There are SOOOOO many things I could write about and update you on, but I’ll start with the most recent development in my world:

I bought an iMac.

And as I sit here trying to get used to this dinky, little, wireless keyboard that came with it, I know one thing to be true: I L-O-V-E it!

Even though I’ve been a PC since there’ve been PCs, even though I feel a bit like a fish out of water…er…more like a fish in a completely new pond, and even though I have expensive software that I use every single day that won’t transfer over which means a fairly steep learning curve under pressure…

Yeah – you guessed it: I don’t care.

Here they sit…working together…at peace with one another…my PC laptop and my lovely, new iMac.

You know what? Sometimes you don’t have to choose. Sometimes you CAN have your cake and eat it, too.

Keepin' it real in the bloggerhood,

I know you guys think I change things up around here like some kind of schizophrenic, but trust me – you don’t see a tenth of the themes you could be seeing!

But when my assistant-extraordinaire found a cute Mario theme for her son (who didn’t know he needed a blog, but now has one! LOL), this theme was at the same site and I knew I had to try it out.

So far, so good. I like it. It’s very much like the bulletin board I have here in my office. So, it’ll be here awhile, I think.

Keepin' it real in the bloggerhood,

Lookey what I found waiting for me! Oh yeah, baby – you know I had to have one of these! So I bought one…and a matching vanity license plate for the front of my car. (I may define self-care a little differently than most, but it works for me.)

Can’t wait til I get it and wear it in front of these poor, sad, wish-they-had-a-real-team-to-root-for Cowboy fans on my street.

BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!

Now, the marketing Suzanne is curious as to why this worked…why did this company’s SPAM result in a sale? Better yet – how did they know I’d be interested in Steelers stuff?

Maybe they didn’t, and they just got lucky. But, I suspect this was not your average run-of-the-mill email blast. Here’s why I think that.

As a website owner, I’m well aware of the amount of information we bring with us to each site we visit, whether we interact with the site at all, or not. For example, I know how many of you who come here use FireFox instead of Internet Explorer as your browser. I know the majority of you have a 17-inch monitor or bigger. I know where you’re located on the planet. (Now, don’t go freakin’ out on me here…your name is not associated with your IP address. All I can see is that I get visitors from as far away as India and South Africa and as close as here in Tulsa. I don’t know which of you is which, ok? Calm down…)

My point is: all that information (and more) is readily available to websites when we visit them, even if we don’t do anything while we’re there. It gets really interesting if we do anything while we’re there. And NO, I do not worry about using my credit card online…it is still safer than using it in a store. But I’m pretty sure that at least one of the Google searches I’ve done in the past for Steeler stuff has resulted in me getting on this company’s SPAM list.

While it was still a crap shoot (for them) to send me an email about Steeler stuff, this time, it paid off for them. And now I’m legitimately on their mailing list, so I’ll be getting more email from them down the road. Email from them is no longer SPAM to me. And that’s why SPAM exists…it’s cheap, it’s easy, and sometimes it works.

Keepin' it real in the bloggerhood,

Even as I sit here typing this, I realize I’m still carrying around $4,655 in checks and cash that I tried twice to go deposit in the bank. Shit.

Yeah, it’s been that wild of a day.

Fortunately for me (and because I am so incredibly smart and brilliant, as you know) I have no scheduled calls or appointments tomorrow. I purposely leave Tuesdays blank on the calendar as often as possible, just in case I fight a Monday and the Monday wins. This week, Tuesday will be Monday, the Remix. LOL

Keepin' it real in the bloggerhood,

There’s something about paying someone to repair my computer that just irks me. I have always repaired my own computers in the past, including replacing hard drives, CD drives, adding RAM and such. But this is my first laptop, and I’ve never done any repair on a laptop before. I was even cautioned against trying to install additional RAM in my laptop last summer because “everything is so close together, there’s no ‘elbow room’ in a laptop and you can easily mess things up.”

“Well, fooey on that,” says me.

Ta Da!!! And I did it all by myself! In under an hour!

Oh yeah…I AM all that!

Now, would you like to know how to save yourself big $$ in computer repair? Google your computer and find it’s tech manual! Oh yeah. That’s what I did – and I followed the directions.

The only exception that I advise is this: If your computer is still under warranty – DO NOT ATTEMPT REPAIRS/UPGRADES YOURSELF! You will most likely void the warranty. Take the D-I-Y approach ONLY after your baby is out of warranty. And always be careful.

Join me in the jiggy dance – I’m a limping typist no more!

