I want a
Shuttle, because:
A popular application for Shuttle XP's are home theater P's. Usually coupled with ATI All in Wonders or Hauppauge PVR250/350, XP's made a perfect HTPC for non-audio/videophile users due to their size and simplistic nature.
Sean and I actually saw one when we were in Japan. He wanted to buy it then, but was dissuaded by the price. He says that he would buy me one now, except that he is derailed by the very same reason.
I've been sort of busy lately...not too busy to blog, or to sleep 12+ hours a night, but about as busy as a housewife with an in-home part time job can be. I got a new desk, and I spent a day putting it together, and another couple days rearranging furniture. I still have a hutch to put on, and I'll do that soon, then get the office completely put back together. My old desk is now in the bedroom, and it will become a combination vanity/letter-writing center/place to use the laptop. For now, it is the Repository of Stuff That Needs To Go Back into the Office.
Other than that, I've had a fair amount of
2go-Box work to do, and I've done it, and life is good. I've also decorated the apartment for Christmas. Our little 3' tree looks so pretty all lit up at night :)
And that's about it, really. Getting the desk has considerably raised my spirits. It's a large L-shaped desk with a patented "digital dock", i.e. a nook in the corner for my computer to sit in. It looks cool! You can see
pictures at the
other thing I've been working on, a family website. So far we have pictures for weddings, babies, Thanksgiving, Christmas, and my desk (I'll probably remove them after awhile, since they aren't particularly relevant to anyone but me); we also have recipes, stories, and some links. I hope the site will grow to include genealogy information as well. For now, I'm just glad I got it working!
There are still some things on my to-do list, most importantly being finishing up my work on the new
No-Dog website. Americart has flummoxed me for some time now, but it's a waste of money to let more time pass without implementing the site. It's my top priority in the next few days to get cracking on that site, and hopefully get it done before the Lord of the Rings marathon next Tuesday (the 16th).
Speaking of which, I'm really looking forward to that! Sean and I are going to Columbia, South Carolina, since they aren't doing the marathon here. It'll be quite an adventure :> Reid says he'll tell us how to get to the theater; I suppose I'll ask him to do so on Saturday, when we meet him, Cheryl, and Grandma Flo for lunch to celebrate Grandma Flo's birthday.
After the marathon, the next big thing is going to Kentucky for Christmas. I'm really looking forward to that :) It will be great to see everyone...and I just love Christmas. Presents or no, it's just a great time of year. I love the music and all the decorations and the festive mood.
We don't have plans for New Year's yet, but we'll be in Augusta, so we'll probably end up going to someone's place (maybe William and Michelle's out in Hephzibah?). I don't really want to host because I don't stock or buy alcohol, so it would just be awkward :> Actually, I remember the first New Year's party we went to at William and Michelle's then-apartment...I had to buy the alcohol because Michelle wasn't old enough. So I guess I'm not particularly opposed to buying it...but I still feel like it would be a little weird.
Besides, I don't need drunk people vomiting all over my apartment.
After New Year's, the next thing will be...our anniversary! Sean and I will have been married a whole year (gasp) on January 4, 2004. So far we don't have any plans whatsoever. :) Hopefully we'll at least go out to dinner.
That's what's been on my mind lately: planning for the future. I've also been looking into
Augusta State University's
Master of Business Administration degree. I've been really thinking about something I heard earlier this year, the idea that "poor people buy stuff, middle income people buy liabilities, and rich people buy assets". I want to learn how to buy and manage assets...and I think an MBA would help me. So far the only idea I have is to buy a townhouse or apartment and rent it out, letting the rentors make the payments for me, and then, once the townhouse was paid off, buying another one. And so on. To do that and feel comfortable about it, I would need to be able to make the payments myself, should it happen that I don't have a rentor for a matter of months. I'm not at that point yet, so for now it's a tentative idea for the future.
I definitely want to be making money, though, and not just spending it.
So that's where I am right now, blog-readers. And since sitting on my feet has caused both lower legs to fall into tingly sleep, I will conclude here. If I don't see you again before the holidays, Merry Christmas, and Happy New Year.
:>
