My Afflation

My son is constantly showing me new things on YouTube. I think he watches it more than our cable. I missed the 2009 CMT awards and therefore had no clue about T-Swizzle. Why were we talking about T-Swizzle? Because my kids starting singing “ Love Story ” in the car a few days ago … well over a week ago. We were school shopping. I do love that my kids will randomly start singing together. It gives me insight into what they are both listening to. Though I am sure that Josh will deny ever listening voluntarily to Taylor Swift.

If you happen to actually visit my blog and not get it delivered in email or an RSS feeder, you may have noticed a few changes around here. Sometimes even I get tired of the way my blog looks and need to switch it up a bit. Sort of like moving furniture around every 6 months. It’s a good way to clean things up, play around with a new look, and get rid of clutter. One new thing that I added, that I hope will build up a little community around my corner of the blogosphere, is Disqus , a commenting system. Why do I need a commenting system? Doesn't Blogger have one built in? Yes, blogger does have built in, but it's less than ideal. There is no way to do threaded comments, and sometimes comments get lost in my email. I did in fact use the “idiot-proof” installation method and it seems to have imported all of my comments beautifully (this is actually how I became aware that I had missed a few comments!) That step was the one I was most fearful of since I had read that people had

Who doesn’t love free? Google keeps making things easier and free for us … and like a lemming, I keep using it. Because, you know, who doesn’t love free. Ok, to be truthful I haven’t tried out the free phone call service yet. No one to call! I need a guinea pig a friend adventurous or tech-curious enough to try this out with. So, now, not only can you use your GMail account to email with, you can:   SMS make a phone call video chat have your voicemail transcribed and … am I missing anything? Google is well on its way to becoming your all-in-one communications center. Oh, and that background email … join whrrl if you are to Vegas anytime soon. They have all sorts of goodies for checking in.

So ... I was getting ready to write a post about how bored I am and running out of topics (darn writer's block) -- when one literally hits me in my face. My blog has been blocked from work. For being a parked domain. Which is isn't. But still ... I didn't think I was doing that much on it. So, what do you want to read about here?

We all know that kids are expensive and getting more and more so the more we let go of “simple pleasures” and try to “keep up with the Joneses. Not to mention inflation! I came across this inspiring piece:   " What do you get for your $160,140.00? (not including college) * Naming rights . First, middle, and last! * Glimpses of God every day. * Giggles under the covers every night. * More love than your heart can hold. * Butterfly kisses and Velcro hugs. * Endless wonder over rocks, ants, clouds, and warm cookies. * A hand to hold usually covered with jelly or chocolate. * A partner for blowing bubbles and flying kites. * Someone to laugh yourself silly with, no matter what the boss said or how your stocks performed that day.. For $160,140.00, you never have to grow up. You get to: * finger-paint, * carve pumpkins, * play hide-and-seek, * catch lightning bugs, * never stop believing in Santa Claus. You have an excuse to: * keep reading the Adventures of Pooh and Piglet, * watch

Wordless Wednesday: Inked Originally uploaded by Nannerlady After 4 years of talking about it, I finally got a tattoo. It hurt more than I thought it would. But now that the pain is fading I'm starting to think that I will go back and get the really awesome, really colorful, huge canvas piece I want. It's like having kids. For those of us wired to procreate, there is an (irrational) need to make more.

Instead of blogging today when I had some downtime and began suffering from writer's block I took @KG_Photography's advice : Looked at various searches as to why @hankito couldn't get his Samsung Galaxy to sync with Picasa . None of my suggestions worked so I'll have to do some in-person troubleshooting since I have an android phone and have had picasa albums on my phone I think since my G1. If not, I have just become so used to having them in the gallery that "it's just the way it is" now. I <3 Android.

So I haven't met Doug in person yet, but I have been reading his blog fairly regularly over the last five years. And he's the one who got me into twitter (just a little widget he had on his blog...) Anyways, if you have ADHD, or know someone who does, you can now take him on the road with you on your Kindle. He is definitely worth the read! You can also read Doug's advice column on ADDaboy ! Related articles by Zemanta Sleepwriting and Other Musings (thesplinteredmind.blogspot.com) How To Reach Out On Twitter (blogworldexpo.com)

New features in Gmail Well looky here. I opened Gmail this morning and this is what greeted me. I am sure that all of the tech blogs have written about it already, but I haven't had a chance to read them this morning. I am so pleased that Google finally listened to users about something so basic as sorting contacts by last name. I am such a Googlephile though that I have re-trained myself to do it there way and I use search almost constantly, either on the web or on my phone. But I do love the new navigation. I have so many filters (folders) that scrolling down to see Contacts was a pain. Now the link is right up top! Compose Mail is now a button instead of a text link, making it stand out more. The custom labels for phone numbers I have been using for a while in Android and it seemed to sync fine, I guess now I can do it from the web, too. So, I clicked on the link to see what else is new:

Wordless Wednesday: Moving is exhausting Originally uploaded by Nannerlady It's been a busy week already, starting with an extremely busy weekend. My daughter, Joy , has been asking to live with me for quite a while now. What some of you may not know is that I have been seperated for almost 3 years. The way things shook out is that I have had my son, and Joy stayed with her father. That all changed this past weekend. Both kids are living with me and we are trying to reintegrate as a family. Blessedly, the kids have matured enough that the only thing they fight over now is who is messier in the bathroom (the Boy is winning! ewww! but that's another post). She didn't chose to move a lot of things, realizing that she still has two residences, but we got her all settled in with a proper bedroom, her clothes, Buddy (the cocker spaniel), and Noel, her guinea pig . No, I am not running Animal Farm , though some days it feels like it. Today was the first day of school for

Today was supposed to be a good day. Quiet and productive. Boring. Easy. Today I found out that one of my best friends died suddenly this morning. Her children will grow up without a mother. Her husband has lost a companion of 15+ years. You never know when it will be time to go. Don't hold off on telling your friends that you love them and making the time to see them instead of always "oh, let's try for later". Sometimes there won't be a later. This was posted on her FB wall: At 3:40am on Monday, August 9, 2010, Leslie Shevick Raymond passed away due to complications from pneumonia. Leslie's immune system had been compromised by ITP ( idiopathic thrombocytopenic purpura .) Leslie is survived by her husband, Christian Raymond, their two children, Serena (age 5) and Connor (age 3), and her paren ts Mr. and Mrs. Barry and Emily Shevick, and Leslie's brother, Scott Shevick.  On behalf of the family, we thank you for your prayers and support. S

photo by Hank Yeomans This is one of my fave shots. Just looking at it reminds me of the utter peace I felt.

Rainbow Clouds Originally uploaded by Nannerlady Today I saw something amazing. A rainbow in the clouds. Sometimes you just have to look up.

This came in email today and I thought I would share with all you L.A. Sparks fans ( the links are entirely mine ): Bring the entire family to the downtown L.A. T-Mobile® store to get Los Angeles Sparks star DeLisha Milton-Jones ' autograph and do something to help the environment at the same time. Your family probably has several unwanted cell phones just cluttering up the house, so bring them along to the store for recycling through our Mobilize™ program . The event will include: • One-hour appearance by two-time Olympic Gold medalist and Sparks forward DeLisha Milton-Jones • Prize wheel with eco-friendly organic cotton T-shirts, reusable bags, and water bottles • All-natural ice cream and popsicles! • On-site live radio broadcast featuring green trivia and prize giveaways Remember to round up all your obsolete phones and bring them with you for recycling when you come to meet Sparks forward DeLisha Milton-Jones on Aug. 7. The store is located at: Oly