Yup...we're a little late this month. Normally, the new issue of TechTrax is out by the 3rd of the month. And it's a rare thing to go as late as the 7th of the month. Here it is the 13th and we're just going live. Sorry 'bout that.
But I have a good excuse...my relatives invaded! RUN AWAAAAAY!
Much of the chaos that hit this household over the last week was planned in short order, so it lead to some unexpected rushing around. You see, my sister suddenly announced that she was getting married. Nope, it wasn't a shotgun wedding. My sister is in her 60s. This was more like one of those...well, we might as well...type weddings. She and her long time beau of about 30 years were finally making it legal. Since our family was regrouping from all over the US for this momentous event, my oldest sister, who lives in California with her tribe, decided they'd surprise mom on her birthday, which was a couple days before the planned wedding.
So now we not only needed to plan for a wedding of about 100 people in short order, but I was charged with planning a surprise birthday party for mom...right under her nose. Since I live here with mom, that was a bit tricky. Thankfully, she does have her own living space. So I just whined about being really busy with my workload and she, the ever considerate mom, didn't want to bother me when I was very busy with work, so I didn't see much of her the days before the surprise.
It all worked out amazingly well. On her birthday, she was receiving a lot of flowers and gifts. So, when I yelled up to her that I would be bringing up some "presents that just arrived from California" she didn't expect anything more than a box or two. When she came to the stairs to see if she could lend me any help with the packages, the shocked look on her face when she saw her first born standing on the stairs...was worth a million bucks! She had just spoken to my sis on the phone the night before, so she had no idea that she was planning to travel back home. As the rest of the west coast family walked in...mom broke out in tears. It was great! And as Greg said...why do you get so much joy from making your mom cry? True, but they were very sincere tears of joy because it's too hard for her to travel out to see them, anymore. And dragging them out of California to Chicago in winter is a trick in itself. Needless to say, mom was thrilled.
 We all moved into the other part of the house that had secretly been setup for the party and later the rest of the family arrived. It was a fun reunion.
Although I think the best part was getting mom and her four kids together to dance around at the wedding as they played We Are Family. Totally hokey...but a unique moment in time. All four of her kids in the same room, getting along for at least five minutes. Remarkable!<smirk>
And speaking of hokey...my personal, favorite moment was dragging my daughter, Stacy, up during the wedding to dance with me to the stupid Hokey Pokey (in front of her boyfriend).
Isn't it great when you get to pay them back for those teenage years by embarrassing the heck out of them as adults!<lol> I loved it!
But once I managed to kick all the relatives back to their respective homes...courtesy of a little bitterly cold Chicago weather<hee, hee>, it was time to frantically catch up and return to the real world.
Which gives you a little perspective why this issue is an extra week late.
But late doesn't mean less than you would expect! Even though there is the obvious winter blahs going around, causing somewhat of a brain drain on creativity as we anxiously wait for the cold to turn into beautiful spring days, we still managed to put together a winning issue for you. Lots of helpful Office articles, some ranting about the fact that Microsoft plans to stop support for Visual Basic - NOOOOOOO!!!...fun web sites for toddlers and parents...a quick lesson in web development, a wrap up to our consulting series and a web site to see where your money has been.
And that's not all! Easter is this month. Those of you who may not be familiar with this holiday, the religious side of it is that Catholics recognize that this is when Jesus arose from the dead. But on the non-religious side of it, this is when families decorate eggs. Then the Easter Bunny comes to your house and hides your decorated eggs around your house or outside. Children (and sometimes even adults) have fun trying to find the eggs and may also find Easter baskets filled with presents and candy.
 Personally, I only like Easter because it allows me to get away with eating all the Peeps I can stuff in my face! HA! Susan Daffron was amazed that she'd actually found one individual who likes eating Peeps. I love them...but they have to be left in the air to get stale or they're not as good. Don't ask!
I wasn't able to hide eggs for you in this issue, but I did hide a present. One lucky person will win a Microsoft Office Keyboard. This is my favorite keyboard, as it has lots of extra keys that you can program to speed along your work with Microsoft office. But I'm not going to tell you how to enter. There is a link hidden somewhere within this issue. You have to find it. If you do, you can enter the drawing, which will be held March 30th. Look carefully...I'm sure you'll recognize it when you read it.
Happy Hunting!
 
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