The Summer So Far....

My apologies to my regular readers (all 3 of you!) at my lack of writing recently. The days are just packed, as the expression goes. ;)

We've spent much time at the pool recently; we shelled out the buckage for a family pass to the local (outdoor) aquatic center. This way, we don't feel badly about going for an hour or so every night after Mark gets home from work; if we paid the daily pass-amount (per adult and child), we'd feel a bit obligated to "get our money's worth" and stay all day. Not good for the easily-sunburned redhead (me) or the young-un's skin--late afternoon sun with its lessened intensity is much better. This membership also makes me forget (or at least, not mind as much) the incredibly sticky Kentucky heat & humidity. So it's a good thing all the way around. :)

I've also taken on several home-improvement projects; I recently painted our study a gorgeous shade of cafe au lait. Ever since we painted the family room terra cotta, I've not been afraid of painting colour on walls. I love the finished product; now to finish the new curtains for the study. We'll be tackling the kitchen & hallway next...the people at Sherwin Williams truly love me these days! ;) I also intend to hardwood our kitchen this summer...or at the very least, this early fall. It's past due, and I can hardly stand to look at the stained and dinged linoleum one day longer! ;0

We've begun the job-search in earnest these days; we're looking all over, with an eye to SE Michigan, where I grew up. The climate up there is very compatible with our family, and we have a heart for young families up there. We want to be part of a church-plant in that area (whether we spearhead it or just take part has yet to be determined)--something that reaches postmoderns and young families who think that God isn't interested in their lives these days. So to that end, we activated a resume on Monster and will see what comes in. We're also watching online classifieds from local papers in that area. Stay tuned for news....

Regarding life, I've had a significant amount of discontent lately--not that I don't like my life or my friends or anything like that. It's much more abstract than that--when I try to finger it, all I can come up with is that "something's not right." Exceptionally vague. So being the introspective individual I am, I've searched all areas of my life in hopes of turning up some clues. I haven't come up with anything specific, except to say that maybe our "time is up" here and this is a precursor to being willing to move. In the past when we've job-hunted via Monster and other national search-engines, we weren't really interested in moving out of the area. Not that we have ever thought that central Kentucky would be our lifelong home, just that the time wasn't right (apparently) for a cross-country move. When we were approached with job offers and interviews in far-reaching areas, we talked about it, prayed about it, and basically didn't have the peace that comes along with The Right Decision. So maybe (and that's a maybe-"maybe," not a conclusive-"maybe"), God is using this season of discontent in my life to get us ready for the next step He has for our lives. I don't know what it is, but it does have me thinking long and hard these days.

We did take one delightful trip to Michigan for vacation; my grandfather is still alive (at 95.5 y/o), and we wanted to see him again, as well as spend time with dear friends of ours. It was a great trip, and Mark & I had time to consider our lives, our future, and our family as we picnicked in Windsor, along the banks of the Detroit River.

Subsequent to that trip, we've had sleep-problems galore with our 3 y/o--he had sleep trauma on our 2nd to last night there, and it took him nearly 3 weeks to work through it. Can I just tell you that being out of the Nursing In The Middle Of The Night Phase is *nice*? I was NOT prepared for waking to terrified screams at 2 or 3 in the morning; this child was wide awake and inconsolable. They were not "night terrors," as he was awake for them and was able to talk clearly. He struggled to go to sleep as well--naps were fine, but nighttime was miserable. Sheer willpower got us through the sleep-deprivation and the black Samsonites that took up residence under my eyes were covered with layers of concealer. Yikes! What makes me think I'm ready for another kid?? I'm only half-serious here....I've become a complete lightweight when it comes to children and sleep! We did find an absolute willingness to grab at straws during this time; we had exhausted every known trick, threat, and coping method while our son screamed petrified sobs. We talked to everyone under the sun. Next to nothing worked; there were nights when this child was up until 11:30pm and would be out of bed by 7:00am the next morning. He would whine about being exhausted (no kidding!), nap well, and still be tired for bed that night. But he would fight sleep so violently I was literally concerned that he would make himself throw up in the process. We ended up trying to snuggle with him until he relaxed enough to fall asleep (or actually fell asleep)--sometimes that would be several hours after we put him in bed. Thank the Lord this stage has passed; he still talks a little of being "scared," but nothing like what it was during those trying weeks.

