Wednesday, June 28, 2006

Computer Issues - ARGH

I am SOOO frustrated with my computers!! I am at a standstill with a lot of things at the moment because I can't get any computers to work! I rely too much on computers for my everyday life : obviously my email, my bills, my homeschool stuff, my to do list, contact list, calendar, etc. I am supposed to design the program for Brittany's upcoming play (on Friday) and I am needing some of my favorite places on Explorer for some other things going on. GRRRRRR.

#1. I can't get my laptop started. It is stuck at the IBM/Thinkpad black screen. The laptop has my homeschool stuff on it and some of my writing for my book. I can't even get it to start up!!! :-(

#2. I can't get my wireless network working between my other two computers. (well, I wanted my laptop networked in, too, but it would help if it was working first!!!) Each one of them is hooked to the network but they can't see each other! ARGH!!! did I mention ARGH???

Okay, I am going to go back to trying to network my computers...

hopefully I will be all up and running and catching up on all my computer stuff soon....

Friday, June 23, 2006

Friday Fifteen

Fifteen reasons the Zandis should move to (our area in) Oklahoma:
(here is a review by Yahoo of living in Tulsa)

(Of course I am assuming you know about the loooow cost of living & great housing and that it is extremely green (in fact it is called "green country"))

15. Big Splash Water Park (and you can get season tickets at Christmas time for $20 each) and Bell's Amusement Park

14. The Oklahoma Aquarium a wonderful aquarium with an AWESOME shark display (our favorite part)

13. Boy Scouts are really big around here!

12. Woolaroc in Bartlesville - it is REALLY cool. Great museums, petting zoo, great activities including a thieves and outlaws reunion which is supposed to be really fun, great Christmas activities, too. You can also have buffalo walk right up to your car!!

11. Tulsa Zoo - voted America's favorite zoo last year! We agree...it is awesome! Very large and detailed, would take a whole day to go through thoroughly, it's better to get a season pass and go many times doing different parts. There are also two big museums - the Gilcrease and the Philbrook, the Tulsa Air and Space Museum, The Will Rogers Museum, and several native American museums.

10. Incredible Pizza - not that our pizza is incredible, this is a place...and it IS incredible!! Here is a little blurb: "Welcome to America's Incredible Pizza Company, where Nothing Tops our Pizza but the Fun!™ Here you'll find an incredible all-you-can-eat buffet and choose to eat in the sporty Gymnasium, the cool Drive-In Room, fun retro 50s Diner or the quiet Family Room! Then, hop into some fun at the Fairgrounds, where you'll find indoor Go-Kart Races (with real trophies!), Bumper Cars, Route 66 Mini Golf, an incredible Arcade where you can redeem tickets for great prizes, Adult and Junior Bowling, and much more! " It is our most favorite place to go with the kids.

9. Great homeschooling group and Brandi already knows some of the members! Also a lot of homeschooling resources....a used homeschooling book store, a monthly (free) book swap where you can give and/or take any school books, a great convention in Oklahoma City - OCHEC. Plus, of course, the seminar that our homeschool group puts on every year and that I am usually a speaker in!

8. Great church you can try out right away! Our Finest Hour with a great youth program, elementary program and kid program, as well as wonderful teaching, of course!

7. The nearby Ozark mountains with the beautiful, fun, little town of Eureka Springs in it. It is near enough for a day trip, but far enough away to feel like you are in another world!

6. ALLLLL the nearby lakes... Oolagah, Keystone , Fort Gibson, Tenkiller, Grand Lake , Lake Eufala are just some of them. There are also a lot of nearby rivers, streams and creeks. There is a pond about 100 feet from my backyard. Water everywhere!

5. Kansas, Missouri and Arkansas are all less than 2 hours away. Makes for great day trips or camping trips. Kansas has an AWESOME space museum. (I know, that is a weird place for a space museum, but we LOVED it!) It is a day trip away. Missouri has GREAT rafting and canoeing (although oklahoma has good rivers too.) Our favorite is Noel, Missouri.

4. We are the "buckle" of the bible belt so things are very conservative here, in general. The cashier at Michael's store tells everyone "God Bless You" when you call or after you check out with her. That is pretty normal around here. We live a few miles from a big bible school...Rhema and across town from Oral Roberts University (who, by the way, LOVES homeschoolers and it is a GREAT university!!) .

3. Speaking of universities, lots of higher education possibilities here....Oklahoma University, Oklahoma State University, Northeastern State University, Tulsa Community College, Tulsa Tech, and lots of smaller ones.

2. We have a family of bunnies who sneaks in our yard when the dogs aren't out and munch on our grass, we have about 13 kinds of birds (if not more) that make their home in and around our back yard (my favorites are the cardinals, bluejays and purple martins), about 1/4 mile from our house we saw a deer last week; if you like wildlife, this is the area to be! We get to do a backyard bird count in our yard every spring and we are planning on trying to get our backyard certified as a natural habitat!

and the number one reason to move to our area of Oklahoma....

1. BECAUSE WE ARE HERE!!!!! Besides making us happy, it would provide these benefits to you:
  • someone to look at houses and narrow down your choices for you, before you have to come out
  • someone to help you unload, unbox and move in (how cool is that! That alone is worth it! LOL)
  • someone to help you find the nearest Walmart, a good doctor, the best mexican food and any other important things.
  • someone to introduce you to lots of different people and make you feel at "home"
  • someone who will actually babysit all six (or however many) of your children for you at ONE time!
  • meals brought to you when Brandi's not feeling like cooking!
  • BBQs at our house! WOOHOO!
  • Someone to spend the holidays with if you want and noone if you don't want!

Okay, friends of mine from Oklahoma...add your reasons why the Zandis should move here!!

Monday, June 12, 2006

My poor neglected blog

Awwwwww, my poor neglected blog!!! I have been a bad blogger since signing onto My space. Yes, I took the plunge and have a Myspace page as well. I have been busy there, setting up shop.. I found a background I liked but I didn't like the rest of the theme. I found a way that I could design my own and I did that. I am really pleased with the results. I would like to add a few more things, but it does seem very much like me! :-)

Not much new around here. We changed Kaedy's schedule a little and she is going to be coming out with us more during the day now. I got really "attached" to her in San Antonio. That was the most time I have ever gotten to spend with her! Wow...I got more attached, go figure? LOL!! Now I don't want to have to share!

We are officially out of our old church! We are going to be eating dinner at our new church on Wednesday night and then help get ready for the "grand opening" this weekend. If you haven't seen the final product, you need to check it out!! Here are some of the newest pictures on our web page.

I wrote a weather unit study and we started it on Saturday. We will be working on it through August. It is going to be so much fun! Both girls love weather and we are going to learn so many cool things. I think it is such an exciting thing to be able to forecast weather! One of the books I got teaches you how to forecast with clouds and wind direction.

Okay, that's all for now....I promise to be more faithful. :-)