More Progress!

Dear Friends and Family,

Last night, Mr. mouse and I were able to agree to a plan:

1. break iphoto library into smaller libraries
2. clean up the NAS
3. format external hard drive to Mac format
4. create copy of everything on external hard drive
5. create copy of everything on cloud
6. expand NAS
7. copy everything from external hard drive to NAS
8. set up maintenance

Wait. I just realized a hiccup in the plan. We can't copy everything to the cloud if the external drive is in the Mac format. Sigh.

The other area of progress? There's definitely less stuff in the basement. Definitely.


Cheers!
mouse

Progress!

Dear Friends and Family,

After cornering Mr. mouse, we have a proposed solution for our IT problems.

For now, we will break the iPhoto library into smaller libraries that cover 3-5 years. This will solve the iPhoto too big problem. Then, we will copy all of our data to the cloud. This will solve the environmental redundancy problem. Then we will expand the NAS which will solve the NAS is running out of space problem.

I think.

There's probably 1,000,000 and 1 intermediate steps we'll need to take. But, at least, for now, we have a proposed solution. After trying to do this by myself for a month now, that's a giant step forward.

There's nothing more frustrating than working on something while your spouse is coming up with "issue" after "issue" on why the solution won't work. I'm fine with issues. But, I'm not fine with someone who just identifies issues. They need to be part of the solution.

Well, today, I feel like we finally crossed that bridge.


Cheers!
mouse

07.28.14: Last Weekend in July

Dear Friends and Family,

We had a fun weekend enjoying what I love about summer. P rode her bike. We met with friends for dinner. We went to the lake and played in the sand.

At church, the homily was about treasure and false treasure.

And, my first thought was about Mr. mouse and all of the stuff he insists on keeping in the house. He finds safety and comfort in all of the stuff. I don't think it provides any safety or comfort. In fact, for me, it's false treasure. It weighs me down and keeps the house weighed down and hides the house and the state of the house from me.

But, then I looked inward and realized I have my own example.

I've been focused on the budget for July. We have four days left to July and $151 left for the month. But, the budget by itself is a false treasure. The real treasure is teaching P about money. And, teaching P and reminding me that we can have fun without always spending money. We can have picnics in the park and go swimming at the park pool and play in the park playground. And, it's as much fun as eating lunch at a restaurant near the park or cooling down at a water park with an admission fee or playing at a place with an admission fee.

We can have fun by being creative instead of buying things to entertain us. I think that's the real treasure I've unearthed in having a budget. We'll continue on this experiment for August. August will be tougher because we need to buy P clothes and shoes for school. But, that might be a learning exercise too. It's not like clothes aren't for sale in September and October. We can assess what we need and buy over a three month period instead of picking up everything that strikes our fancy in August.


Cheers!
mouse

P Still Needs Her Naps

Dear Friends and Family,

It was about 4:30 yesterday afternoon when P lost it. She gets stuck in what Mr. mouse and I call an endless loop. She gets fixated on doing something that she can't do. She loses all capability to take in additional information. And, then, she loses it.

Yesterday, she was at the park, and wanted to pretend swing Olaf in a swing. So, she was swinging an empty swing and it kept going sideways so she kept stopping it and restarting it. And, it kept going sideways. And, voila, endless loop. So, I made her leave the park. And, she wasn't listening, walking backwards, tripping, ignoring me, until I yelled at her. And, then she stopped to listen to me. She was headed right for a piece of broken glass on the sidewalk in sandals and realized that ignoring me is a bad idea. I hate yelling at her, but sometimes when she's in her loop, it's the only way for Mr. mouse or me to break through to get her out of it.

Talking about it this morning, we realize P still needs her naps.


Cheers!
mouse

Looking Forward to Fall

Dear Friends and Family,

Much as I am loving having time with P this summer, there's a small piece of me that is looking forward to this fall when school starts up again. I feel like there's a lot of stuff that's in queue. And, not to make it sound like an excuse, but there's only so much I can do with the two and a half hours she's in camp. I try to use that time productively, but to be honest, I don't feel like I can. There's only so much progress to be made in two and a half hours.

I am still loving time with P. Perhaps the next two weeks, when she's at full day camp will make it all better. I can catch up.


