5/11/97 - Well, I have good news and I have bad news!  The good news is that I have downloaded and installed Netscape Communicator 4.0, and I am currently editing this page from within it's seemingly unlimited magical qualities!!!  The bad news is that I have lost (no, not the bookmarks) all of my old mail!!!  I don't know about you, but I keep a LOT of mail on file, and now I'm not sure what to do!!!

If you haven't already downloaded this version, you simply must do so immediately!  It took an hour and fifteen minutes, but wow, it was worth it!!!  This is the most "real" html editor that I have ever seen!!!  I'm typing on a page that looks exactly like the page after publishing!!!  Technology never ceases to amaze me!!!

One more thing (*grin* - an IMPORTANT thing...) - I suppose you've noticed that I am now at my OWN DOMAIN!!!  Oh, frabjous day, caloo calay, (s)he chortled in (her) joy!!!  (for all of you Jabberwocky fans...)!

5/02/97 - Remember when I started my awards program to try to "beef up" the traffic? Well... I learned a valuable lesson here. If you have limited time, and want to continue to add to your pages, starting an awards program could be a truly counter-productive move! I am ashamed to say that I am now a month behind in reviewing and responding to sites, and have therefore temporarily suspended the awards program until I am caught up!

 In my opinion, the position I am in gives completely the opposite impression of my feelings for others on the internet. I can't think of many things more rude than failure to respond to a request, and I am now taking so long it appears that I am just not responding! I am truly sorry, and I promise I will not allow this to continue, even if I have to limit the time period for applicants to the first week of the month. We'll see what happens...

4/18/97 - Whoa - LONG time since the last entry!!! Well, today is my wonderful son Stephen's eleventh birthday! He is planning a slumber party tonight, and it looks as if we'll have a good 10-12 kids... Eeekkk... Stephen, mommy loves you regardless of all the yelling!!! Happy Birthday, son!

3/24/97 - I just finished completely re-vamping the "Enchanted Backgrounds" section... All of you with different browsers, resolutions, etc., let me know if I've done anything that causes them to look bad! (Oh, you can let me know if they look good, too!)

 Today is my Angel Baby Kristen's third birthday! We had a family party at my parents house yesterday - toys scattered with no abandon about the den this morning (eeeekkk...). For some reason, I feel like my head is stuffed with heavy cotton balls and it's difficult to even move. I hope it's a virus and not a condition of my age! *grin*

3/21/97 - Someone told me my index page was a bit boring with the pink background, and if not boring, at least not representative of the talents that laid within the site... I don't know if I necessarily agreed, but I changed to a textured background anyway, which brought rise to a new page of Enchanted Backgrounds offering full-page textured backgrounds!

 Today is our 3 and 3 anniversary - we have been married 3 weeks; we have been "seeing" each other 3 months... (Don't freak out - we've known each other longer than that!) Happy times; so glad we accidentally fell for each other... Life is grand, love is grand...

3/14/97 - Time just flies!!! I've finally added a links page to sites using my Enchanted Backgrounds - if I've left you out, e-Mail me... I'm really honored by those of you using my works! And that, after having added the new Section IV of bordered backgrounds created after seeing Theresa Jordan's inspired "button" bordered backgrounds. Take a look - they're different and interesting!

 I'm still behind on the awards program. I am working on submissions from March 5 forward now. If you are in that grouping, please be patient. I take the awards program seriously, and therefore, it requires a great deal of time to read the pages in your sites...

3/05/97 - It was a wonderful wedding! Okay, so keep in mind the four children were there the whole weekend... *grin* But, it was wonderful!!! Life can be so good.... (By the way, I have pictures to share - I only need to figure out who can scan them for me...)

 Now, I'm behind on my awards program, and I keep going back to add new bordered backgrounds. I'm about to start a page of links to sites using my backgrounds, so if you are using any of my creations and haven't told me, now is the time to do it!!! See you soon...

2/25/97 - Oops... More than two weeks since the last entry... Well, things have been happening here (oh my, it's not here - it's... keep reading...)

 I've been a bit busy the past few weeks, as I will be marrying (yes, for those that know, tingles...) on Friday, February 28. With my wonderful man comes two great children to combine with my two great children (with six you get eggroll???)... I am so, so thankful... I love, I am in love, I am loved...

2/09/97 - I finally added an index to the awards page section. It didn't seem fair that all the new awards were going to the rear of the tour, nor did it seem fair to push those special sites that gave me my first awards to the rear of the tour! So, two birds with one stone, as they say...

 Also, heavy duty "cheating" going on here... I am now trying my hand at the Adobe Photoshop package, in which I have created some absolutely astonishing bordered backgrounds with (actually) little effort on my part. It does seem rather a shame that you can appear more talented by spending more money... If you haven't seen those latest bordered backgrounds, take a look! You'll see the difference even if you're half-blind!

2/02/97 - I found a picture of my brother and me at his site (well, not in a public viewing room...); anyway, I just had to lift it and put it here! So, here you go, this is me and Tom on Christmas eve in my kitchen!

