Computer Dependent

Our computer went bonkers this past weekend.  Jim took it to the Mac store, which left me without a computer for the past 5 days.  I did stop at my parents to use theirs one day.  Also, Jim hooked up an old computer that I used briefly, but it would freeze up every 10 minutes or so, so I gave up.  I was completely prepared for Jim to come home one day and tell me we had to buy a new computer.  So, when he told me that they are having problems with the graphics card in all of the Macs of the particular model we have, and therefore would fix it FOR FREE I was stunned!  They did say that we needed more space, so we bought a bigger hard drive for $132.  Considering what I expected to pay for a new computer, I am thrilled!

Not having a computer for 5 days made me realize just how dependent I am on it, and I'm not even talking about blogging!  "How many ounces in a pint?  I'll just Google it!"  "What's the weather going to be like tomorrow?  I'll check Yahoo Weather!"  "That playdate tomorrow which we planned weeks ago?  I better send a reminder email!"  "How do you get to the birthday party?  I'll Mapquest it!"  "Do we have enough money in our account to cover...  I better go online and pay some bills!"  "Those people didn't show up from Freecycle yet.  I better check my emails to see when they are coming!"  These are all things I needed to do online in just the past 5 days!  I know I'm showing my age here, but I remember being in grad school, seeing a commercial for the "World Wide Web", and how it was going to change everyone's life, and going "What...Ever!"

So, I need to play catch up.  Here's what has been going on around here...

Dylan's "Moving On Ceremony"...

He has one more year of preschool, since he doesn't turn five until November, so really, he's just moving on to the next class.  He did a great job singing the songs, and my favorite part was him waving and saying "Mommy!  Daddy!  Hi!  Hi!" when he walked in.

His teachers said he needs to work on "appropriate response time for following directions", which basically just means you have to tell him to do something 5 or more times before he does it.  They also said his interaction with his peers is "awkward and clumsy".  Dylan IS very clumsy (gets it from his mommy!), but I really think he has turned a corner socially.  Since spring break, I have seen a big difference.  Just in the past 5 days, we had a birthday party and a playdate, an impromptu friend made at a playground, and 2 more at Chick Fil A yesterday.  

Way back on May 7th, he used his "big boy bike" for the first time...

Even with the training wheels, he fell over several times, but the best part was that he kept on smiling and got right back on!  We had a miserable time at Target weeks before, looking for a helmet that fit.  We ended up having to go to a bike store, to buy my kid with a ridiculously big head, a helmet that cost almost as much as his bike!

Without a computer, I seem to get stuff done.  I cleaned a lot, finally got rid of Jim's old weights (on Freecycle) that have been taking up space in our old and new garages for years, and tackled the huge pile of wood on the side of our house that was leftover from the old pool and deck.  You should have seen my covert mission to a dumpster I probably wasn't supposed to be using!

I also started something new I've decided to do this summer.  I'm committed to make one new recipe a week the entire summer.  Nothing crazy - I believe recipes should be easy - 10 or less ingredients and little work.  I've made 2 so far.  I'll post about them soon.  Let me know if you have any you think I should try!

Girlfriends?

Yesterday was Dylan's last day of his first year of preschool.  We got a paper saying to come to a "Down On The Farm" party.  Since I'm pretty sure I've never been to a "Down On The Farm" party before, I wasn't sure what to expect, and I knew I had little hopes of getting more information out of the teachers.

Turns out the other parents, the kids, and even the teachers also didn't know what was going on (by the looks of it).  It was very unorganized, with everyone standing around, looking at each other for some kind of direction.  The "program" consisted of the kids sitting in a circle, with some of the parents, singing along to songs played on a very loud speaker.  We certainly couldn't hear any of the kids singing, and it was obvious that they weren't sure what to do.  During one entire song, Dylan was the only kid in his class standing to sing!  Ha!

As I was sitting with Dylan in the circle, I was getting uncomfortable.  "Why is this woman staring at me?!", I kept thinking.  Then, I would think, "You are so paranoid.  She isn't staring at you.  She's probably looking at someone behind you".  But, she really did seem to be staring at me.  I checked my fly, my shirt for stains, and my nose for boogers - nothing.

My favorite part of the "program" had to be my kid doing the chicken dance.  Where does he get that rhythm?

After the "program" we all got to eat picnic food in a big room with tables set up - hot dogs, watermelon, carrots, cookies, lemonade.  My parents were leading the way to a table, and who did they decide to sit by?  Did you guess staring lady?  Yep!  The first thing she said to me when I sat down was, "My daughter talks about Dylan all the time".  "Really?", I asked, quite perplexed.  Dylan never talked about any of the girls at school.  He didn't even seem to know most of their names.  "Oh, yea!", she answered, laughing.  "She told me he is her boyfriend!  I told one of the other moms here about it, and she started laughing, saying "Well, don't tell my daughter that, because she says he is her boyfriend!""  Who knew? Certainly not Dylan!  His main concern was "How many cookies can I eat?"  And for now, that is exactly the way I like it.