Cheers!
mouse

Last Week of Half Day Camp

Dear Friends and Family,

It's Wednesday which means if I get through today the week is half over. I've got lots to do today and tomorrow. And, I've got a budget to watch. But, overall, I'm feeling good. I'm vaguely managing to stay on top of my to do list. I'm vaguely managing to stay on top of my budget. And, I'm vaguely making progress on the house.

It's not glamorous. But, for now, it's life as I know it.

P and I are going to pick up mail today. Then, she's going to a kid's indoor playground. She was willing to trade off lunch at her favorite restaurant for the playground so we'll be able to stay within budget. Then, we come home and pack dinner. We're off to the museum tonight.

What have I noticed from being on a budget for the past three weeks? Well, we eat out a lot less. I don't buy random things on-line. I spoil P less often with impulsive acts of whimsy. I'm more conscious about parking and buy the right amount. I buy less coffee and other drinks at Starbucks. And, I think that's about it. I'm sure there's other stuff. Mr. mouse packs lunch and hits the vending machine less often and spoils P less often with impulsive acts of whimsy.

Maybe the other thing is we defer purchases. We'll still buy things, but we space them out. I'm not sure how this saves money, but it does since the cash is deferred.

Oh, I just remembered. I fill up on gas less often. I find myself putting partial tanks in the car instead of full tanks. I can't wait until August when the budget resets for the new month. We're in a decent spot for the rest of July, but it'll be nice to have a fresh sheet.


Cheers!
mouse

Napping Kid, Working mouse

Dear Friends and Family,

P effectively slept the day away. And, I worked on the most frustrating project of all time.

I spent the day copying files over from our NAS to an external drive only to learn that our iMac doesn't recognize the drive. Sigh. Well, Mr. mouse is convinced that the only viable solution is an external hard drive formatted in Apple formatting attached to his drive. Yes, in 2014 we're taking a huge step backward to an external hard drive. Well, I'm convinced an external hard drive needs a back up external hard drive. Otherwise, if the drive fails, you lose everything. Then, the external drive needs a cloud back up.

So far, we copied everything we have from the NAS to an external hard drive. We planned on making some changes to the iPhoto library before uploading the external hard drive to the cloud since the NAS would have everything on it as a back up. But, now, since the Apple doesn't recognize the external hard drive we're on to Plan B.

Plan B has us backing up the external hard drive to the cloud without the changes. Then, we raid the NAS for parts, scavenging two drives from it. We put those drive in two enclosures we scavenge from the bed. We format the drives into Apple format and then copy the files from... wait, I'm not entirely sure where we copy the files from... the external drive? the cloud? hang on...

Then, we make changes to the files as needed. Then, we have to figure out the automation piece of it. Okay. I admit it. I'm lost again.

See? Frustrating as all get out. Well, I'll take more time to think it through while P is at camp.


Cheers!
mouse

07.21.14: Lake Swimming

Dear Friends and Family,

Saturday, we spent the day doing stuff with P. She had dance in the morning. Then, we ate lunch and headed out for passport applications. Then, we went to the mall to pick up swimsuits, but it looked like the tops didn't fit so we returned them. Afterwards, we went to the park and picked up acorns and played in the climbing structure and on the swings. P's gotten really good on the swings, which only serves as another reminder that I've got a big kid in the house. We came home to eat dinner because we're a little behind on our budget.

Sunday, we drove up to a friend's house for a birthday party on the lake. P spent the entire time in the water or on a float. I love spending time in the water, but by the time we were done, I felt a little water logged. It's been a long time since I spent a full day in deep fresh water. It might be high school. I can't recall. Anyway, she had a lot of fun and I had a lot of fun. And, she's forgiven me for letting her capsize at the end. She was on a float with a friend. I thought her friend's dad had them, he thought I had them, and just as we realized neither of us had them, they fell off their float. They both had on life vests so they were fine, but the shock of it all upset the two girls. Well, P's forgiven me.

Now, it's Monday. I've got one folder left to back up on to an external drive. Once that's done Mr. mouse can start modifying the external drive to meet his needs. And, once that's done, we can upload it into the cloud. I think. I'll have to give some more thought to the process later today.


Cheers!
mouse

New Approach Needed

Dear Friends and Family,

We decided that neither approach to uploading the files to the cloud were working. At 1GB a day, we're looking at a little over three years to finish our upload. Clearly, that can't be the right answer. So, today, we're going to try yet another approach. Mr. mouse is bringing home our external hard drive. We're going to back up the NAS to the hard drive and then we're going to try and mirror the drive. We'll see if that works. Fingers crossed.

