Photo and enhancement by Chris Duffy

Things are evidently progressing quite nicely with mom and the computer.  Alice has now made a change so that it will be much easier for mom to get to the web.  We do want all this to be easy for mom so she doesn't get discouraged.  She'll be happy as a clam as long as she can get emails, send emails, do Instant Messages, play Scrabble and get to the web.  Does life get any better than that?

Photo and enhancement by Chris Duffy

I got an email from my mom today.  YEAH!  It wasn't very long, but it was an email and it was from her.  Up till then I'd only sent her one email because I didn't think she was going to be trying the sending and receiving of emails quite yet, but then my sister Alice said that mom got into her Juno account (Alice was not there to help her) and actually got her emails and it was all SPAM and she was disappointed because neither of us had sent her any new emails.  So I quickly composed a lengthy email to mom and asked her how she was doing on the computer.  Today her reply was . . . just two words . . . "I'm fine".  Actually it was "im fine" so I guess we'll work on punctuation and capitalization some time later. 

But even "im fine" was easier to read than the email she sent my sister. . . "areyouatyourkeyboard".   This is going to be fun to watch mom progress. 

Hunting and Pecking

Photo by Alice Woodrome

This is my mom at her new computer.  It's really an old machine, but it's new to mom.  My niece decided it took up too much space for how little she actually used it, so she had her mom (my sister Alice) take it and set it up for our mother.  We really thought that mom would find it a little too complicated and therefore she'd lose interest in it in a matter of days, but much to our surprise and delight she's sticking with it. 

In the picture above she is starting a game of Scrabble, and I really think that it's the capability to play Scrabble on the computer that is keeping mom focused.  She's always been a very good Scrabble player but now she doesn't have a lot of opportunities to play and she's a afraid that her skills might slip if she can only play once a week.  

You see, my sister plays Scrabble with mom each week ( a real game - not an electronic one) when she goes over to do her laundry and the grocery shopping, and Mom used to always win because of her huge vocabulary and impressive spelling ability.  Well, Alice has been playing Scrabble on the internet and has improved quite a bit, and now she beats mom at least half the time.   So being able to practice; to hone her Scrabble skills is a powerful motivation.

She is doing much much better on her "mouse" skills, but Alice is wisely taking it slow.  She doesn't want to try to cram too much information into each teaching session or mom WOULD get discouraged.  Eventually we'd like for mom to be comfortable enough to send and receive emails, engage in Instant Messages, maybe even surfing the web.  Alice has even created a Xanga site for her, if and when she wants to do that.  I think she'd LOVE it. 

Two More Views of The Broadmoor
Photo and enhancement by chris Duffy . . . click on picture, then the F11 key to see a larger image.

This picture really captures the essence of The Broadmoor with it's man colorful flowers and the Mediterranean style buildings.  There is a sidewalk that goes completely around the lake and you'll always see walkers and joggers, especially in the early morning.

Photo and enhancement by chris Duffy . . . click on picture, then the F11 key to see a larger image.

And of course there's the bridge across the middle of the lake used as a short cut by most to cut the distance between the two sides.  I'm wondering if it was built originally for the staff's convenience or for the guests.  At any rate it's lovely very functional at the same time.

A Respit from Remodeling

Photo and enhancement by Chris Duffy . . . . The grounds at The Broadmoor in Colorado Springs

Did you miss me?  I've been away on a much needed break from all the remodeling.  Actually it was my husband's board meeting but I always get invited, and I just can't resist going to the Broadmoor.  I think it's one of the nicest hotels I've ever been to, the staff is so very friendly and you can see that the grounds are spectacular.  The hotel is nestled in the foothills of Cheyenne Mountain.

I probably have well over a hundred different pictures of the hotel, but each time I go there I just can't keep from taking a bunch more.  I really like several of the ones I took this time.

 
Photo and enhancement by Chris Duffy . . . . The grounds at The Broadmoor in Colorado Springs

These two pictures were taken from opposite sides of the lake on the property and there are so many trees on this side of the lake that it's almost impossible to get a shot of the other side without tree branches getting into the frame, but I kind of like it like that.

As always, I'd encourage you to click on either of the images and then on the F11 Key to see the picture full screen.  That's really the size they were created to be viewed at.