SHEs Organized

Good morning all.

The moderators have decided that we can talk openly about yesterday's news, so it is no longer relegated to the members only threads.

As announced by Emptynester yesterday:

Indiana has completed her journey and was reunited with her beloved Hugh last night (August 21).

The tentative date for the memorial service is Sept 8. Her niece will let me know the details later.

Cards can be sent to her old address - if you need it, send a PM to a moderator.

I think the news is hitting me harder today than yesterday.

We have let the other board know the news so you may see more old friends dropping by the village in the next while.

We'll be sending out more information when we have it.

For those of you who want to ask 'what does this mean for the village?' but are afraid of sounding selfish....

I have full administrator function so can maintain (and break so am terrified of doing something wrong) the boards as they stand now.

Yesterday, I elevated two moderators to administrator status, except I can't figure out how to change their label. On the other hand, I broke their passwords! (See this admin stuff is scary!)

I have access to the SHEsOrganized gmail account (I've always had access but Google helpfully put up an extra level of security yesterday since it was a new computer signing into the account.)

The domain is secured for 22 months. I believe, but don't know for a fact, the webhosting is also secured for the same amount of time.

We know where passwords and account info for the webhosting is, but will have to wait a while until we get that information.

I've downloaded a complete membership list as of last night, and will update the backup copy that we keep off the boards so if the boards go completely down for whatever reason, we'll be able to find you.

The board software is currently very out of date, no updates have been done for many years. It is working fine. Software updates, despite what Microsoft likes to tell us, are not always necessary but I'm not sure how long we'll be able to continue without updating software. Dh currently is running software in his presentation environment that is over a decade old and has just been ported over to new operating systems as he changes computers. His theory is, "If it ain't broke, don't fix it." So I'm not very concerned about the out of date software.

If you have any other concerns or questions, please feel free to ask.

I'm up. Second poor night's sleep in a row, although that is to be expected. Same dreams about travel going poorly, I suspect it is because in my mind I'm trying to get to Indiana. I won't be able to be there for the memorial service and that's upsetting me.

I still have a headache. Have switched to real tea this morning to see if caffeine will take care of the headache for me. My TOM is due tomorrow so that is most likely the cause. Normally, I'd just pop an advil but that is only if pain that is unbearable and I'm managing ok for now.

Today's activity will be blood work. And maybe my kitchen and bathroom cleaning if I get the energy. I'll try and stay out of the gardens. Rain is on its way, so that may help me with that! (It is hard to stay away when they are such a mess. It makes looking out the window more stressful.)

Forgot how much I love real tea. My muffins just came out of the oven so the kitchen smells homey for when dh comes downstairs.

I'm up and restless this morning, too, Kathryn. Mine is sorrow that I didn't force a meeting with Indiana last week before she went to the hospital. We passed thru her state and kept going when she said she couldn't meet with us. "Maybe next year" is what she said - and I told DH - I don't think she will be here next year. And she won't be.

Thank you, Kathryn, for taking the reins so quickly. It is comforting to know that we will always have this safe little part of the internet to come to.

Time for breakfast and meds and get my day started. More sewing today - I need to try an experiment with some cording I found. It is too light a color to go with the material. I'm going to try coloring it with tea and with coffee at lunch time. I will cut 3 small pieces - one as the control and then one in coffee and one in tea to see if it will darken the color. I'm not sure as I think the cording is synthetic and might not take up the color. Only time will tell.

Thanks for this start, Kathryn.

I won't be able to be there for the memorial service and that's upsetting me.

Me too. In my mind I'd been thinking if the 'worst' (for us at least) happened that I'd go to Indiana and stay with friends and go to the service. But, as it happens, that decision was taken from me. That's the same weekend dbil/dsil will come here from FL. When I said I couldn't go, dh said why not. till I told him when the service is slated for.

I did not sleep well either and spent a lot of up time. Now dgs is here -has been for an hour. NOW I could sleep -oh probably not!

In the process of cleaning up more fallout from the exploding watermelon, I've managed to undo lots of my cleaning/organizing. And one sticky spot leads to another. Dneighbor came over last night & he & dh figured out what to do about the counter/trim that were damaged in this episode.

Last night I fell asleep thinking of Indiana and my first waking thought was that we have lost Indiana. I know that there are people who are skeptical about online friendships but that is because they haven't experienced the caring friendships we have formed here. Yesterday I didn't accomplish a lot. Mainly because I kept coming to our board for comfort. As a board we have been here for each other as there have been family losses, but it was a new experience losing a member. Especially the heart of our board.

Kathryn, several months ago I sent Indiana contact information. It included my dh and both dds cell phones. When we were in Baltimore I had a health issue related to my diabetes and afterwards I realized that Indiana needed more contact info than she had. If I just never posted again I would want everyone to know the reason and not think it was I just didn't care anymore. Indiana then sent me her phone number. I kept thinking I should call her but her health has been so fragile that I didn't. I am really wishing now that I would have taken the chance and called. Anyway, do you have access to that info?

As a board we have been here for each other as there have been family losses, but it was a new experience losing a member. Especially the heart of our board.

Well said, Lilac, very well said.

What other info were you thinking of, Lilac?

I am so glad that Indiana and we were able to work out the logistics of meeting last year and that I have a good picture of her. Dh thoroughly enjoyed that meeting. But he's always enjoyed meeting with all the SHE friends here. You're right, Lilac, it's so different and so loving here.

It is shocking when you hear this sad news, Helia and I'm sure there are others who visit now and then who will be equally wondering and then shocked when they do visit again.

I know that there are people who are skeptical about online friendships but that is because they haven't experienced the caring friendships we have formed here.

I was also thinking about this, but in reality I was equating a friendship I'd built over 50 years + with a penpal in Hannibal, MO. We became so close over the years and shared a lot in those years. We planned to meet several times and it never worked out. After we saw Indiana in Warsaw, IN we went to MO and saw this friend. She's as real as any friend I ever had closer to me. So it's no different -snail mail or internet in that regard.

Lilac (and others.) No, I don't have that info.

Indiana was very organized. Any emails sent to the S.O. gmail account were forwarded to her personal account and deleted. There were 6 emails in the box when I opened up the account (compared to 445 in my inbox right now - that's the difference between us!) While Indiana's method was more organized and uncluttered, it leaves me no trail to pick up the pieces.

So if anyone shared contact info with her and wants to reshare it, please resend it to the ShesOrganized at gmail address and I'll update our off-board spreadsheet with that info. At least two moderators have access to that Google Doc so the info is store on the Cloud and not tied to just one person. I will put password protection on the document as well, if possible.

Amongst the board members, we do have IRL contact info for almost all of us, it just isn't stored in one central spot. Personal connections have grown up among the regulars and I believe we don't formally have IRL contact info for only one regular member (and that is by her own choice, a choice that is perfectly acceptable to make.) When we do have to make IRL contact, the moderators pool their info and the one that has the contact info makes it. For example, until June of this year I didn't have Indiana's phone number but I knew MT did so it wasn't a big deal.