Facing My Addictions

It was an interesting weekend.  Very odd.  Not sure what to think of it.  So, don't really expect any of this to make too much sense.  I do know that  a) I am not as young as I used to be, b) I love my books, laptop, and Dt. Dr Pepper a little bit more than I should sometimes, and c) I am not as young as I used to be. 

First off, I have been off crack Dt. Dr. Pepper since last Wednesday.  This is a monumental event.  Since my days in college when I would have to be up early for nursing class or for early morning clinical, I would grab a diet soda to go with it.  Even while I was pregnant, I would allow myself just one.  Lately, I would have a 20 ounce Dt. Dr. Pepper on my way to work, on my way home from work, and if we happened to be going out to eat I would have a diet something or other then too.  Just a bit too much aspartame and caffeine, ya think?  So far I have been surviving with water.  Granted, I've been buying bottled water, but thought that would make the whole bottle to mouth transition a little easier.  Needless to say, I have been sleeping much better.

Except when I have books I NEED to read.  I made the mistake of purchasing the last two books of  The Hunger Games.  I started Catching Fire late Friday evening.  I did manage to control myself and went lights out at about 1 AM.  I finished it the next evening and had to start Mockingjay - at least the first chapter or so I told myself. One chapter turned to two and so on and so forth until about four in the morning.  By five in the morning we had "thunder ice" and Maren was crawling in bed with me.  The thunder ice was kind of surreal.  Lightning, thunder, rain, hail, ice pellets and a little dusting of snow.  So strange for February.  I felt like I was in the arena at the Hunger Games.  But maybe I was just a little sleep deprived.  Excellent books though.

We didn't make it to church Sunday because of the ice, or so I told myself. Actually I wanted to sleep since I had had so little of it the night before.  I left my laptop on the little side table by my recliner in front of the TV in my office.  I told Princess Maren mommy needed to take a little nap and like any good mother would, popped in Toy Story 3 to keep her occupied.  Wasn't long before I heard a loud crash (Hunger Games arena again?) which happened to be my laptop hitting the floor. Maren had gotten her foot caught in the power cord and pulled it off the table. The screen had shattered, but it still turned on.  I got the sickest feeling that all our pictures were gone for good, and why hadn't I down loaded them to a web site for safe keeping?  So I hooked up my computer to our TV through the HDMI cable and everything else seems to be in working order. Now I have new office (in the living room with the big screen) and a HUGE monitor.

So, I learned a few things this weekend.  Water really does taste pretty good.  Lack of sleep makes for poor choices the next day. Books really can wait until tomorrow. Shattered laptop screens are not nearly as important as your girls shattered heart because she broke her momma's favorite toy.  She felt so bad.  Organizing and storing your photos probably shouldn't wait until tomorrow.  I'm working on it in my brand spanking new office.