My laptop has had a short in the power cord for a few months now. It’s gotten progressively worse and, while I usually back up my laptop each night, I’ve been making double sure to do so lately.

Last week, it finally happened. My laptop was no longer getting power from the cord. We debated taking it in and having it fixed but it was three years old, and not running nearly as fast as I’d like.

Richard and Zach spent a couple of hours researching which one to buy (my last one was custom built up in Bangor) and the next morning we all took a field trip to CompUSA in Fort Myers and picked it up. (We were thrilled to find a Barnes and Noble right next door and we bought a half dozen children’s Halloween and Thanksgiving picture books as well as several Magic Treehouse chapter books for Max!)

The new computer is SUPER fast! The keyboard isn’t the same as my previous laptop but it is the same as the one I had before that. I actually prefer the keyboard this way so I’m happy about that, even though my brain keeps wanting to hit keys that are no longer there. Until I get used to it all over again, I”m going to feel like I have a couple extra fingers.

We are leaving for Tennessee tomorrow (Thursday) and I will officially be “on vacation” for the new several days. Of course, that doesn’t meant I get to be offline – far from it. It just means I’ll be working odd hours (mostly evenings) while spending time with the family during the day, looking at fall foliage, eating at cool, new restaurants, and taking some educational homeschooling excursions, which the boys always love.

We’re going to be gone on the road on Halloween so we’ll also find some pumpkins while we’re there. I am super excited about that! Since we moved during the summer, this is the first Halloween we haven’t grown our own pumpkins in over a decade.

Don’t miss next week’s issue! We’ll be announcing the winners of the Fall 2011 24-HOur Short Story contest and you can bet the theme was creeeeeepy!!

I have a Maxism for you this week:

“Sometimes you act like you’re normal…not like Mom.”

Hugs to all,
Angela

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HOW TO REMEMBER, WRITE AND PUBLISH YOUR LIFE STORY! by Angela Hoy
Using Angela’s MEMORY TRIGGERS, recall memories that have been dormant for years, and record those memories in chronological order in your memory notebook. Using the memory notebook as your outline, write your autobiography! **Also works for biographies and memoirs.**