Keepin' it real in the bloggerhood,

So, we’re gonna shut that little heffer up. How? Ha! By participating in July without SAYING I’m going to post every day about food for 31 days straight. Try a little reverse psychology on her butt…huh? Yeah, that’s the plan.

~

In other news, I HAVE MISSED YOU ALL!!! But I have good reason to be away so long: I’ve been BUSY with a capital B!

Last post, I told you all I’d been asked to write for another site. Well, not only did I accept, but I also mentioned that I had a few tips for her regarding her site (just a few tweaks here and there) and she ended up hiring me to take over the programming on her site, too! So BOTH Suzannes get to work with Yasmin at APOOO (A Place Of Our Own) Bookclub!! She asked me (the coach) to write the Motivational Monday column each week, and my first piece is up today: Every Ending Is Also a Beginning. Come by and have a look if you have the time. I’ll be there every Monday, and if you like to read and want an insider tip… Subscribe to the APOOO feed! All kinds of goodies are going to be coming to her feed subscribers, so don’t miss out! Shhhh…you didn’t hear that from me. LOL

~

Here at home, this is what we USED to have to help us deal with the crazy Oklahoma heat. (Let’s not discuss how this picture got taken by Oldest Son standing atop the 1-1/2 story insulated steel building in the backyard…no…we’ll overlook that, because it’s really such a great shot.) This is the reason I bought this house, as opposed to the myriad others I looked at. This pool saved lives and kept me out of jail, trust me.

But then comes a house fire, a year of abject poverty recovering from that and then the ice storm of December 2007, and this is what we have staring back at us when we go out the back door. In addition, you can’t see that a limb came out of the tree and broke the pump in half – literally, and the state of the filter is yet undetermined. All told, probably a $grand$ to get it back looking like the picture above.

So…..

This is our temporary, one-summer solution. LOL Yes, we’ve gone from an 18-ft by 27ft, 4ft deep oval to an 8ft by 30 inch deep circle. Quite the come-uppance for this household, I assure you. But like I told PDD, which would you rather? I spend $50 and provide you a way to get wet or save my $50 toward fixing the big pool while you sweat all through August? Suddenly, our wannabe pool will do. (Funny how that works, huh?)

~

As we wrap up the very eventful month of June here at the Suzanne Says… household, I want to tell you I am working to get my act together and not leave you hanging weeks at a time from now on. I’m sure you bloggers out there identify with this – sometimes life moves at such a pace that just keeping up with it is a trick, much less documenting it on your blog! But what I miss when I call myself too busy to come talk to you all here is a lot: my sanity, in part; talking things out with you all here helps me sort out what’s true for me, and knowing that is essential to leading a happy life, and I like my happy life and want to keep it that way!

So I may disappear for a few days, but I’m just like a boomerang – I’ll always be back!

Keepin' it real in the bloggerhood,

And before you do the math (and possibly hurt yourself, or me vicariously – I am in quite a fragile state right now…) yes, that means I’ve been awake since 6:30am Wednesday morning. I went to bed at 5:30am this morning for a power nap that reminded me of the days with a newborn in the house.

What had me up all night?

Don’t go getting all excited on me – no, I didn’t get any nooky – I was revamping, recreating, re-everythinging my web biz’s website. IT FREAKIN’ ROCKS NOW, if I do say so myself. Wanna see?

Check out vAssistant Services.

Oh yeah…I’m bad…baaaad to the bone, baby. (And more than a little sleep deprived, so you’ll have to forgive my uhh…’excessiveness’ tonight…k?)

For those of you who’ve seen the site prior to this incarnation of it, you know it’s gone from … being a Pinto…to being a Porsche! And what prompted me to do such an overhaul is I finally have Blogs for the Brand New or Reluctant Blogger ready for release! So, I just couldn’t release it on a blog site that looked well…not its best, shall we say? I mean, I can’t have a busman’s holiday attitude about my own site if I build sites and blogs for others for a living, ya know?

My timing is one step shy of insane, though, because PDD’s having her very first slumber party tomorrow night. Since her birthday was Monday, it kinda spoiled any plans of trying to gather together her little compadres, so tomorrow’s the night. Her Big Sister is coming, and she doesn’t know it, so that’ll be a fun surprise, too. So, since I’ve got that ahead of me, I’m going to stop typing and click publish on this sucker.

My best to you all, Internets. Sweet dreams!

Keepin' it real in the bloggerhood,

…and the thought of taking it in to get the keyboard replaced (only $50 or so, so I’m told) is just too much for you, not because of how much it’ll cost, but because they might not be able to do it right that second while you impatiently wait.

