I am Tallulah

Entries for April, 2007

April 1, 2007

Saturday evening

I bought myself a camcorder today. Wasn't planning on it, but the price was a clearance one and pretty good considering how expensive they have been in the past. So I hauled out the credit card and went for it.

My new toy is a Sony Handycam DCR-DVD105. I'd love to spew forth with all the techno-speak but I can't, so suffice it to say, the camera is smaller than my digital camera, but it fits nicely in my hand, has a great display, and I can see clearly without my glasses with this camera. It takes the mini dvds but they can be loaded directly from the camera to my dvd player or my computer. It also takes still shots. It does not, however, have a SD slot for a memory card. That's ok, because I have my digital camera and will use it for all the stills.

I was going to wait to make the purchase until June, but thought I should have it now and get used to it, seeing as I've never used a camcorder before. So I will play around with it and familiarize myself with the nifty little tidbits before the big trip.

I cannot believe it's only 3 months to go! There are still a few things I need to get: 100 ml plastic bottles with spill proof lids for my shampoo/conditioner, and a few bits of clothes. I plan to buy a raincoat in the UK, and wellies. In fact, I'm not taking that many clothes. Instead, I am taking art supplies and some copies of my book. I plan to make this a working holiday if possible, so I will be taking time to write and do some art while there.

Still to do: charge my lappy battery, update my anti virus and spyware software, transfer some files from the pc to the lappy and transfer my music to the lappy, then load my ipod. I can't load it from my pc because pc still doesn't have the 2.0 usb port. I have it to install, but am scared to try and do it myself. Maybe I will get to that before I go. Also need to order some copies of my book to take with me.

Now, if only my passport would get here!

Countdown: 89 days.

April 18, 2007

Wednesday afternoon

Well, thanks to Ellise Moonwatcher and my blogger blog, I have part of a template made. Unfortunately it needs tweeking. I will see what I can do, but don't anyone hold their breath waiting for the unveiling of my new template any time soon.

Oh, and if you are using IE, will you let me know if you can see my blog correctly. A friend used IE and could only get little x's all over my site. Same with me if I try to view the blog using IE. In Firefox it looks fine. Can't understand why there is a difference. If anyone else can shed light on this, please do so and tell me how to fix it.

Been exercising almost daily -- either an hour long walk, or a 4 km bike ride. The weather here has been less than ideal, with snow, rain, blowing winds, making any outdoor activity unpleasant. Am also doing stomach crunches, and free weights. I wish I could say the weight is melting off but not so. From January I have lost only 9 lbs, and that has yo-yo'ed back and forth for months. Hopefully this will change with the additional physical activity.

I am not feeling as good as I thought I would with the walking and biking. I'm tired much of the time and often have tiny dizzy spells which could be due to blocked sinuses/ears, or high blood pressure, or low blood sugar, or my need for new glasses, or any number of reasons. I also have had wee tiny moments of panic, and I don't know where that comes from.

No, I haven't seen a doctor. I refuse to return to my doctor because of his treatment of my mother before she died. Unfortunately that leaves no other choices as we do not have enough doctors in this area. They are simply not taking new patients. Besides, I can't afford the drugs they would so easily prescribe (no drug plan) and would rather handle the high BP with diet and exercise first. So I will endure the irritation of mini panicky feelings and ever-so-slight moments of dizzyness. At some point I have to start feeling better with all this healthy eating and increased exercise, shoudn't I? The doctors have all said before that losing weight will make me feel better.

Sometimes I feel like I have no energy to exercise at all. Maybe that is all in my head. Or maybe I am not giving my body what it needs to gain the energy I need to exercise.

Why can't losing weight be as easy as gaining it?

Am also getting a bit excited/panicked at the upcoming trip to the UK. I am eager to go, but I know I'll be a basket case the day I leave, as I face the long taxi drive to the airport (a place I've never been before) and dealing with all the unknowns of the airport itself. My flight to Manchester leaves at 11:30 p.m and it will be a very long day for me. Maybe I'll be so tired that I will sleep a bit on the plane. A friend just came back from the UK and had to be given oxygen on the return flight! She couldn't catch her breath. All I could think of when she told me that was: OMG!! Will that happen to me??

So much to do before I leave, and so much to worry about. What was I thinking, going on this trip? Yes, it is an adventure, but it is also scarey as hell for me! I worry that my pets won't be cared for properly by my dad and brother, even though I will be online daily reminding them of what to do. I have even had a few twinges of 'maybe I should just stay home' thoughts. Not that I will stay home... this is one trip I will make if I have to drug myself to get on that plane! Note to self: see if one can purchase OTC Valium.

Countdown: 71 days to go!

April 24, 2007

Tuesday evening

I have changed my template..... but there's a problem and I don't know how to fix it!!!!

I cannot access my profile page. When I click on the profile at the top of the page I get an error message. I can't fix the "Your Name" and "Your location" part either. I also want to change my profile picture. Does anyone know what's wrong, and how I can fix it? I tried accessing the forum, but got a message saying it was busy or there was a problem.

I need help!!!!

**********

Followup: I think I've done it! Thanks to Roy, and hours of perusing the coding, I think I have the glitches fixed. I won't say that loudly in case I jinx it, but so far, so good. I will forego the little icon piccys at the beginning of each post, as they don't really matter to the content. I still want to find a way to change the picture at the "profile" section, but I can live with this one for now.

Thank you Roy for your patience and assistance. xx

Such a lot of work for small victories!

April 25, 2007

Wednesday evening

It has been a bitter-sweet day. One of my little mice woke me up this moring with her shrill panicky calling. I found her laying on her side, unable to get up. I managed to get her settled into some batting, and she went off to sleep, passing away some time this afternoon. Her two sisters are aware she is not there. She would have been 5 years old this September so I know this was probably an age-related thing. It actually looked like a stroke. Still, it is sad.

The swallows have returned once again this year. Two pairs, which means only two of the babies raised last year made it back here. We have had swallows living in the barn during the summers for the last 8 years now. It is amazing that they find their way back to the same place. Last fall, instead of pulling down their nest as I usually did, I left it and when I went to close the barn door last night I noticed two of them were sitting up in the nest. Nice to have them back.

Only 63 days left until my UK trip. So much still to do.

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