This is so awesome!!

So, I write.  Quite a bit.  I have quite a few stories going right now as I seem to have some sort of writer-specific ADD.  Some are on the longish side, some barely count as short stories.  Some are funny-ish; one is developing into a pretty decent fantasy novel; and a couple are:

I am not ashamed of my talent for erotica.

 

 

 

But regardless of what I happen to be inspired to work on at the moment, I HATE having something I'm working on read before I'm ready.  Combine that with a family who cannot grasp the concept of privacy in any way, fashion, or form and I'm constantly looking for ways to shield my projects so that prying eyes don't see them and immediately think, "She doesn't want me to read that.......I must read it now!"

So.  Prior to my old laptop dying a hero's death, I simply placed them in a password protected folder/file and went on about my business.  It wasn't perfect.  I inevitably got questioned about what exactly I was hiding that I would need to password protect files on my computer with a password that I hadn't shared with everyone who uses my laptop.  But after I reminded the inquisitive little shits that I don't actually have a life outside of my imagination, everyone would go on their merry little way.  (Or wait until I turned my back and try desperately to break my password)

Now I have fucking Windows 8.  I do not like it.  At all.  I might get there one day, but right now it's the bane of my existence.  And to add insult to injury, you cannot password protect your files and folders in Windows 8.  (Yes, I even googled it) 

So I did a bit more googling and found a geek site that showed me how to do a neat little trick that not only allows me to password protect my Projects folder.......it then makes that bitch disappear entirely!  Fucking A!  No more questions, no more undeserved suspicion, and no more bruised egos because I won't let them read my stuff! 

This shit is the bomb!! 

I can now write a little easier knowing that my horrible unedited works aren't being scrutinized before they've reached appropriate levels of readiness.  And my family can live in blissful ignorance that I have a continued hobby that I don't immediately share with them on demand. 

Updating

So....I got a job.  It's a great job and it's at my children's school.  I didn't take to the sitting at home alone all day with nothing to do as well as I thought I would and so I volunteered everyday until they started feeling bad that they weren't paying me and hired me out of pity.

Meanwhile, school's out for the summer and I am now the mother of a middle-schooler.  Fucking hell.  I aged ten years just typing that shit.

His "promotion ceremony" was Friday and it was great.  I cried like a baby.  Seriously.  It was embarrassing.  I did ok until the principal declared them the class of 2020....and the music was playing....and...and....cue the "ugly" cry.

I honestly cannot rave enough about the teachers that we have had since coming to Maryland.  Every single one of them has been absolutely spectacular.  I wish I could pack the whole lot of them up and take them with us when we leave.

My oldest will no longer be in the same school that I work at, but my youngest will be moving up to into it.  Which means that he will no longer have to go to daycare.  Yay!  I really like our daycare provider, and he did too.  But it will be wonderful to have that money to put towards other stuff from now on.

Soooooo.....

there is my update.  I've got a lot going on for the next three weeks, but it all should be fairly blog-able.  My mother is renewing her vows to her husband of 25 1/2 years, so we're going down home for that.  Then I'm leaving my rugrats with my mother and heading to my best friend's house!!  Then it's on to my dad's and back home for more working.  I might throw all my guys out at the end of the summer for a visit with my MIL while I stay home in the peace and quiet and watch all the episodes of Game of Thrones and read until my heart grows three sizes larger and I'm ready to deal with a house full of guys again.

Yay summer!