I should also write about our play date in the park yesterday. It was so refreshing to see the parents. As much as I'm enjoying summer vacation with P, I think I'm a little starved for adult conversation. It's nice to spend time with other adults.

I spent a lot of time with one dad, talking about money and how to have that conversation with your kid. At first it felt weird talking to P about money. I didn't want her to think we're poor. Nor did I want her to think we're rich. But, most importantly, I didn't want her to think money is important. Money is important, but not as important as being kind or trying hard or having will power or a bunch of other things. Now, a couple of years into it, it doesn't feel weird. P understands that things cost money, that money isn't limitless, that money needs to be earned, and that tracking money and making decisions about money is a normal part of adult life.

I think that's the way it is with a lot of things. It's weird talking to your kid about it, at first. But, if you persist, then it becomes the new normal.


Cheers!
mouse

Lazy Summer Days

Dear Friends and Family,

Yesterday, P and I went to the park for a play date with a friend P met at camp.

We had a picnic lunch in the shade surrounded by the smell of wonderful flowers. Then, we played in the park. Or rather P and her friend played while the friend's mom and I did our best to let the two of them play. I love playing with P. But, I also don't see the point of a play date if she's not playing with her friend.

I feel like she's growing up so quickly. Sometimes I miss being the center of her universe, but I guess it's just a normal part of growing up. Now, she's more interested in directing the play and less interested in my suggestions. I suppose I should take what I can get, since in a few years she may not even be interested in directing the play.

We've got another play date today. This one is with her school so P will be able to see her classmates from school. She hasn't seen some of them since summer vacation started so this will be good.

Tomorrow, we probably have one more play date before the weekend begins. One of P's classmates invited us over. And, P wants to go. So, we'll probably skip the free concert in the park and head to their house. It'll be fun, but by Saturday, I'll be play dated out and glad for a day alone.

The other thing on my plate? The cloud transfer. It's not going well at all. It needs to be done from my computer. And, it's got my computer bogged to a stand still. Sigh.


Cheers!
mouse

18.5GB and Counting

Dear Friends and Family,

To be honest, I have no idea what's really going on with the upload to the cloud since my computer isn't really responding to my requests anymore. But, since the paper is still "flying" across the screen, I can only assume it is doing something.

Today, I've got to go through P's art work from June. And, spend a little time on payroll from Mr. mouse's computer which promises to be the low point of my day since I'm just not good from his computer. Then, I'll spend a little time on the house. And, hopefully, a fun afternoon with P.


Cheers!
mouse

07.14.14: 5GB and Counting

Dear Friends and Family,

The weekend... The weekend... The weekend...

Oh! I remember! Saturday morning was a flurry of activity. We went to get our haircut. We went to dance class. We got the house cleaned. We wondered if the rain would ever stop.

Then, P did stuff with Mr. mouse while I napped. When I woke up, we attempted the passport, but the line was absolutely dysfunctional, so we left and went to the birthday party. P had bunches of fun dressed up as a princess. She got made up. She got sprinkled with fairy dust. She got her nails polished for the first time. She sang and danced to Frozen. Wow.

We met up with Uncle Joseph for dinner before heading home for the evening.

Sunday, we went to another birthday party. Then, we went to a baseball game. It could not have been a better game. The sun was shining. We had great seats in the shade. P ate her ice cream while we watched a relatively high scoring game. In the end, we didn't really care who won or lost, we were just happy to be in the sun enjoying a fine summer day.

And, now, it's Monday. And, I'm using Mr. mouse's computer because mine is slowly copying over file after arduous file from our NAS drive to our new cloud drive. At the rate we're going, it'll be 160 days from now when we're done. No way! Way.

When's the best time to plant a tree? 20 years ago. When's the next best time? Today.


Cheers!
mouse

#momoftheyear Goes to the Zoo

Dear Friends and Family,

Yesterday, P and I went to the zoo. We thoroughly enjoyed ourselves, eating lunch together, seeing the bison, the African painted dogs, the giraffes, the rhinoceroses, the zebras, the polar bears, the gibbons and the gorillas. Oh my!