I’m not going to mention any names, but the author of this blog has had a ‘limp in her typing’ for quite some time now…

Keepin' it real in the bloggerhood,

First, I had my annual OB/GYN appt this morning at 9 and of course, the first thing they want you to do is step up on the scales…I have lost 4 pounds since I was in their office a month ago. That’s always a nice way to start off a doctor appt! Then, my blood pressure was exceptionally good, and they went ahead and drew a tube of blood for glucose and cholesterol tests because last year they were a bit off. I’ll find out about those by Friday, the nurse said. Lickety-split later, I was be-boppin’ out of there armed with some information about a new kind of birth control to consider when my Depo shot is due in July, and…

…wait for it…

…a little baggie of condoms for Second Son.

Oy.

But, I had decided to be ‘brave’ and ask them some questions like, “Is there such a thing as an OB/GYN equivalent yearly appt for guys? And can you arm me with some information I can use to discuss being sexually active and his responsibilities to himself, his health and any partners (he will have in about a decade when I let him back out of his room to see the light of day, much less a female…) he might have and their health.”

Folks, I don’t think Second Son is sexually active yet. But…you’ve seen pictures of him – he doesn’t look 14, either…and given the fact that he’s got girls from 9th all the way to 12th grade chasing him…well…I’d rather him be prepared and informed so he can at least be responsible about being irresponsible, ya know? (Aaacccckkk! My baby boy!)

So, even in spite of this bit, I was still be-boppin’ outta there…

Came back home, got some laundry going…plowed through the ol’ inbox….

And then proceeded to have the best two coaching/consulting appointments with web clients! I just LOVE how, thanks to one of my clients who initially asked (she’s so cool…and she visits here, so she’ll know who she is…hi!), more of my other clients are wanting to take advantage of my coaching skills, too, as if they heard her ask, or something… lol (She and I would both probably agree they did, though not literally…but that’s a discussion for another time. I know she’s chuckling with me right now…)

And to top it all off…it got to 94 (according to the weather man) and 99 (according to the temp displayed by my car when I was out picking up Second Son from football practice)…suffice it to say, it was freakin’ HOT here today!…and…

I still haven’t turned on my A/C and we haven’t melted!!!\

Oh yeah, baby…

I know my days of this are numbered, but I tell you what, I am SOOOOO enjoying this no central air thing right now!

Monday, Monday, so good to me….

Keepin' it real in the bloggerhood,

OR if we are paying $5.00/gallon for gas by the end of June, as some predict.

You know – Plan B – a buffer against abject poverty, or anything remotely close to it…however you would define it.

Well…I do. And I want you to join me!

The Thirty Day Challenge

Click those big words! Join! Do NOT delay!

Seriously…and this is quoted from the site:

WHAT IS THE THIRTY DAY CHALLENGE?

In a nutshell… The Thirty Day Challenge is about making your first $10 online. For a full 30 days we are going to be showing you exactly how to start your own Internet business and generate your first income online without spending a dime.

That’s right, this is going to cost zip, diddly, nothing, nada, ziltch. The entire training program is free, and you won’t have to spend a thing to get your business started and begin making money. No credit card required.

WHEN DOES IT START?

The 2008 challenge will commence on August 1st, but pre-season will start on the 1st of June. Sign up now to receive updates and access to all the challenge training.

I shit you not: It’s free. No catch. No tricks. No BS. Eleven months out of the year, Ed, Dan and all the rest who put this on concentrate on making $ – and LOTS of it, but during August, they teach what they do FOR FREE.

You can pay a buttload of money to learn what you’ll learn here, and it would be worth every penny you paid, but why? Why would you do that? This is FREE. (Did I tell you it was FREE?)

So, what’s required here?

DESIRE
COMMITMENT
TIME
FOCUSED ATTENTION

Got those? JOIN HERE

P.S. As many of you know, I already make a good chunk of my income online. I work from home. It’s as lovely and challenging and rewarding and frustrating as you can imagine it to be…and more. So, do I ‘need’ to do this? Yes. As you might have noticed, technology changes at a rapid rate, as does life online. So, every year they offer The Thirty Day Challenge, I will be there. I seriously hope you join me.

P.P.S. If you DO join, you have a personal invitation to be on my 30DC Team. Email me (my email address is over there in the sidebar) or leave a comment here, and we’ll make sure we hook up.

Keepin' it real in the bloggerhood,