After the initial moment of panic when my laptop first went into a coma, I really did think Hey, it might be nice to not lug that thing halfway across the country! After all, my mom has a computer, so it’s not like I’ll be totally internet-less. And my mom has been very generous with her computer. Even if it weren’t in the same room Annalie and I sleep in, she still would be allowing me free access to it.

But there is the problem: the computer is in the same room where Annalie and I sleep. That means each night when Annalie is trying to go to sleep, the computer is pretty much off-limits. Since we often are out and about during the day, that really limits the computer time. I get to use it when Annalie is good and asleep, but my poor mom has been having to politely schedule time to check her email. And I’ve been trying to actually sleep at night instead of giving in to the temptation to stay up into the wee hours of the morning blogging and reading.

Also, I’m used to having the laptop in the room with me in the evening when I’m watching TV and crocheting, so if a question comes up about, say, the cost of airfare from Omaha to Washington, D.C., or why an actor in a TV show looks so familiar, I can just look it up right then and there. I have joked in the past that I don’t know how to watch a movie anymore without browsing IMDb at the same time. This past week I’ve learned that there is more truth to that than I imagined.

Finally, I have not been able to download photos from my Nikon. The cardreader on my mom’s printer isn’t working. I bought an inexpensive USB cardreader to do it, but for some reason it’s not working either. I decided to give up and just download the photos when I get home to my laptop which Troy was able to rescusitate and restore to reasonably good health. Which is why I swiped some of my mom’s photos for this post.

My brother and his girlfriend gave Annalie a gift card to Build-A-Bear for Christmas last year. I intended to save it for a time we were in Omaha so Ben and Angie could have the pleasure of going with us. Then we, uh, lost the gift card in the move. It’s around somewhere! We just couldn’t find it before this trip.

But Annalie remembered we’d promised her a trip to Build-A-Bear. She went to a birthday party there last year and loved it. She was quite excited about going back. So I just paid for this pink leopard, which Annalie christened Heart Sophia Pink. I love the names she comes up with for her animals. She also has a penguin called Foot, a little black poodle named Apple, and a lamb with the impressive handle Easter Maryland Lamb.

This photo of my brother’s cat Styx (named after the river, not the band) and Annalie watching TV looks kinda like a LOLcat waiting to be captioned. Don’t you think?

Oh, right…I did a giveaway and said I was going to announce the winners. I am sure you’re all on the edges of your seats, waiting for me to do that. Without further ado, I declare that you are ALL winners in my book! Everyone who left a comment asking to be entered into the drawing is a winner, anyway. Congratulations to Mim, K, kj, Annika, Mysh, and Meaghan!