Well, I sat down to write a little recap of our weekend and now have absolutely no recollection of what we did Friday.
Oh, wait. I just remembered.
The little guy went over to a friend’s house Friday morning, and I thought I’d try to get some writing done. But then Melanie and I talked and decided we’d try to do a podcast, and that is always at least a two-hour process because we have to spend an hour talking about everything we can’t talk about on the podcast before we spend the next hour wrestling with our technical difficulties.
Judging by the fact that there is no podcast today, you’ve probably picked up on the fact that our efforts were unsuccessful. It was a combination of a dicey software update on my end and a dicey Internet connection on Mel’s end. Beats anything I’ve ever seen.
Friday night we went out to eat and stopped by the bookstore on the way home so that I could pick up a copy of The Hunger Games (I like to stay a solid 18-24 months behind all literary or cinematic trends). Alex and his buddy ran back to the kids’ section as soon as we walked in the doors, but I paused long enough at the front tables to notice this little gem.
What I love about it the most is that it’s so understated.
Saturday I woke up with renewed resolve that THE WRITING, I WILL TACKLE IT, so after I ran a couple of errands and cleaned up the kitchen, I sat down at the kitchen table, opened my laptop, and thought about all the the productive productivity that was ahead of me. I normally keep all the book chapters in a folder on my desktop, but I didn’t see the folder right away, so I figured that I must have moved everything to my Documents folder.
But then I couldn’t find any of the book stuff in the Documents folder. And then I looked for the master document – the one where I make sure to paste every chapter after it’s finished, but I couldn’t find it, either. So then I did a spotlight search for the book title, which was the name of the folder, but there was no such folder anywhere on my computer.
And at that point I just had to lay my head on the kitchen table while I tried to convince my heart to stop trying to race straight out of my chest.
The good news, I guess, is that I’ve been sending every chapter to my editor as I finish it, so I knew I could dig back through my email and find all the chapters I’ve turned in so far. What I couldn’t do, though, was to find the outline I’d created in Word, the notes that I’d made in the still-to-be-written chapters, and all the little bits and pieces that I’ve worked on over the course of the last year (dating back to when I thought I was going to be writing an e-book).
Oh, I was sick about it. Just sick about it, I tell you.
I knew that I couldn’t say anything to David right away, mainly because he always reminds me to back up my computer so that I don’t lose anything, and, well, I’m sort of a back-up failure. I just couldn’t bear the shame of it all. So I texted Melanie instead. And you can bet your bottom dollar that I used A LOT OF CAPS IN THOSE TEXTS.
The next hour was an exercise in searching, saving, copying, and lo, more searching, and when I was almost finished re-creating the master document, three beautiful words popped in my head.
THE OLD COMPUTER.
Because what I’d forgotten is that when I got a new computer about a month ago, we left all my files on the old computer. Which means that the book outline, the notes, and the little bits and pieces WERE STILL ON THE OLD COMPUTER.
And I nearly wept with relief.
But not before I wished that I’d remembered that little tidbit about an hour earlier.
Anyway, I was able to get everything transferred, and as far as I can tell, all systems are go. I confessed my back-up failures to D later Saturday night, so needless to say, my computer is now backed up 64 ways to Sunday.
The irony, of course, was that I was such a wreck after the unfortunate book-is-missing incident that I didn’t get a bit of writing done the rest of the day. MY NERVES, you understand. MY NERVES.
Yesterday we went to the early service at church before we headed to Mississippi for lunch with the family. Alex was so excited to see his cousins (and the rest of his relatives, too), not to mention that it was a gorgeous day for a road trip and for hanging out with some of our favorite people.
We’re home now, and it really was great weekend all the way around.
Except for the part where I accidentally deleted my book.
But other than that?
ACES.
Whew, never a dull moment with you! I almost cried for you because I am a terrible back-up failure myself (to go with my pushing the limits of gas in my car – if I ever run out of gas I am pretty sure I can’t call my husband, because of all the told-you-so’s). Hope you get your writing mojo back soon. Good luck!
