Frustrations ....

You must understand something ... I've been without an internet connection pretty much since my last post. My hard drive has continued to crash, my router has given up the ghost, hours on the phone with tech support has been of no help, the time with tech support has actually caused EXTRA problems getting online (my laptop gave out, to0), and I've had no time to shop for a new computer - in "real life" OR online (since I haven't been able to get online)!!!! For now I can finally get my laptop connected with the ethernet cable hooked directly into it but my laptop is SLOW so it makes life far more difficult to get things done than the way I am accustomed to. This is frustrating on several levels. One, I am used to being able to accomplish things faster than I am currently able to which is a hard pill for me to swallow ... I don't want to have to slow down! Two, it is very eye-opening to realize that my main source of communication with SO MANY is via the internet (e-mail, blogs, Facebook, etc.) - makes me feel totally "disconnected." Third, my church calling uses a computer more than I realized - especially this week! Luckily I have a fabulous "back up" helper :) Fourth, I am pretty much USELESS to my creative teams and forums without internet access. I can't upload my projects to any galleries, I can't download new products to create projects, etc. Lastly, it has become apparent that I may have a computer "addiction." The first few days I was unable to connect I found myself increasingly grouchy and unable to accept the idea that I really COULDN'T connect ... because I continued to return to my computer to try again!! Don't get me wrong - my new Blackberry has been a lifesaver because I was still able to get my e-mail, I could still get Facebook alerts, and I could even look things up online, but it took me forever to reply to e-mails on my phone (it is still "new" to me) so I only did that which was necessary. Steve and I got almost completely caught up on our DVR recordings. The timing was actually pretty good (if that's possible) with all of the birthday party plans that needed attention this week - kept me from getting MORE distracted ;) Speaking of the birthday party, I just downloaded all of my pictures so I should have all of the details tomorrow or Tuesday ... it could take me that long to upload and get them posted on this dinosaur of a laptop ....