Missing In Action!

This has been a VERY long weekend for me. I've been lost. Boy, was I lost! Since about 7:30 p.m. Friday night, I had no computer - thanks so very much to a nasty electrical storm that made its way through here and knocked out my telephone line - partially - and also, nipped my modem in the process.
And to someone who is as addicted as I am to my computer, you have to know it was a rough weekend for me.
Even with the crummy problems I've been having off and on of late with my lovely provider, at least, I could log on, get my e-mail (or most of it anyway), read my blog favorites, do a post to my blog, surf, play Pogo games and generally, stay relatively happy as a result of this lovely little machine.
A visit today from a telephone repairman got my phone line issues straightened out - also required my son-in-law to install a new jack for the phone to the computer too because the old jack was in rough shape, all corroded and such - and my son took the computer into the computer place where I bought it and got a new modem installed for me too. So now, here I am again, all set, ready to roll!
Aside from the computer issues of the weekend, I did get a couple of things accomplished. Since I couldn't get online but could still work - offline - on my family tree maker program, I took advantage of no interruptions of e-mail, blogs, spam -whatever - and printed out the data a cousin had sent me on our family tree and used that to update my family tree on my Dad's father's side. I have it pretty well updated right now!
And, yesterday, we passed a little bit of a landmark within the family as well. Mandy and I went to church and for the first time in almost a year, we took Maya with us once again. We were both really edgy as we walked in because the last time we attended services and had Maya along was the day Kurtis was baptized and Maya had, at that time, decided for who knows what reason that she wanted no part whatsoever of church if it involved a service, sitting in the main sanctuary, etc., etc. At Kurtis' baptism, I ended up sitting out almost all of the service either in the narthex, rocking Maya, trying to soothe whatever terrors existed in her mind at that time pertaining to church, or walking around outside with her to keep her from screaming the entire length of that service.
Was Maya totally well-behaved, quiet, like a sweet little girl should be? No, not quite. But she responded a darned sight better than she did last July at Kurtis' baptism and Mandy only had to take her out to the narthex two, maybe three times, for very brief intervals to get her calmed down again, avoiding any major meltdowns.
As we exited after the service, the couple who had been seated directly in front of us, smiled and Martha leaned over to me saying, "You survived!" Yep, that we did! Pastor asked as he greated me how I felt and my answer to him was a simple one -"Relieved!"
Yep, Mandy and I were both relieved because we could see this much progress there in Maya to get her through a service, lasting a little over an hour maybe, without her being totally disruptive, without one of us having to sit out the entire service in the narthex or walking her around the building either.
Near the end of the service, Pastor Joel called all the kids from our youth ministry who are participating in a trip -beginning next Sunday - to North Carolina where they will do "assistive" ministry, helping folks around their homes with light maintenance work and such - to come forward, introduce themselves and state too how many other field trips they have each made with the youth ministry group. My stepgranddaughter (Kate) and her girlfriend (Erin) were among the kids who reported to the front of the church - along with my next-door neighbors two daughters (Alina and Kylie). After the introductions, Pastor asked the congregation to give the kids a round of applause for their hard work on these trips.
As the kids were going up front to the altar, when Maya saw her sister and Erin, then Alina and Kylie going up there, she wanted to go up there too. I had to catch her before she started down towards the kids and she started to cry out "Wan see Katie, wan see Erin, wan see Alina, wan see Kylie" and trying to take her back to our pew, she was on the verge of going into a slight meltdown, so I took her out to the narthex then for a minute or two and got her calmed down. As we walked back into our seats was right when the congregation gave the kids a big round of applause. Upon hearing everyone clapping, Maya stopped dead in her tracks and immediately began clapping -and singing - "Patty cake, patty cake" which is what she apparently thought the applause was an indicator to sing that little ditty!
But it was a good day, all in all! And, we figure Maya's comprehension levels have improved enough that perhaps a few more trips to church and she'll be much more comfortable with the routine - and so will we!
I just realized today too that it was really a smart move on my part that I had put the Bushisms in that post that covered Friday and the two weekend days or tonight, I would be way behind, having to play "Catch-up ball" you know. But instead, I only need to post the Bushism for today but I think I will plan ahead a tad here and give you today's AND tomorrow's too in yet another attempt to get myself functioning in a more timely manner here! Remember, the intent is there. Whether it will work all that well remains to be seen!

Monday - June 11, 2007
"I firmly believe that the world cannot allow the world's worst leaders to hold America blackmail, threaten America, threaten our peace and threaten our friends and allies with the world's worst weapons. - South Bend, Indiana; September 5, 2002

And, for Tuesday, June 12, 2007
"You see, the Senate wants to take away some of the powers of the administrative branch." - Washington, D.C.; - Washington, D.C.; September 19, 2002