He’s a handsome young man, that’s for sure.
Your writing seriously makes my day. Deleted or not :) I cannot wait to read your finished product!!
So glad you didn’t lose it! I was right there with you in the sick department: I was going to be sick FOR you if it was gone…I need to back up too! Glad you got to spend Resurrection Day with your family.
I LOVE your podcasts!! My blog friend Laura and I love to listen to them in sequential order then text back and forth about them. We’re always saying we can’t wait for you to record a new one. :) I think it’s so cool that in your older podcasts you both said, “I would NEVER write a book!!” Now here you both are, writing books! Can’t wait to read them!
I think I’ve used my quota of !!!!!!!!!!!!! now. ;)
So looking forward to your book- but please, DO NOT give yourself a heart attack over it ! :)
Happy Easter to you and yours!
Girl, I’ve DONE the same thing… almost exactly, except the part where I found it on the old computer…. I had a major crash during one big book writing period. I still have nightmares over it. Glad all is well.
Oh, you poor thing–I had a lump in my throat and an ache in the pit of my stomach just reading about all that work, possibly lost. And in the midst of the telling, you still manage to make me laugh! So, thankful that you remembered the old computer!
Holy moly. For a moment you had me very worried. Worried that I was gonna have to buy that cat calendar instead of your book because it was forever lost in computer land.
I don’t really enjoy felines.
But I did enjoy the fantastic cousin pic with the girls looking lovely in the front and the boys, well, being boys.
Classic.
Don’t you just hate the heart palpitations when something goes missing on a computer? So glad you found it. I have my son save my pictures on his external hard drive, so I’ve got them on my computer, my external hard drive and his. How’s that for insurance?
You’re a hoot, just hilarious! Wish I knew you in person…we’d have a blast :)
Oh my word . . . my heart was racing when I read that you COULDN’T FIND THE BOOK. So glad everything was on the old computer!!!
I was about to cry for you! SOOOO glad you found it. Happy Easter!
My initial reaction is to say just bless your little pea pickin heart what with the missing files and the computer back-up aversion and the nerves and all. But, honey, I know the feeling of needing to just put your head on the desk because of what I haven’t done that I should have done with my computer files. I always save them, I just never put them where I should. I have several flash drives that I tell myself are for specific things…one is work stuff, one if freelance stuff, one is church stuff…but then I always plug in the wrong one. Anyway, I feel your pain and also offer a happy hal-lay-lu-yer in your resurrection weekend file hunt!! So looking forward to the finished product!
Cannot wait for the next PODCAST…(notice the CAPS!) :)
backblaze.com for off site, automatic computer back ups. You’ll thank me, I promise (cheapest, best one out there)
whew…I got a little nauseous when reading those words about ‘missing chapters’ , ‘missing folders’; no matter it’s not my book – stuff like that is enough to make a person cry. I get that same feeling when I can’t find my check book, when I lose my ATM card, when I lock my keys in the car, when I can’t remember if I turned off the stove, the iron, the radio… gee, I seem awfully forgetful.
“I like to stay a solid 18-24 months behind all literary or cinematic trends”
I’m currently running 48-64 months behind, so you are blowing me out of the water.
SO GLAD all was not lost. What a terrible feeling that is!
Podcast?!? Oh, pretty please! You must discuss J Simp’s new fragrance. FANCY NIGHTS is no doubt The Greatest Moment in Podcast History. And the people of the Lord said Amen, and Amen.
That must have been a terrible feeling!! My husband’s laptop was stolen from an airport while he was working on his dissertation, and…he hadn’t backed it up. He lost a ton of articles and notes, but I think that the actual writing was elsewhere. BUM. MER.
I’m so glad you had your remembrance.
And my favorite line? “…so needless to say, my computer is now backed up 64 ways to Sunday.”
I think you could easily work this into your book! Bonus. ;)