This is what our Christmas tree looked like for about two hours on Sunday. Granted, our prelit tree is 8 years old. However, half of the tree was out when we put it up. Of course, Bill didn’t bother to plug it in until we were over half done getting it up and fixing the branches. He’s lucky I didn’t recommend he start researching a hotel las vegas. Instead, I stayed quite calm and just finished the tree. Since only one side of the tree was out, we were able to cheat and just turn that side to the wall. We also broke two ornmanents (thanks kids!) before we even had the garland on the tree. Good times, good times.
Here are a few more pics of us/the tree/the kids having some fun:
Anyone who follows me on twitter knows I get a new cell phone last week. First, I twitter that I missed the UPS truck on Thursday. They wouldn’t come back and deliver, so I was disappointed. Then the phone came on Friday, and I couldn’t figure out how to get the back off to put the battery in. Then, due to some glitch in their system, I couldn’t activate my phone for 24 hours. After all that, I was so ready not to like my new phone.
Instead, I really love it. I have learned how to text message now (yes, I never knew how before). I can check my email, surf the web, and even listen to the radio with my phone. I can even watch Live TV! It also takes pictures and videos. Granted, I haven’t learned how to use all these features yet. However, I plan on learning! This is one cool phone. I haven’t need a cell signal booster yet either. My favorite was that when we went to Navy pier on Sunday, it gave us voice directions. It told us what streets to turn on, and I was even able to see the traffic report! I could see on each expressway how fast everyone was going. I thought that was pretty cool. I will probably end up writing a review for the Instinct over at Lisa Reviews after I’ve had it longer than a week, but I have to admit, this is one cool phone.
Can you believe it? It actually snowed here in Chicago yesterday. I had to actually put the kids in their winter coats. It’s only October, how crazy is that! Granted, it lasted all of 15 minutes. However, it made for a very slippery trip to the chiropractor. To make things even more crazy, we are suppose to have a high of 68 on Thursday. Then you wonder why all of us in the Midwest get sick in fall. Could it be our crazy weather?
Boy, was I surprised that I am not. You know, since I live in Chicago and all and not a small town. Don’t know what I am talking about? I didn’t hear the statement that Sarah Palin made at a rally (you know since the libel media is sooooo biased against her), but Jon Stewart sure did. Check out his thoughts:
Now, the Chicago Tribune did an article several weeks ago (and I’ll link it as soon as I find it) showing that small towns have just as many problems (if not more) than big cities. I personally am sick and tired of hearing how “small town America” is so much better. Let me show you Chicago. Granted, we have our problems too, but we sure don’t act better than anyone else. Wait, can the Olympics even be held here if we aren’t part of “real” America? Like Jon Stewart said, if you are from a big city and die over in Iraq, you aren’t a “real” American.
So if I am no longer a “real” American, do I still have to pay my taxes, since in the Republicans eyes I don’t count? Basically, what I am lead to believe with the way all these Republicans are talking is that unless you are a Republican, I guess you aren’t a “real” American.
Did you November is National Novel Writing Month (hence, NaNoWrimo). NaNoWrimo is an interesting approach to novel writing. Participants begin writing November 1 and end November 30. The goal is to write a 175-page (50,000-word). This requires you to write a minimum of 1,667 words a day which can be very daunting. This is why using Dragon NaturallySpeaking for NaNoWrimo would take some of the pressure off. I know my sister would love to write a novel one day. It is honestly her lifelong dream. She went to college and majored in English, so she could do it. However, she is super busy (and this is before she even has kids!). When I learned about Dragon Naturally Speaking, I knew this would be a perfect fit for her. This can definitely help her blogging (of course, she is a blogger too!). However, I personally don’t think she thinks she has the time for something of this magnitude.
If you want to see how this would help you, you have to take the Dragon’s typing speed test! I tried it with Will (my 16 month old) hanging on me (so I really do type faster, but this is what my life is like normally. That is why blogging usually takes me all day. LOL Here’s my test results:
Let me tell you, I couldn’t believe how fast the speaker was compared to my typing. Granted, I could have typed faster without Will, but I still couldn’t have kept up with the speaker. There is no way. I think I know what I am buying my sister for Christmas. She has some big changes coming her way and this would allow her to both continue blogging and to write her novel.
I may not be writing a novel, but man, I can see so many uses for myself with this software. Since I have five blogs and two little kids, I could definitely get more work done with this versus me typing out my blog posts (see score up above – lol). This would make it much easier to write posts for my travel blog when we are on the road, and I could write my posts for my cooking blog while I am cooking the recipe I am going to write about. I could take the time I save and spend it with my family instead of working. It would be nice to be able to go to bed before midnight. Do you want to see how easy this is to use?
As you can see, anyone can use this software. It is that easy. Don’t believe me? Read some of these Dragon Reviews. I actually know people who have this and they absolutely love it. I am still working on getting my hands on one of these, so I can save some of my precious time.
This is what our Christmas tree looked like for about two hours on Sunday. Granted, our prelit tree is 8 years old. However, half of the tree was out when we put it up. Of course, Bill didn’t bother to plug it in until we were over half done getting it up and fixing the branches. He’s lucky I didn’t recommend he start researching a hotel las vegas. Instead, I stayed quite calm and just finished the tree. Since only one side of the tree was out, we were able to cheat and just turn that side to the wall. We also broke two ornmanents (thanks kids!) before we even had the garland on the tree. Good times, good times.
