I haven't dropped off the face of the earth. I wasn't sucked up "over the rainbow" by a tornado. Unfortunately, it's much worse than that. It's internet problems.
Just as I began to emerge from the first-trimester miserable fog of nausea and fatigue, and just when I was creating blog posts (NOT reviews) in my head to share with my friends and family ... our internet woes began.
We have satellite internet. To be fair to all satellite users, they have limits on how much internet you can use. We've never hit that limit before, but we hit it 2 weeks ago on April 1st. So in the middle of the afternoon on April 2, they took away our high-speed access. We've been operating at "slower than dial-up" speeds ever since, with no access at all during high-traffic times like the evenings.
Since the way to be restored to high speed internet is to fall back down below 70% of the maximum usage levels (which are averaged over a 30 day period) we've tried to use the internet as little as possible. Despite that, our numbers were only falling by 1% per day. After a week of low-speeds I called customer service AGAIN. They seemed shocked to hear we were falling so slowly, but didn't seem able to offer me any solutions. Everyone keeps suggesting we have something working behind the scenes on our computer like software or a virus, but Steve hasn't yet located what that might be.
So I decided to do two things. Rebooted the computer for the first time since our problems began, and started unplugging our satellite internet modem each night. Our numbers started falling faster (3% each day) but we're still not below our appropriate levels. Once we're restored, we'll have to continue to be careful and watch our usage.
So no facebook for me, very limited web browsing, and no blogging. I've managed to post a few reviews I had due by writing them early in the morning while my access was best, but I haven't allowed myself to blog for fun.
So you don't know that I've hit my second trimester and am feeling better.
You don't know that my 1 yo took a nose dive on the sidewalk and gave himself the biggest scrape on his nose and forehead that any of my toddlers have ever had, which scabbed up so nice and obvious and drew comments for over a week.
You don't know that I got a new fridge this week.
You don't know that we have started our garden and have potatoes, onions, peas, lettuce, spinach, beets and carrots in the ground.
You don't know about some of the profoundly cute things my kids have said or done over the past 13 days.
You don't know that I think I hate my rooster, because he hates me and attacks me regularly. The charm of having a rooster is gone, and I think I want to eat him. Torn between eating him ASAP, or waiting to see if he can win a ribbon at the fair first. But the fair is a long way away.
You don't know how simply beautiful it is here in Kansas this Spring, or how much we're enjoying the warm weather and flowers.
Hopefully I'll be able to blog regularly again soon. Until then, I guess I'll keep working on my laundry.
Trusting In Him,
April
