I finally have my computer back!!!!

As most of my readers know, it kills me if I can't update my blog every few days. Well, I've been having major issues with my computer which has prevented me from blogging. On February 11th, it wouldn't turn on. John's cousin Jose came over a few days later (2/15/09) and told us the hard drive had crashed. We ordered a new hard drive, which arrived only two days later and John installed it himself. The computer itself was back up and running, yet I couldn't get the Internet to work. I tried everything, but after hours of frustration, I finally gave up. Today (2/28/09), Jose came over again and he fixed it!! He had to download some drivers from John's laptop, then download them onto mine and now it's working like a charm! THANK YOU Jose!!! I've felt SO completely disconnected from the world ... it's a little scary how dependent I am on my computer! And it's not like I've been completely out of the loop, since I've been able to access my email (and some Internet) through my iPhone. If I didn't have that, I probably would have been admitted to an institution for insanity. An exaggeration? Maybe, but probably fairly accurate!

So ... now comes the DAUNTING task of catching up. I have so many things to blog about. I also have so many things that need to be uploaded to my computer to restore it to its original state. Fortunately, I had backed up all my photos and videos onto an external hard drive back in December. Unfortunately, I lost all pictures from December and January, as well as ALL of my documents! I had created some pretty complex spreadsheets for our bills and finances, not to mention important documents like my resume and other letters that I'd love to have saved. Anyway, I'm happy that I have my pictures, since those are so precious to me and more important than anything. At least I'll learn from this experience and back-up EVERYTHING in the future! So... for those of you who haven't ever backed up your computer or those who haven't done it recently, take my advice and do it NOW!!!

Thanks to all of you who keep checking back, even though there's been nothing new to read for weeks. I promise to catch up as quickly as possible. Now that my computer is working properly, I hope to get right back on track.

Oh, one more piece of bad news: my point-and-shoot camera is officially OUT OF ORDER. John gave me the Canon Powershot SD900 for Christmas 2 years ago and even purchased a 2 year warranty for it. So, it expired in December and it just broke this month. Talk about bad timing. The lens no longer moves in or out and the helpful guy behind the counter at Bergen Camera in Westwood said it would cost about $175 to repair it ... no sense in spending that money to repair a 2 year old camera. So, hopefully we'll be in a position to get me a new camera for my birthday in April! We'll see. Anyway, thank goodness I have my Canon Digital Rebel that I got for Christmas, but it's a very large camera which is difficult to take with me everywhere. The Powershot SD900 was ideal for keeping in my purse at all times, which is why I always take so many pictures. The worst part is that I no longer have the abililty to shoot video! It's so sad because Avery is at a very funny age right now. She's learning so many new things every day and I'm loving the new signs and words she surprises me with. I wish I could capture them on video and share them with everyone! This week, she started saying "Thank you" in the most adorable way!! Anyway, I'll try to be patient and wait for a new camera. The camera store told me about a new Fugi point and shoot that's coming out in a month or two that should be amazing.