Technological Achievements, Psychological Adjustments, and a Rambling Recap of My Week

I'm feeling particularly technologically savvy today! I finally figured out how to put music on my Nook, all by myself! (Unless you count the various google searches for tips, but I'm not counting that.) Laugh if you will, but it was a feat for me. Nook doesn't read wma (Window's Media Player), which is what all of my music is set to. I could either download some unknown program to convert the music to mp3 format, or I could download iTunes and then magically convert my music through that. (I couldn't just take the CD's and rip them to iTunes because I lost them....)

I tried downloading iTunes months ago, but my computer insisted the process would take at least...58 hours, was it? Yeah. But this time it settled for 15 minutes or so. Silly, fickle machine.

Then I had to change the preferences in iTunes (which I am not all familiar with) and import music from Window's Media. Plug in the Nook, drag the music to the specific file, and viola!

Applaud me or laugh at me, I don't care. That took serious brain power on my part. (And many, many google searches.)

However, with only one CD on my Nook, I'm up to 88% used memory. So until I figure out how much space I have left and how much space a few more CD's would require, I'm stuck listening to the How to Train Your Dragon soundtrack over and over (not that I'm complaining, though I long ago memorized it).

So that's the adventure for the day. I know, real exciting.

I think I really do need to do a recap, because last week was an eventful week! I'll try to keep it brief, because I do have a little thought to share after (the thought being in part related to an event of last week).

Well, for one, I've kept busy reading. Friday the 9th I picked up Taliesin (tally-eh-sin), the first book in Stephen Lawhead's Pendragon Cycle (and pronounce Pendragon how you will...). I'm now two-thirds of the way through the third and last book, Arthur. A couple years ago I picked up another of Lawhead's books but didn't get past the first chapter. I'd been eyeing this series for years and finally read them. They're fantastic! Another epic series that I'll be sad to finish. Yes, I've laughed, I've cried, it's moved me, Bob. Thus far, my favorite take on the legends of Arthur. However, I think I read too much too quickly because soon after starting Arthur my brain felt a bit overloaded and I slowed down. Where Merlin took about a day and a half, it's taken me since Wednesday to get this far in Arthur.

Right. Brief.

Well, Wes got a "real" job last week, so until some poor fool takes his paper routes, we're doing them. Even on Sundays. Oh, so horrible. (It may only take 25 minutes, but it's a long 25 minutes.)

Okay. Sunday was the annual Pig Roast picnic. Another adventure. I was nearly killed, but I don't want to relive that experience.

Tuesday was the second week of Institute, Thursday the first day of co-op (around 20 families!). I still haven't really started my own school....

Friday Allenna and I spent the day with Ms. Amy and her boys (all but Zack). We went down (up? over? somewhere) to Houghton Lake, where a lady in our church owns a cabin. She needed Ms. Amy to put some chlorine in her hot tub.

Well, first we ate some giant pieces of steak while they ran their routes, and then grabbed sweet goodies at Wal-Mart to get us through the two-hour drive. When we arrived at the cabin, we pulled out the kayaks and started up the hot tub.

I've said for a while that I'm not really one for any type of craft that moves on water (I'm not really one for large bodies of water in general), but when I tried kayaking a while ago I really enjoyed it, and I was eager to do it again. The lake was calm and the day wasn't too cold. I'm surprised my arms didn't hurt more Saturday with how long I was out there. Allenna joined me for a bit, but mostly she spent her time between searching for stones and shells in the foot-numbingly cold water and the hot tub with the boys.

We were there for probably three hours. We grabbed some pizza (loaded with meat!) and headed home. A beautiful day.

Saturday Mom took us kids and Jessi and Vanna to the Renaissance Festival. Allenna wore my costume dress and I pulled together a decent gypsy costume out of mine and Mom's wardrobes, but none of the others dressed up.

It was a clear, sunny day, neither hot nor cold, and crazy busy at the Faire. It's pretty much all shops (shoppes?) there. No attractions, unless you count the people that come. We saw Vikings (at least I think they were supposed to be Vikings), pirates, the Queen and her court (how many feathers can you fit on one hat?), giant hounds and little dogs in kilts or fairy costumes, ogres, trolls, fairies, a person in a toga, knights, musketeers, a Revolutionary-period reenactment group that some people from our church are a part of, wizards, elves, gypsies, squires, monks.... It's more like an all out historical and fantasy festival, not just Renaissance. But if you want to spend the day people watching, that's the place to go. If you want to spend $70 on a simple skirt you could make for $3, that's definitely the place to go. And while you're there you'll likely trip over someone's sword or get a puff of cigar smoke in your eyes or be graced by a smile from the queen (especially if you have a camera). Maybe one day I'll be able to go dressed totally authentically, but I don't know when that will be.

Yeah, that wasn't brief. Sorry.

Okay! Deep thought of the day. Well, it was from a few days ago, actually. It stemmed from a conversation with Ms. Amy while on our way to the lake. We were talking about the hot air balloon fest going on last weekend and I made the comment that I didn't think anything could get me up in one of those. I mean, come on; when I'm on the ferris wheel I squeeze my eyes shut and whimper like a baby, and that thing's solid.

Ms. Amy agreed that she had a fear of heights, but she said if she ever had the chance of going up in a hot air balloon, she's take it, because who'd want to miss a chance like that for the sake of some fear? She went on to say how she's been forcing herself to get past her fear so it doesn't keep her from having fun.

It got me thinking. I didn't used to be this fearful. I used to ride the high and fast roller coasters with the best of them (being my dad). I loved the thrills. And then one year I got dizzy while trundling up to the top of a roller coaster, and I stopped riding them.

I feel pathetic when I can hardly stand on the second floor balcony of the Lincoln, NE capital building without shaking, and how I almost cried at the thought of riding the elevator to the 15th floor. Don't even get me started on my hysterics display on the high ropes course at the zoo.

I don't appreciate getting lightheaded and dizzy and frozen with fear, but I think a lot of it is in my head. (That or some part of my subconscious is insisting that I need more attention.) Just like my distaste for high bridges and deep water and canoes and kayaks. For the sake of having fun, I once looked past that and went out on the lake in a kayak, and I had fun.

Come next June, ready or not, I'm going to get on a plane and head to Peru. That's got everything I don't like: heights, that stomach-dropping sensation when you say good-bye to the group, and being in something not firmly planted on the ground. I'm thinking I need to take Ms. Amy's advice and start forcing myself to face my fears so I'm not blubbering hysterically when I don't have the choice of stepping off the ride. I want to enjoy myself, and I can't if something so menial as a psychological disorder called unreasonable fear is holding me back. All it takes is some prayer, some deep breathing, and then forgetting about it.

This isn't really how I intended to write this post. I had planned to make some off-hand remark about forcing myself to get over my fears. Ah, well. None of my posts ever go as planned. Sorry if I totally bored you with my self-reprimand there.

Hey! In other news, I'm back to work with Book 2. There's another fear I have to face: the fear of actually looking at the mess I made with the first draft. It's rather embarrassing, but more so when I consider that mess was made back in 2008! Yikes!

Someone slap me.

Once I finally get past this disaster, maybe I'll be able to really write. I'm starting to think my fear of making another mess like Book 2 is what's holding me back when it comes to my creativity.

Whoa! Look at the time! Well, I have to run. Bible study calls!