Computer Woes

It appears that my computer that I received for my freshman year of college has finally kicked the bucket. I know that I should be extremely grateful that it lasted as long as it did. The average lifespan of a laptop is about 3 years and this one is nearly 6 years old. It served me well and I'm saddened that I will have to say goodbye to it. Of course, John is attempting to fix it, but that's a serious undertaking when we can't get past the welcome screen before it dies, even in safe mode.

John tried convincing me that we could share his computer, but we both quickly realized that a setup like that would not work at all for us. A new laptop is cheaper than marriage counseling.... :^) My computer hasn't been working for a few days now and I've been using John's for a few minutes each day and that has already caused some arguments. The only reason I'm able to blog now is because he's taking a shower. We both tend to live off of our computers and while that's not necessarily healthy, it's just how our lives function. So unless he really can get my computer to get past the startup screen, I'll be getting a very early birthday present.

Obviously, not great timing with John being out of work, but I spent a few minutes pricing some Dell laptops and since I just need the basics, it sounds like it won't be too outrageous.

Well, my husband is out of the shower and will be needing his computer back for his homework (I'm tired of this setup already). I do have other things to update you all on, so I'll try to weasel some time on here later tonight. :^D

More Pictures!

These are random - just posted to share some of our pictures over the last 4-5 months. They range from Nathan's birthday in January to about a week ago. Enjoy!

Aiden is such a little artist in school! We have so many paintings, I had to go through them and decide what to keep. These are part of the "Not Keeping" group, so I wanted to get a picture just to have a record of them.

Aiden and I in the train at the Forrestry Center by the zoo. Aiden loved the train!

Our little conductor!

He looks so grumpy in this picture, it cracks me up! I think he had just woken up and stolen Aiden's apple.

Being brothers...

Aiden was quite proud of his outfit that he picked out himself. Red striped shirt, swim shorts, and green frog boots.

Our cats, Jack and Poe, have taken a liking to sleeping on my laptop. It's warm.

Sorry this one is a bit grainy - it was taken through a window screen. We got Aiden this Thomas the Tank Engine bike for Christmas and John was teaching him how to ride it.

The group at Nathan's 1st birthday party.

Mmm...cake!

The only picture I have of him in his "I'm One!" birthday hat. He kept ripping it off his head.

He was super happy about something!

Limbo

I should be in bed since I work an open-5 shift tomorrow, but I'm procrastinating. I took a bubble bath and watched a movie, so of course I now need to blog a bit to really top off my night.

The past few days have been difficult emotionally. While I am having a better week than last week (no jury duty!), I am feeling increasingly frustrated. I feel like we're stuck. John has gotten no responses from applications and I find myself waiting for that fateful phone call that will bring our lives back to normal.
I was doing really well, too. But I went through the photos on our camera and I had apparently forgotten that the pictures from the house we had put an offer on were still on there. I couldn't delete them quickly enough. It hurt a bit to look at them, but I didn't dwell on them and got rid of them as quickly as I could.

I really hate not knowing when this is going to end. There is no part of me that wanted to work full time when my kids were this small. I miss them and I want to be home. John is fine at tidying up, but my home is not how I had it before and I don't have the time or energy to seriously clean and organize. I want to go back to looking for a house to buy. We're cramped and I'm growing tired of renting and dealing with landlords/management. Basically, I just want things back to normal.

At least this all comes in small waves and I don't feel constantly overwhelmed and weepy. I think seeing the pictures just brought it all back up. I suppose it's some sort of grieving process. The loss of John's job meant the loss of quite a few things and it's taking a lot of adjusting. We won't be stuck in this forever, but that knowledge doesn't keep me from feeling like screaming every now and then. Day by day, right? It will turn around.

Catching Up On Pictures

I recently realized that I hadn't gotten pictures off of our camera since Nathan's birthday. Oops. January to May....I'm sure other people have waited longer. Anyway, so they are finally onto my computer and I'm going to catch up on sharing some of them with you.

A few weeks ago, there was a warm, gorgeous day and it just so happened to be one of my days off! There is a large green area with a fountain right along Amberglen Pkwy here in Hillsboro that I drive past on my way to and from work, and I thought it looked like a nice place to let the boys run around. So we got out the double stroller and walked down Cornell to Amberglen and had a great time! Afterwards, we stopped at Whole Foods since it's on the way and checked the place out. Yes, we've been living here for a year with Whole Foods about a 3 minute walk away and we've never been. We also live right behind Trader Joes and haven't been there either.

Anyway, the boys had so much fun running around, playing with their football, and watching the ducks on the pond. I enjoyed finally getting some fresh air and spending some time outside with my family.

Aiden very much enjoyed rolling down one of the small hills.

These were fairly short steps and Nathan quickly figured out how to hold the hand rail and walk up them by himself!

I love this picture with the football up in the air and Aiden looking up at it!

Nathan is ready to catch the football!

So much fun to play football with daddy!

Happy to be outside!

My sun baby.

Aiden watching the ducks fly off from the pond.