Checking in

before you start imagining where I've gotten off to :-)

I don't think I've scrapped more than 5 hours since I was here last. It's been so long since I did anything genealogy, that I had to double check if  I had the spelling right, and I can't remember the last time I had a thought that didnt involve finding ways to pay the bills. I know, none of this is keeping you up at night, I just wanted to share that nothing has changed, really :-)

On the flip side, I'm understanding more of how I WANT to build websites that look good, are functional, and just a tad different from "The other guys". Now that I know that, I'm focussing more on how to get that done, than to learn every last little thing there is to learn in ways of programming. I was reading every book I could find, only to get turned around on codes, best practices, order of code to get a certain effect and serious doubt about whether I understood any of it at all... So I decided to take the "learn as you go" approach. You see, I realised that this is the way I learned to scrap, research and how to use any of the computer programs I ever learned.
You figure out what you need to know to get the result you want, and go from there.... And it works for me. Sure I may miss the latest greatest gadget that everybody and his uncle puts on the website, (and every-other-user wishes they had given a miss) but there is time for that, once I have down what I NEED to know to either get customers, or a job. At this point, I really am on the fence on which one I'd rather have, as long as I can pay the bills, contribute and do what makes me happy... I'm good. Having my own business will come... in time.

The house starts to look just that little bit more like we've moved in, and a little less like we're in the middle of the move, although........ there's boxes I've not seen the inside of in quite some time, and if it weren't for a note on the outside, with what's on the inside........... I wouldn't know whether I needed to see inside or not. LOL.

The castle is AWESOME! I love going there, and I really have to bite my tongue when they're asking for tourguides on other days, so I don't volunteer! Most of the customers are nice, not all start out that way, but mostly, they revise their view after the tour. Sometimes there's one I'd just as soon push in the moat, but overall............ I'm having a blast!
We're gearing up for a Christmas market on December 12 and 13. I've heard rumors of hot chocolate, firepits and a jazzband on the square, surrounded by stands, where people sell their wares. I'm trying to convince Mike to go with me on Saturday as a visitor, so when I work the event on Sunday, I'm not tempted to visit.... but it's a hard sell. Mike and Christmas are not what you'd call "on speaking terms". Holidays are a necessary evil to him, and if it wasn't for me loving them so much, I don't think he would give them a second thought. There are 2 exceptions to this....... Halloween and Thanksgiving, but even that is a lot less, since they don't really "do" Halloween here, and there's no parades and/or football to watch on Thanksgiving. But he may surprise the beyiebies out of me, you never know :-)

I think you're caught up, so I'll take my leave, update the castle page with the poster we are putting up around town, and get back to studying.

Don't forget to hug a loved one!

Hugs,
Pauli