I've been seemingly out of the loop, which is odd because I'm always fluttering around.  It all started a few weeks ago...

Excitedly, I received a phone call from the HGTV production company that I've worked with before -They had yet another design project for me.   The room needed to be installed in little over two weeks and within a 24 hour window.   I could do that.

I called my resources, met with the HGTV clients, and came up with a design plan. Created a budget, implemented a paint palette, picked out a new chandelier, choose furnishings and accessories and sketched out the window treatments - then created a time-line for all the resource installations and deliveries.   I can pull all that together without a hitch...

Flew to Florida for a long weekend to visit my Dad.  I liked that.

Installed that HGTV Room - It turned out magnificent!  I did that.

The it just happened, slowly at first - Just a little glitch there, a lock-up there, and then WHAM - My computer had crashed.  Call it a virus, called it an infection - Call it whatever you want - BUT I COULDN'T GET INTO MY COMPUTER!  ..And that's when it all fell apart.  I do not know how you operate, but for me - I am my computer.  It is my very work essence, it is how I stay on track and organized - It is how I do my business and communicate... And it was all gone.  No ICONS not Task Bar - Just a big lock-up...

Sure, I have my Google phone that I can read and send simple emails with - But it does not help me put together story boards , window treatment proposal, update my website or do a hundred other  computer implemented tasks that make my life and work organized.   I DO NOT LIKE THAT.

Thank goodness for an external back-up purchase, safe-mode, and a spare discarded desk top computer of my son's.  It took almost two weeks of messing around, head -aches, around 1000 "Let's just re-boot it again and maybe it will work" sentences, and a computer savvy husband. 

So here's where the daily lesson comes in - Make sure to purchase an external hard drive and back- up your computer once a week.  I bought a Maxtor Black Armor 160GB unit - Super easy to use, and yes I was able to save all of my data, luckily. 

And the quiche - It's a recipe I am now able to type up on my computer for my monthly newsletter and local cooking show which I'm filming tomorrow.  Whew. .. It feels good to be  back in the loop...