When we got home, P got to wear her Elsa dress and recital costume while we played school. She read me a book on how the heart works before we watched 30 minutes of Super Y so it wasn't a complete waste of time.

And, now, it's Friday. I've got $34 left for this week's budget. Then, next week we'll be playing catch up from this weekend. Hopefully we can catch a breather the following week.

Now, to talk about a sad moment this week. I missed P's first "ring dive" at swim class. It was a perfect moment. She was in a make-up class that was my side of the pool (her regular class is on the far side of the pool). She had her ring in hand. She tossed it. I had the video rolling. Then, they called the parents in for the last five minutes so that the parents are queued to take the kids when class ends. I was torn between going in and maybe missing it or maybe catching it without the glass between us and staying out and getting the video with the glass between us. I opted for the latter, but then all of the other parents went in and started walking between me and P. Then, I decided to try and go in because clearly it wasn't working from outside. And, by the time I got in, I missed it all. She was all smiles from the dive and the ribbon and I was happy for her but a little sad that in the flurry of parents moving around I didn't get to see the actual dive. #momoftheyear

Hopefully there'll be other opportunities to capture her ring dive.


Cheers!
mouse

Budget Awareness

Dear Friends and Family,

I learned something yesterday. Tracking spending does make a difference.

Yesterday, we spent a lot of money for a weekday. I took P out to lunch and we stopped for Dairy Queen for a little treat. We bought gas. We picked up dry cleaning. Our housekeeper came over for our weekly visit. Mr. mouse got a haircut. We paid the water bill.

Before we started tracking, I probably wouldn't have thought twice about it. But, since we're tracking, I know today has to be a lighter day. So, I'm taking P to the zoo. We're members so entry is free. I'll pack a picnic lunch. We'll pay for parking and the rest will be free. Mr. mouse has begun packing his lunch which helps as well because we need to save up for Saturday.

Saturday, we've got housecleaning, haircut and passport. And, Sunday, we have groceries and Target. So, we'll probably start next week in the hole, but that's okay, now that we're tracking, we can work to dig ourselves out of the hole. Before, we would have been oblivious and would have kept on spending.


Cheers!
mouse

Killing Dead Time

Dear Friends and Family,

I know it sounds counter-intuitive, but you can kill dead time. Sometimes, it's a matter of thinking of it a different way. For example, let's say I need to drop P off at school and pick P up at school every day. And, let's say I need to run to Target to pick up stuff. Common sense says I should either tack it onto drop-off or to pick-up. And, you'd be right, most of the time. How do you decide between tacking it onto drop-off or pick-up? That's where it depends upon a lot of things.

For example, it depends upon what else do you have going on in the day. If you something shortly after drop-off, going to Target might be just the thing to kill what would otherwise be dead time. But, if you have something mid-day, going to Target after drop-off could create dead time. It also depends upon how long you think Target will take. If you're not sure, and you try to do it right before pick-up, then you need to leave a buffer which inevitably leads to dead time. Another thing to consider is the location of Target to school and school to home and how predictable travel times are. The more predictable travel times are the less dead time you'll have.

So, for example, yesterday, I picked P up from school. We had four things we needed to get done - lunch, park, school video, swim class. We could have gone to the park for a picnic lunch like we did yesterday and checked two items off of our list. But, then, we'd be stuck with potential dead time since the drive to swim class is highly variable. And, where to squeeze the video in?

Instead, we came home for lunch and video. Then, we drove out to a park by P's swim class. The drive from there to swim is less variable since it's close to swim class. We got to the park when we got to the park. Then, we played until 35 minutes before swim. We drove to swim, parked, and changed. P had about 10 minutes before her class began, but that's way better than 10-25 minutes before class.

We killed dead time! And, the Target example? Nine times out of ten, you're better off going right after drop-off since then the variability of how long the trip will take doesn't matter. Try to have a flexible thing, like park before a timed task like swim or drop-off. That's how to kill dead time.


Cheers!
mouse

Lazy, Hazy Summer Days

Dear Friends and Family,

P and I went to the park yesterday for a picnic. Just the two of us because she wanted time alone. And, wouldn't you know it, some kid at the park became convinced he wanted to play with P. I wasn't sure how to manage it. On the one hand, I think it's important to be inclusive. But, on the other hand, this was a total stranger, not someone she had any ties to in any way, shape or form. I'm still not sure.

