Anyone want to come with me next Thu?

Lots o' changes

1. Moving in Dec. 1 to the back unit of a house (owned by a family in my church, rented by three women in my church). All had happened kinda suddenly but it makes sense.

2. I've been job searching the last month. Applying, writing way too many lengthy cover letters, researching jobs, interviewing, considering job offers... and in the end, I've decided to stay with my current position at around 30 hrs with more working from home. There is something else that is possibly going to happen with it but too soon to discuss. Feels exciting, invigorating, like my life has a direction. Sept and Oct sucked big time as bad work months. This yr has had its moments but those two take the sucky cake.

What else? Let's see, I've been working from home the last three work days and I love not commuting so much. Today I'm in the office again and the stupid 880 had stupid traffic and it took me a stupid 67 minutes to get here. I hate toll booths now and carpool lanes that no one uses (I actually pray that ppl would cheat and move into the carpool lanes with only one person so that my lane would go quicker). I do sometimes struggle with staying focused at home but with the move very present on my mind, I feel naturally distracted with cleaning up/planning for it. Cleaning out my closet, donating clothes, clearing my old laptop so I can recycle it, planning to the inch where everything's going to go in my new dollhouse space. I was happy to stop by on Sunday and see that it's bigger than I remembered and I will be able to fit my couch in. I took camera pics and spent like an hour yesterday looking at them and planning where my furniture would go. Well, that and cruising Target.com to see what kitchen island would work to add counter space but maximize storage.

I'm also trying to finish up doing an electronic scrapbook through MyPublisher of my Turkey and Greece trip. For myself but more to get as a Christmas present for my mom. I have a buy one, get one free coupon and I thought it would be a great way to check off a task for myself and get my mom something she'd love. And yes, my mom will love a detailed scrapbook of my trip with lots of captions. But this thing is taking FOREVER. The software seems so slow to respond and doesn't allow a lot of words next to the pics and I have to flip back and forth between my Picasa page where I painstakingly wrote in captions in June to add them to the album. It's taking so long! I know it'll look good when it's done but grr. I finally got to Greece and am doing our ferry boat ride from Santorini to Mykonos. Getting there...

Ok, back to work...

Free rice - click here!

Click here and play a fun and challenging word game! 10 grains of rice will be donated for every correct answer.

Passed on from Ms. Jill K...