Friday, July 22, 2011

A Hissy Fit & a Re-Cap

Before I continue recounting our summer adventures, let me throw in a little hissy fit...if you decide for whatever reason to take a peek at archived posts between the dates of 10/08 (when I came to Blogger from Homeschoolblogger) and 12/10 (when I started using Flickr), you will notice all of the photos are missing. Here's what happened: I joined Google+, which is Google's version of Facebook. They automatically uploaded all of my blog photos I had uploaded through Blogger. I saw that album of like 865 photos sitting in my Google+ profile, and I thought to myself, Self, why do you need an album of 865 photos sitting on your Google+ profile? Many of those photos won't make any sense to anyone anyway without the accompanying blog explanation. Besides, all of those photos are on your blog, so what is the purpose for them to be here?

And I deleted the album.

What Google failed to tell me as I so casually clicked on "delete" is that I was deleting the photos from my blog, from everywhere. Poof! Vanished! Never to be recovered...at least that is the answer I have discovered as I have perused various forums filled with venomous rants from various ranters who are furious at Google for also deleting their blog photos.

All is not lost, however. It's not like those photos are completely gone. They are on my computer and my external hard drive and on various CDs. You might even guess they are everywhere and thus not at all organized. But such is life. Really the disappointing thing for me is that I had planned to convert my blog to a book, you know, for posterity's sake. For the children. And now all those photos are missing. And honestly? I don't see myself taking the time to wade through my thousands of pictures to find the photos that correspond with each blog post.

What I have rediscovered, however, is my passion for digital scrapbooking, so that is where I will place all of those missing photos. And, consequently, you may not see me here as often because digital scrapbooking can consume an awful lot of time if one lets it.

OK, hissy fit over.

What have we been up to during Simel's second week here with us?

The kids had sports camp at church this week. I think they enjoyed it. Sort of. It's sad, but I do see that enthusiasm for "campy" type things evaporating from my children. As the whole group sang and did song motions at the end of each day, my children as well as most their age just stood there. I don't blame them. I remember being that age...and feeling really stupid singing kid songs with silly motions to go along. They did have fun playing the games, though, so that made it worth it.

Camp has taken up most of the week. And it has been so, SO hot all week, we really haven't felt like doing much else. We did make it to the YMCA one day to swim. Other than that, we spent the week melting. Literally. Almost anyway. I have wondered to myself often during the last week how I managed to live in Africa all those years sans air conditioning and so hot.

I have to say that, honestly, I had no idea there were still parts of America that don't have things like central air. When we came up to CT last August to look for a house to rent, it was a cool weekend, so it really didn't cross my mind to ask a question like, "Does this house have air conditioning?" It was just an assumption because, you know, we live in America and it's 2011. But anyway, apparently, my assumptions were way off. I finally bought a huge, portable AC unit for our downstairs, but with the intensity of the heat and the size of our living room, it just isn't doing a whole lot. I keep telling myself that this is certainly better than winter. I'll let you know once I actually believe what I'm saying.

Today we decided to enjoy an air conditioned theater. Of course, that's quite an expensive couple of hours just for some cool air, so we chose a movie as well - Zookeeper. It was OK. I mean, Kevin James and talking zoo animals - my expectations were low to begin with. It has its funny moments, though, and the kids seemed to like it.

Once we got out of the movie, my plan was to have dinner at Applebees because it sits next to the theater and because I have a little bit left on a gift certificate. But the crowd in the foyer hinted at a long wait, so we sat in the air conditioned car for awhile (it was 104 at 6:00!) to decide what to do. The kids voted Lunchables. There weren't many other options, so, folks, we went totally gourmet and stopped by the grocery store for Lunchables.

And some sparklers. Because what is a hot summer night without sparklers?
16 Simel with sparkler


17 Alex with sparkler


20 Audrey sparkler


19 Jacob sparkler


18 Michael sparkler ghost

6 comments:

Amy @ Cheeky Cocoa Beans said...

First, you come up with some very eye-catching blog titles. I am terribly disappointed along with you on the loss of all those photos! UGH. There are all kinds of "Are you absolutely positive you want to delete this?" prompts with everything else you try to delete--why not doesn't Google have a warning??

Second, I am so sorry for the heat. It's hard to believe it's hotter there than here in the deep South. (We're in the 90s, but that's still cooler!) Definitely unfair with the lack of central A/C! Try frozen fruit as treats for you and the kids (I like frozen grapes in particular--they are like self-contained slushies. SMALL chunks of cantaloupe are great, too).

Third, those are some awesome sparkler photos!

Fourth, (and now I'm out of order from your blog post) I do hope you share some of your digital scrapbooking here. :) I've really enjoyed the past times you've posted what you've created!

Unknown said...

Oh, that would have made me so mad, too! Geez!

Loved your sparkler pictures!

Courtney said...

AAGG! How frustrating about the photos! I know I would be just sick over it.
I'm with you on the heat. I didn't know it would get that hot up there! Here in Tulsa it's been between 105 and 110 for at least a month and our AC just went out this week. However, our landlords are putting in a whole new unit. And, we don't have to pay for it. :)
Try to stay cool and not melt too much!

Honey Mommy said...

Wow! Thanks for letting me know about that. I was thinking of joining Google+ and it would kill me if all my photos were taken out of my blog. I too have been thinking about making a blog book, so having all my pictures gone would make me crazy!

tsinclair said...

The more I thought about this, the more I could understand your frustration. UGH!
Interesting though, the "You might also like:" under your blog shows pictures, but when you click on them they are not there.
The fact that I can see them as a snapshot makes me think that maybe something is still there???

mountain mama said...

So...no ac's in Africa?? Huh. I've been warned about the bathrooms too. Yes, it's like Yucky hot! Come on fall :)