i'm still here

yes, indeed, folks, i am still here.

though it did seem that i had dropped off the face of the earth, let me squelch the rumors now...i am alive and kicking and my computer has recovered from her surgery. that would be one of the several reasons why you haven't seen hide nor hair of me here for several weeks now.

short version: i've been working like a woman on a mission lately, a mission to make those stinkin quarterly tax payments. my car failed it's emissions test, however, and my cat developed a lump on her back and i had this ominous feeling the money was going right down the crapper and my trip to the World Series of Poker in Indiana (just across the river from Louisville, KY) was about to be cancelled. next, one of my good friends, Michelle, was in a motorcycle accident a few weeks ago. day after the accident, her roomie gives me the new addy for her website to pass along to everyone and my computer locks up. naturally i shut it off to hard boot it, but it never makes it back up into Windows, only the BSOD (as coined by my IT friend, Bart). that's right, the Blue Screen of Death.

yep, trip is screwed. i know it. it was the curse of the triple C's in October: cat, car, and computer. as it turns out, God IS indeed good all the time, and all the time God is good. Michelle is well on her way to recovery (which put things quite well in perspective, i quit griping, i guarantee you the minute i got that phone call). i spent $338 to find out my cat is fine - just a reaction to an injection she recieved last month for her allergies (did i mention she may be allergic to birds? how ironic is that one!?). one of the guys i work with installed some new spark plugs and wires for me and we added some fuel injection cleaner to a fresh tank of gas, guy that used to work for Saturn/now at Tires Plus gave my engine the free look-over and tells me to remove the air filter and "drive the hell out of it!!! drive it like you stole it!!!" before i take it back for the next emissions test (that was my fav part of this whole ordeal, being told to drive faster than i already do!). and the AWESOME manager at Computer Renaissance, Michael (did i mention he's totally cute?), hooks me up with a total UPGRADE from my 10 GB hard drive (now deceased, god rest her soul) to a brand spankin new 40 GB hard drive (WITH a 3 year warranty) for FREE even though my warranty on the old one had expired. that's right! i said, FUH-RHEE!!! i must have batted my eyelashes just right or something, cause now my new hard drive is HUGE (yes, size does matter) and this puter is running like it's super charged! granted, he wasn't able to retrieve all my files and photos from the old gal that bit the dust, but i still have faith in Bart, the IT Superman!

so, yeah, i didn't get to go on my trip, but i did indulge myself in two massages (one being free), dinner and a movie with a friend (we saw Prime, very funny and very HOT guy but disappointing ending), a free Poker game and some much needed down time. oh yeah, and did i mention i'm getting a new phone for free, too? another upgrade!

it's all good. i get to go on a Fossil Dig with one of the girls in my small group in two weeks. that will be awesome!