All that I have are these to remember you by

Tonight, I bought an external hard drive, moved over most of my music and photos, and now my computer is flying. Woo-hoo! It's nice that $100 now will give me more time before I *must* buy a laptop. I still want one, but now there isn't so much rush.

I also picked up a digital voice recorder. After quite a bit of research online, I decided on the Olympus DS-30. It comes with transcription and editing software. Sure, I could have bought a recorder for a lot less and bought software separate ... but why not get it all at once and know everything works together?

I'm feeling pretty good about things these days, except for the incessant evening headaches. Likely it's because I've had so much to drink lately. Ugh. What I know is that it causes me pain, and I don't like pain in my head. This week, I also bought a new side chair from a co-worker. Her husband recovered it, and it looks great. It's comfy and well-made. Sweet.

Originally I was thinking of going to Jacksonville this weekend, but I don't want to make the drive. The trip would be good for me, as it always is, but there's the financial part, too. And the fact that I haven't cleaned my bedroom or bathroom or kitchen or solarium in a while. They're overdue.

Funny how inspiration can escape when you have a lot on your mind. These days, I have less on my mind, thanks to getting rid of a car (and a payment, and maintenance, and gas prices, and all that jazz) and getting my finances in more order than I've had in recent years. For the first time since college, I've imagined writing short stories. Now, don't get me wrong, I don't have any story ideas, but picturing myself doing something creative with writing has been on vacation for some time. Additionally, I have some journalism-type stories in mind for a few magazines. It feels good to have these thoughts.

Of course, there are plenty of abandoned craft projects in the hutch behind me. I feel bad about those and the money they required. But I don't think hope is lost on those or any other dreams. Hope is never lost.

It's like I'm always looking for something to fill up my time, nevermind that I have plenty of activities to occupy me at home. Things I still haven't done: Write up a report for work about all that I learned at ACES Denver and St. Pete, Finish putting away the last few files in the drawer, call The Onion about the shirt I returned, return the clear glasses, make the outlines for the glass jars ... I get so busy researching how to do things, then buy the equipment, but I don't take that step and actually Do the work.