At some point, it got too hot to play, so we left the park and came home. We did a science experiment. We worked on our China book. We watched TV. Well, P watched TV, I napped through the show. We created a journal of our experiment. We played a game. We ate dinner. We waited for Mr. mouse to get home.

When Mr. mouse got home, we all went for P's eye exam. She's already a hair myopic in one eye with an astigmatism. I felt crushed. There was a piece of me that was secretly hoping she'd get my eyes, but it seems like she might have gotten Mr. mouse's eyes. Oh well, there's nothing to be done about it.

Today, I've got a phone call to the dentist and a couple of small errands for the day before I go to pick up P. I wonder what we'll do with this afternoon... It'll depend upon the weather, I guess.


Cheers!
mouse

07.07.14: Carnivaled Out

Dear Friends and Family,

It's Monday and everyone's a little groggy in the mouse pad.

We spent three days soaking in the sun and celebrating the Fourth of July with our friends. Friday, we went to a carnival with two of P's friends, their four respective parents and our friend Uncle Joseph. We rode rides until everyone was hungry. Then, we went to Panera for a late lunch followed by a stop for frozen yogurt. Afterwards, the caravan of four cars wound our way down the highway to festival number two for the day. Yes, we were attempting two festivals with three kids.

Normally, we wouldn't try this, but with weather constraints, this was the only way it was really going to work out. And, work out it did. We put the kids into wagons and strollers. We loaded up the lawn chairs and bug spray. We walked over to the festival with fingers crossed that the hot air balloons would launch. And, they did! Granted it was about a half dozen balloons, but still, they launched. We ate random food for dinner. The kids got their faces painted. We watched the balloon glow. And, then, we waited the long wait for the fireworks. The kids did well with the wait. After the fireworks, we loaded everything back up and walked back to the car. P was asleep before we reached the expressway.

Saturday, we went back to the carnival for more rides. P was exhausted by the time we were done. And, because we had the all-you-can-ride pass, we went back for another day of rides on Sunday. We are carnivaled out.

It goes without saying that it's nice to spend time with friends. P is also easier to entertain in a larger group. The wait for fireworks would have been INTERMINABLE without other kids. And, the next day, the two friends were asking after each other, so I'm hoping we can do more events in the future as a threesome. That would be a lot of fun.

Now, it's off to school. And, I am going to venture into the world of Fly Lady to see if that will help me get our house organized. We will see.

Oh, the other thing I started? A budget. Or, rather, a tracking of actual spending. We'll see if it helps. It can't hurt. So far, one week into July, we're slightly overspent. We've only got $15 for today. Mr. mouse will use $5 of that for his train rides, so that leaves $10 for the day. As long as we all eat in for all three meals, we'll be fine. And, that will leave us close to neutral for tomorrow. Yeah!


Cheers!
mouse

Week 1 of 4 with P

Dear Friends and Family,

We're into the heart of summer vacation, the four weeks P has half-day camp. And, I have been enjoying a mix of frenetic activity in the morning with kid time in the afternoon.

Monday, we started on a silhouette project that went awry in March. We also spent some time completing our Brazil mystery kit.

Tuesday, we went to the park for a picnic and play time. We finished the silhouette when we got home.

Wednesday, we went out to the suburbs for lunch, mail and a car wash. We played school when we got home and spent most of our time talking about the human body and how the lungs work.

Thursday, we made mummies and started on a game of Life. Mr. mouse came home early so P went for a bike ride.

It has been a lot of fun. But, I'll admit it, part of the reason it is fun is that I know I only have a four week window of this and I still have time to myself in the morning and most evenings. If this was my full-time job, I'd go crazy.

It might be time for a new Top 3.

I've actually managed to wrangle my to do list down to five items for next week:

• catch up on emails
• download photos from Lego event
• return books to P's friend
• schedule eyebrow appointment
• go through June art work

I don't think I've had a to do list that is this short in a LONG while. So, while it's not empty, I'll consider it at a happy spot.

Looking on my happiness map, I think I'll tackle only two.

Organizing House/Clean House: There are pockets of happiness. I'd like to extend that. My thing on this is that sometimes Mr. mouse helps. And, when he helps, he helps a lot. Sometimes I feel like I live with a Messie and could be featured on the next episode of Hoarders.

Time with Family: I'm doing this by default, since I have time with P for the next three weeks.


Cheers!
mouse