Anyhow...that sums up the highlights of our Summer So Far. Stay tuned for more musings! :)

Sue & Apple's AirPort Express

This post is largely going to be technical, so please excuse that part of it (or read really quickly!). ;) There is a dearth of information for Airport Express owners who aren't Mac users (i.e., use Windows) regarding setup, and although I am by NO MEANS an expert, maybe my experiences from last night can be helpful to others. :)

Okay, so what the heck is an Airport Express, you might ask? The honest answer is, "I really don't know!" Silly, huh? What it *does*, however, I do know...you can use it as part of a wireless network to (for example) have different computers in one home share a single printer, or to expand your wireless network for laptop computing purposes. How we use it is to listen to digital music (from iTunes) on our home stereo. Pretty darned cool, if you ask me! :) So we've had the Airport for a while now and were waiting to get the new computer set up. Task accomplished, so I started out last night to set up the Airport so we can finally listen to our music throughout the front of the house. We converted from CDs to digital music and up until now, we've had to listen in the study only.

My first job was to call Nettie's husband, Jay. Jay is infinitely more techie than I am (and I'm a certified geek!), and he's installed an airport in their home. So by my standards, Jay is a professional at this. ;) Jay's estimation of his own abilities is somewhat less than mine, but hey--everyone's harder on themselves than others are. So here are the steps we went through:

1) Connect the Airport Express to power (duh!) and to the router via an extra Ethernet cable. Those things are handy to have around! Let the router recognize the Airport. This step pre-supposes that you have installed the software on your desktop for the Airport. If you haven't, do it now!

2) Once the two devices are connected, you'll need to know how to get in to the software for your router. Typically this involves knowing your router's IP address and typing it in to an internet browser window. Check your router settings, specifically where you can "name" your browser. I tried several times to "re-name" my router, of course, saving my changes. More on that later.

3) Open up the Airport Admin Utility (should be installed on your disk already), and with the two "wireless devices" connected by a wire (!!) see if you come up with a device that's found and an IP address. If you do (that means that your "network" has been detected), highlight the information and click "configure" at the bottom right of the screen. This will move you in to the actual configuration screen for your Airport.

4) One of the things you'll want to make sure of is that you're choosing "join an existing wireless network" rather than "create a wireless network" on the AirPort tab. The other thing that you'll REALLY want to make sure you have down is the name of your network. This is where making sure you know how to get in to the software to configure your router is very important. As I mentioned before, I saved my changes, but for whatever reason, my router didn't hold the changes. I went through much frustration with the Airport set-up because I didn't re-check the name of my network (router). Once you know the name of your network, enter it in the box.

5) You'll now have the opportunity to name your Airport--keep it simple, and use the name of your network in the title. Now go to the Music tab and make sure the box is checked that allows "AirTunes to be enabled on this base station." Once that's done, name your Airport. You can give it your family's name, or just the room in which it will be (as it is possible to run more than one Airport at a time, this might be wise).

6) Click "Update" at the bottom right of the screen and if you've gotten your network name and named your Airport, you should be golden. Disconnect the Ethernet cable from the Airport and keep it plugged in to the power source. It will take anywhere from 90-180 seconds to see if your Airport and router will communicate. If indeed you've done this right and they do, you'll see some fast blinking of the amber light and then a (happy, happy, happy) solid green light. :D

7) At this point, you're good to go plug your Airport in to wherever you intend it to be--for us, this was out by the stereo, and plugging in the monster cables from the back of the stereo to the Airport. If you're using this for digital music, make sure that your iTunes set up recognizes your Airport as a remote set of speakers (option is in Preferences). Once you see that iTunes has found your Airport, start playing your tunes, baby! ;D

One disclaimer: I'm told by those who are in the know that WEP encryption isn't compatible with the Airport Utility or set up. I don't have this feature turned on, but I'm told if I did, my Airport would "disappear" from the network.

For my regular readers: sorry about the tech talk, but this was fresh in my mind. I'll be back to regular writing soon! :)

Over & out!