I am the oldest of four kids. We all have our unique qualities. My youngest brother is the artsy one. He is the person you can go to for any type of art and he is able to produce it quickly. One of my sisters is the smart one. I think she could win any kind of trivia game because she knows everything there is to know about anything. I have always been the technology one. I think it will forever be my place with my family. Everyone always comes to me with any and all technology questions. Sometimes it is questions about Microsoft Word, sometimes it is questions about direct tv vs cable and sometimes it is questions about operating a computer. I am always happy to help and I love my family, but the world is getting so advanced with technology that they might need to start learning some things. My mom can’t keep calling me every time she needs to turn on the computer or open a webpage. I keep hoping she will remember, but I keep getting calls about simple things.

I did, however, come home and look up the American bald eagle, because my curiosity was now piqued.  I was glad to see that I was right, both of them have white heads.  I don’t know if I’ll ever see that aide again or not, and I don’t know if I’ll bother to inform her of what I found out.  Sometimes people get aggravated when you point out to them that they were mistaken, and I really don’t see the benefit of doing that.  I used to tell people all of the time when they were mistaken, and I learned that is a good way to alienate yourself from other people.  So I’ve started trying to just say “oh really?” and let it slide.  What do you think?  Is that a good thing, or a bad thing, to “let it slide” for the sake of keeping the peace and getting along with other people?

Four years have passed since the car accident happened that ruined my life. I was on my way home from work when I was rear ended by a car whose driver was too busy talking on the phone to realize that the cars in front of her had stopped for a red traffic signal.

She rear-ended the vehicle in front of me, pushing that vehicle into the rear of my truck. At the time of impace I was in the process of changing the CD in the CD player, since I had already stopped for the traffic light. I was badly injured as a result of the accident, and we had to hire a lawyer to help us to recover the costs of the accident. I wish that we had been able to find a claim calculator on the Internet back then to help us figure out what type of award we might be able to expect from the accident. As it is we still have not yet settled from the accident, and I am thinking that we never will see any money from it.

But then I think about dear old Ellie who lives down the road from us.  She is in her 80′s and lives alone.  The poor dear is desperately lonely, and terrified that something bad will happen to her.  Several years ago she had a Home Security System installed that she has to deactivate whenever she is going to open her door.  I often wonder if she is just paranoid from watching the news, or if something bad really did happen to her, or a member of her family to have her be so frightened.  She has ADT stickers on all of her windows, to let potential thieves that her house has a Security System in it.

I’d hate to be living alone and paranoid for my safety.  So I guess I’ll just have to keep encouraging my family and give lots of praise when they help out!

Facebook was a good resource when looking to see if this company that offers great Daily Deals is really on the up and up. Come to find out a few people that are my Facebook friends had used this website just recently for some of their Christmas shopping needs and all had good things to say about it. That was good to know, you just gotta love Facebook these days. I never knew how much I would rely and depend on all that Facebook has to offer these days. Kinda makes me wonder what they will come up with next.

Beth found a great resource on the Internet that she has been using to look for Retirement Residences for her mother to move into.  It is called senioropolis.com, and it is designed to be a guide to senior citizens throughout Canada to help them find housing,  and jobs, and has a lot of links to places that are important such as Healthcare, and links to places of interest such as workshops and lectures.  Sounds like a great resource to me!

But I was glad to see that my kids, after complaining for a short period of time, pulled out a jigsaw puzzle to work on.  I thought for sure that when the electricity came back on that they would abandon the puzzle, but to my amazement, here it is four days later and they are still working on it every now and then!

We looked into wireless internet service plans and found the best plan for our speed and data needs. Now, I can use the internet to pursue one of my hobbies. I love to collect vintage china. I have several patterns that I am collecting. They are antique and cannot be found at a regular retail store. I have had to piece them together by buying on-line and trading with vendors. My favorite pattern that I have been collecting since I was in my early twenties is a beautiful pattern by Staffordshire. It was produced from 1918-1938. It is called “Chelsea Bird”. It is a beautiful hand painted bird on delicate china. There are different colors of the pattern. The most that I have is of the burgundy. I have collected an eight-piece setting with some serving pieces. I want to collect the cobalt blue, mustard, and Kelly green colors too. They are more rare and really hard to track down. I got lucky on Ebay last year and got six dinner plates from a lady in Kentucky. It is rare to find so many together!

At least I know that my son is safe and not in some hostile territory, fearing for his life, so I will count my blessings on that one and just be overjoyed the next time I see him.