A wild week worth remembering!

Happy Monday! This has been an interesting week!

My computer went "the way of all flesh," and is now resting in pieces at a e-cycle place. I mentioned it in an offhand way to my occupational therapist, Judi Joseph at Methodist. We had been trying to figure out a new mouse to use, since I'm getting weaker and almost can't use my thumb.  I figured that dreaming about Tobii PCEye was something of a dream… But I tested it and it works for me. It's just that, like many people with disabilities, funding excellent technologies like this is sometimes difficult. I assumed that it was beyond my reach and that the computer would probably be, too.

Of course, everyone knows when I go into mourning over losing a computer. While it isn't quite as bad as when Queen Victoria lost her beloved Albert, I'm not subtle.

Channel 11, a local TV station, heard about my frustration and did this story…

They suggested that I make a way for people to donate… AND keep them updated. Paypal can do that.

My new quest

Yesterday was stellar.

Went to occupational therapy to test a $50 mouse.  I don't think I could use it, but…

A representative from Tobii Technology <http://www.tobii.com/> was there.  Although they also have applications for gamers and other folks, I'm particularly interested in the ability to use my computer WITH MY EYES.  I got to try it out, and…  YES, it works for me.

I now have a new quest: FUND MY TOBII!

The power of a question…

Lifehacker struck yet again!  Yes, I know that I have almost oversold this…  Cluster of tools and tidbits.  I know that I mention it too often.

It just is too useful for words!

For example, it is already the last half of January.  Broken Resolutions are scattered all over the place, driving people into self-determined Guilt.  Some folks still feel like trying to keep up.

For us, LH has a different approach: FRAME YOUR GOALS AS QUESTIONS TO MOTIVATE ACCOMPLISHMENTS

It looks like this is based in psychology.  They reference Motivating Goal-Directed Behavior Through Introspective Self-Talk: The Role of the Interrogative Form of Simple Future Tense

This rings true to me.  Declarations sound absolute, but LIFE often brings in the expected.  Even when I do what I say I intended to do, "unintended side effects" abound.

• What if, this week instead of "setting goals", I ask myself interesting questions?
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Maggie visited… I'm not posting today.

My niece from the Hoosier State is visiting today.  This blog is going to have to wait till next week…  :-)

Moving ahead with projects…

Happy Friday!

Until I find my new morning helper, I think I will continue to be easily distracted.  Interviews continue…

Of course, being distracted is not a real excuse for not accomplishing things, at least not as far as I'm concerned.  And…  I am working on that.

I have managed to finish a few things.  I'm hoping to get my "real" website going soon.  I created something of a banner.  Maybe someone who is creative can critique this image:

Yes, I'm still using Paint Shop Pro, Version 8.  I know I'm a dinosaur.  I know that there are bigger, better, faster, more accurate programs out there.  I like this one!  It works the way my brain does, somehow.

Can you believe it, I also found some information on public speaking.  Yes, it makes me nervous.  In spite of teaching Sunday school off and on since I was 12, I get "twitchy." I also found an affordable way to do online seminars. None of this information is the result of searches.  It called just landed in my lap. 

I have this image in my head…  Lisa the BRILLIANT, dispenser of wit and wisdom in small packages. I don't know that that's realistic, but it is fun for now.

And the search continues…

You may remember that I am looking for a new morning helper.  I have placed ads on Craigslist, in the Greensheet, on Facebook, and at lone star college jobs board.

A few people have applied.  They seem like potentially "good fit" candidates.  For a while, I was afraid nobody would actually show interest…  I was wrong.  :-)

Of course, I'm always nervous about this kind of search.  It's nice to find someone that we are comfortable working with.  I suppose this is true for most jobs.  Still, attendant care it is such an intensely personal job.  The pay is not that great, unless the situation is unusual AND PERFECT.

Working for me may be somewhat unusual, but it is far from perfect.

I am SO going to miss Kathy!  Still, it is time to move forward.

I am cold…

Houston has been having a cold snap, along with the rest of the country.  (QUIT LAUGHING AT US, folks from Chicago!  21° here is just as weird as 40° below zero is there!) Fountains (and in ground lawn watering systems) have been turned into stunning ice sculptures.  The homeless have been trying to keep warm in abandoned buildings, starting fires all over this city…  And Harris county.  Farmers have lost a lot of money in a vain attempt to keep preps from freezing.

It is warmer today by at least 15°, and I am colder than I've been all week.  I've got thick socks that go well above the knee.  I've got a warmup suit that's normally got me almost too warmed-up.  I've got a shirt.  I'm wrapped up in a thick, soft, and incredibly warm shawl.  I added a touch of coffee liqueur to my chocolate (heated) instant breakfast.

Nothing is working.

It is almost like my body stored up "feeling cold" for later usage.  Like today.  I can't imagine why I would need to feel cold later!  I'm not even uncomfortably warmed-up in August.

I suppose that the people on my home world must have a hotter Climate to begin with.  Lizard-people, what can I say?  We are cold-hearted.