1/29/97 - So much for the change of heart! I've been so busy reviewing sites for my newly created award the past week, I haven't had the chance for a daily entry!!! Well, Karen has now made someone else her "Link of the Week," so perhaps I'll slow back down a bit... In the meantime, I've created another award for another site, as well as had a chance to pick up a few friends through site review.. All in all, a very worthwhile week!!  

1/22/97 - Change of heart, all of the sudden... I was believing I would only write in here weekly or so to keep from bogging you down, but I've found myself visiting the journals of friends daily to see how they are! As you can see, I added the awards to give out. Karen was gracious enough to name me "Link of the Week," so traffic is definitely improving! I have added a page for Missy, as several others have - she has really touched our lives... All of you, my friends, are touching my life... Thank you.

1/16/97 - Too many of you aren't signing my GuestBook! I don't really know how to beg any harder than I already have... Since the last writing, I have added awards of my own to give out, another page or two of backgrounds, another poem, and my special tribute to Angel Baby in the Enchanted Thoughts section. I seem to be concentrating on the backgrounds more heavily these days than anything else, probably because they require less "soul-searching" than the other sections, and my soul is in pain right now...

1/10/97 - I have added two additional background pages, an index to the poetry (rather than the "forced" tour), and index to the thoughts section, as well as a page in the thoughts section. The counter is not clicking upward as I had hoped. I am working on an award to give out, in hopes that it will bring additional traffic to my site...

1/04/97 - I've had several inquiries on Copyrighting (although I'm not sure how I got some of them - seems one of the search engines picked up my notice!). If you are interested in just what it is and what is required of you to obtain the rights, you must visit this exhaustive site...

1/03/97 - I just figured out how to make the message in the little status line at the bottom of Netscape change, and I've been busy trying to put words in... Those of you that use Explorer - do you have a status bar that shows my words???

01/02/97 - Wow...Happy New Year! I was trying not to write in here every single day, but waiting several days in between means I have by then made so many changes I have lost track of them...

 I added a Poetry Index page today, so you don't have to go straight to the poetry. I think it's an improvement... at least, it was supposed to be!!

 My friends now have me on ICQ, a "truly real-time, two way, interactive person-to-person global communication system" that enables you to contact anyone on the net without having to make prior arrangements. I think it's really neat, and it's pretty fast, too. Then, while on ICQ, I was urged to try PowWow. What do you mean you can actually talk to other people with a microphone & speakers??? Whoa... I can't quite get used to the PowWow rage (something about my inherent ability to talk at the same time as others causes a strange transmittal thing...) yet, but I'm assured I will adjust! Time will tell...

12/28/96 - What's happened since the last entry? The music was added (with the insistence and help of a friend...), I've re-designed my homepage (hopefully more attractive), and just this morning, I've added a Guestbook!! If you want to know anything at all about these additions, drop me a line! The music (and associated java script for "Follow me" music) and the Guestbook are both free services, and I'd be glad to point you in the direction of snipping them up for your own page!

12/24/96 - The purpose of this site just came back to me in abundant, screaming glory! I have just received two absolutely wonderful e-mails from some of you who really enjoyed my work! Thanks, Tommy & Judy and Fred! I'll keep adding, you can be sure of it. Is there nothing more wonderful than feeling appreciated? If you don't have your own page, I urge you to express yourself. It is truly rewarding!

12/20/96 - The (free) host site that was keeping me patient by holding an already "up" site of mine has been down for three days now! I can't look at my hit counter there, and I feel detached from all of you. Mainly due to that detachment, I have decided to go ahead and announce this site; then I will try to add as I can to finish it up.

 Christmas is almost here, and it's difficult to manage the time between work, web, home, children, and family gatherings. I am more at peace with the upcoming holiday this year, though, than I have been in years, so I really don't mind the juggling acts! The counter is going up now; wish me luck!!!

12/15/96 (Initial Entry) - I started this site about a week ago. I wanted a chance to put my poetry somewhere besides the faded folder that's been holding it for more years than I care to mention. Along with the idea that I could actually "publish" my original poetry, I decided to try my hand at some original bordered backgrounds, and display both at the same time.

 After a half-dozen or so poetry pages were done, I realized I needed a cover page. Having MGI PhotoSuite and a mouse as part of my computer purchase package, I decided to try to actually draw with them! The Enchantress, a lady who's been following me around for years every time I get a charcoal pencil in hand, was born on the screen with those tools. Since I couldn't blend the edges the way I do with charcoals, I "softened" them a bit with one of the drawing package tools.

 The next obvious step was to offer the bordered backgrounds to readers; thus, the Enchanted Backgrounds. Then, realizing that perhaps not everyone was as fond of bordered backgrounds as I was, I started the full page backgrounds. I know how irritated we all get waiting for screens to load, so I've been reducing and compressing my .jpg full page background selections to small .gif selections.

 I'm off now to more reduction and compression work - I haven't put the counter on my cover page yet, nor have I advertised my URL. I'm working fast and furiously to post enough pages of interest at this site first, because I want everyone who visits to have a well-rounded, enjoyable surf!

Created using: Lightning HTML Editor Version 2.10.1997