I just upgraded the computer to Windows 7 and can't get the D-Link to work again.  From what I'm reading on the internet, it has been discontinued and no more drivers will be issued so I guess I'm going to have to buy a new one.  Won't be able to call for a while.

I came home last night totally P Oed!  One of my classes was divided into 2 parts with two different instructors.  The first part was just the Office programs (which I already knew) but the instructor was very good and made the classtime enjoyable.  Monday the new instructor took over and  it blows!  This is all done by distance learning where I am sitting in a classroom (alone) looking at 2 screens from the actual classroom in another location.  One screen is supposed to show the instructor and the other is for the presentation, board, whatever.  The first night this new guy turned the cameras off and I couldn't see anything!  It was just like listening to an audio tape.  Me, not wanting to disturb the class, e-mailed the instructor and asked him to please turn the cameras on.  Last night I did get to see the presentation but the other camera was turned on one student in their classroom.  Absolutely no interaction at all until the last 10 minutes when he decided to walk out in front of the camera and I got to spend those last minutes looking at his behind.  I'M NOT HAPPY!

On the bright side, I got another call from WIU about another job.  Keep your fingers crossed for me.  If I can get on there I can take classes for free.  I'm not giving up - WIU is where I want to work.

Leaves, leaves, and more leaves

I did manage to get some of them mowed today.  I started raking and decided that was just ludicrous, don't know why I even attempted it since I go through this every year.  It is now raining which will just knock more of them off.  By tomorrow you won't be able to tell that I mowed any.  My yard will look like crap.  To make it worse, deer season (bow) is in and I already have deer bones in my yard.  Gotta love Kimmy and Vagrant.  I let them both in last night and Vagrant went straight to the milk bone container and plopped himself down and looked back and forth from me to them like he was saying "There they are, aren't you going to give me one?"  Kimmy is much more polite about it.  She'll gently take one out of your hand and go eat it.  With Vagrant, you have to be careful not to lose a finger in the process.  I've decided the best way to deal with him is to just throw it to him from at least 6 feet away.

I've been sitting here working on a presentation I have to give tomorrow night.  I HATE public speaking!  I'm sure I'll get through it though.

Anyway - I'll have to call sometime and fill you in about the "secret".  No announcements yet.

Scenes of Fall in Illinois

Our road

The path between me and Richard's

Right in front of the house

My red, white, and blue mailbox and marker

All the leaves right by the driveway

The driveway-more leaves to mow

my new sign - McCoy Coat of Arms

The tree beside the house - one of the prettiest

The deck

Can't leave Kimmy out!

Asian Beetles

They have hatched!  I literally had to turn my windshield wipers on yesterday to get them off so I could see.  I don't know if you guys had them in Texas or not - probably not as bad in a city.  Do you have them in England?  They're not even as bad in Carthage as they are here at home.  They come out of the fields every fall and make life miserable.  Anyway, Kimmy doesn't seem to mind them.

I'm sitting here drinking a beer. Does that tell you what kind of day I've had? I had class tonight that was nothing but lab work.  Usually the instructors lectures, then we do a lab - more lecture, lab....  Tonight we had to do all the labs on our own.  I came home and took the assessment online and I don't think I did very well.  I guess I need the lecture to reinforce it for me.  Good thing I had a strong A going.    Tomorrow will be better. Sam is NOT here so at least I can just sit here and relax now that I have all my homework done.  In fact, I think I'll have another beer!

Exciting news I think!  I suspect that Heather may be pregnant.  Let me tell you why.  Last Friday she called and wanted me to meet her in Macomb for dinner.  It was cold and I really didn't want to go anywhere.  About half an hour later she called back and Faron told me to get off my "___" and go to meet them.  I immediately thought - she's pregnant!  I pulled into the restaurant and saw that Kathy (Faron's mom) was also there and I just knew there was going to be an announcement!  Unfortunately her dad didn't show so no announcement was made.  You'd be proud of me - I kept my mouth shut- thought they wanted to tell everybody at once.  Now she's coming over tomorrow to "go over her insurance" with me!  What else could it be!  DO NOT tell Jery as I'm not sure and she'd kill me if he knew before she got the chance to tell him herself.

Another Weekend Gone

Time flies when you're having fun! I spent another weekend fighting with programming problems. I was stuck on one and ended up having to email the instructor for help. Of course it was a stupid mistake on my part - but it's working now. I did have Saturday pretty much off as I was waiting for an answer from the instructor, so I sat down and made a Christmas sock from a pattern that Heather found for me. I took a picture of it-pretty cool - red, white, and blue with a snowman (as you know - two of my favorite things). Anyway, I'll post the picture. I also took a picture of the "self portrait" I told you about so you can see what I'm doing in "college". That's about it - fought with Sam all weekend when I wasn't in front of the computer. I'm really tired of being taken advantage of!