It's not my fault!!

I know I've been gone for a while, but it's not my fault!!

A couple weeks ago, our computer started acting funny. When it went to sleep, it wouldn't wake up. The lights on the front panel quit working, and you would have to turn it off and back on in order to wake it up.

Then, That Dad suggested we just tell it to not go to sleep...so that's what I did. And the fan started blowing at a crazy high rate of speed...then it just shut down one day and wouldn't come back up no matter what we did. I told That Dad, "I'm OK...I still have my iPod...I can still get online and read at least!!" but within 20 minutes of me saying that, my iPod broke, too! That was last Monday.

Tuesday morning, I woke up and took the computer and my iPod to the Geek Squad for repair. The Geek that helped me opened the tower and said, "Oh crap..." then brought it back over to me, showing me that some of the connectors on the motherboard were not concave anymore, and the motherboard was blown. Since my iPod was plugged in to the computer at the time the motherboard blew, it took that out, too! I was disappointed, because the Geek asked me if we'd had any blue flames. Apparently when this happens, the memory cards sometimes catch fire and shoot blue flames out the front of the tower. We hadn't. That would have been pretty dang cool, though!! I mean, until the whole "Oh, there's a fire in our computer!" thing set in and I had to grab the extinguisher! ;)

We went back to the store and bought a new computer we didn't have the money for, got my iPod repaired, and after having the Geeks put the information from our old computer onto the new computer, we're back up and running! Last week was probably the longest week of my life! ;) I told one of my friends, "I have never felt so disconnected in my entire life!" It's amazing how dependent our lives have become on technology. I read the news online, I communicate 98% of the time with my friends online, and my night time treat, watching episodes of The Office before bed, is brought to me by NETFLIX on demand. It was a sad, sad week. I'm just glad to be back!!

First day back, and the proclamation...

"That Special Friend is my only girl in the whoooole world!"

That Dad said he didn't expect That Kid to be tied down at 4. ;)

When That Kid first saw That Special Friend yesterday, he was super shy. He waved at her from behind her Dad, and giggled with delight; then when she ran off to play he chased after her then hugged her and kissed her arm. :)

The day we've been waiting for!!!

For two weeks, That Kid has been begging to go back to school! Every time he gets dressed to go somewhere, "I goin' a school, Mama?" and then cries when I say no. But today...TODAY is the day! That Kid gets to see That Special Friend after not seeing her for THREE long agonizing weeks. Apparently he's going to hug her, and kiss her, and play in the blocks with her. :)

That Dad is home sick today, so we'll probably drop That Kid off and come home and relax. We don't have enough "time to relax at home" time, because when we drop him off, we just keep going. Maybe we'll come home and watch The Wedding Singer. That movie is amazingly awesome. Especially the end, with Billy Idol. :)

Our Christmas and New Year

We had a fairly uneventful Christmas and New Year this year.

The biggest issue on Christmas Day was when I had to stop everything and have a talk with That Kid about gratitude. He was upset because Santa didn't bring him more presents. I don't know if he thought that the presents Santa brought were the only presents he would be getting (and the Pillow Pet he asked Santa for 2 days before Christmas wasn't there...for good reason!), or if he was just really being that big of a brat. :) And don't worry...That Kid did get a Pillow Pet from his Aunt and Uncle. Santa knew it was coming (because Santa knows EVERYTHING!!!), so he knew not to make one himself.

I thought Santa brought him quite a bit of nice stuff...even if the Chinese Elves that made his big red truck were grossly overpaid for that piece of junk!!!

Later that day, That Dad's family came to open presents; and then his cousins came for lunch around 2PM. I love hosting meals at our house, but get a little uptight sometimes...especially when things don't go exactly the way I've planned. I get pretty OCD, too. Like when the foil off the mayo jar landed "mayo side down" on my tablecloth. I freaked out, until That Dad let me wipe it up and put the pile of napkins over it. I'm not typically OCD, but there's something about having a houseful of people that makes me a little neurotic. :)

For the New Year, That Dad, That Kid, and I have all been battling colds. Last night, we just ended up eating some nasty Hamburger Helper (I didn't boil it long enough or something...it never thickened up); and then we were in bed by 9:30. That Dad read until 10; and I watched three episodes of The Office (including the one where Jim and Pam get married, and yes, I cried...). I was asleep just before 11:30 or so. We know how to party at our house, that's for sure!!

We're looking forward to another visit from That Papa and That Coco (or That Onna, depending which Grandchild you're speaking with...) in February, along with discovering the gender of That Baby (I'm thinking we'll have That Boy and That Girl...that's just my Mother's Intuition) and getting to meet That Baby in June (but not in May...I hope That Baby doesn't come in May!!! That Kid was 4 weeks early, I don't want That Baby to be 4 weeks early, too!), and making memories with my family of three before we become a family of four.

Hope you all have a wonderful 2011!! I think it's going to be a great, great year!!