My Brain on Computers

I could have just figured out the picture posting thing and put all of my neat botanical garden pictures up at once. But it's much more fun to do them one at a time, with a little story to go along.

This has to be called a brain cactus, although there was no sign to identify it. Maybe the garden people figured we'd just all use our brains to figure it out..... I'm pretty sure this is what mine looks like when I'm trying to learn new things on the computer. Hubby and Tech Guy are always very patient, but I know when they're out of the room they must really be shaking their heads. I'm a slow learner when it comes to this stuff, but I hang in there til I get it.....which happens eventually.

I usually have to write things down in steps. In my own words. I know "thingie" isn't a tech term, but it works for me. When I first started selling dolls on eBay, I had several pages of instructions. It took me a couple of hours to post one doll. And sometimes I had to start all over, fighting back tears. Then I started getting it, and I got my postings down to about 30 minutes. My current project is learning to transfer pictures from one computer to another, using one of those neat little USB drive-thingies. Soon I will be able to give up my scribbled notes for that too.

For some reason, this reminds me of my Italian mother-in-law, who was a good cook, and who is now, no doubt, making her great meatballs for the angels. I used to ask her for her recipes. She made wonderful soups and eggplant parm....and, of course, the meatballs. She would look at me like I was speaking Japanese. It seemed like a simple request. What I didn't know is that she had no recipes. So I started standing next to her in the kitchen when she made these things, and I made a few notes. Then I went home and tried them myself, and soon I didn't need the notes.

I never thought my kids would want any of my recipes. They were picky eaters when they were young. Macaroni and cheese with hot dogs was their idea of gourmet fare. But just in case, I've written some of my recipes down. I found some little blank books with chefs on the cover at the dollar store. Just the right size for chocolate chip cookies, meatloaf, chicken soup and stew recipes.....and maybe a few words of wisdom.

Don't you know, soon after Tech Guy moved into his own apartment he called to ask me if I could write down a few of his favorite recipes. "Which ones would you like?" I asked. "Well, for sure your stew and meatloaf," he said. "And maybe the chocolate chip cookies and chicken soup too."

Score one for mom.......