Yup, he's 3.

Henry turned 3 today. As you can see, he's very proud of his Lightening McQueen cake. (which was also very delicious) He also was quite the host with his guests and is truly the party animal. "You like to see my toys? I have a Kirby. You pet him?"

But, it was really fun just watching him process it all. Even early in the day, after I picked up his cake and balloons, he was dancing around asking when "his guests" would come. I even heard a premature riiiiiipp, when he found his presents and decided to open them early. "My party starts now Mommy?"

Having company was nice and it was good to catch up with some friends we haven't seen since August.

Then today, to switch gears, I spent 4 hours peeling horrid wallpaper off my bathroom walls.

It was very cathartic.

Ahoy...

Well, for those of you who read this and don't know, I'm pregnant. 9 weeks to be exact. Due in August.

So, this is the barfy trimester, which I thought was going okay, until recently. I won't get into detail, but c'mon God, is this really necessary? I feel like I'm on a small boat in the high-seas all the time. I don't like it. I would like to get off now.

On a more positive note, we are having a birthday party tomorrow for Henry. He'll be 3.

He keeps asking me if I'm going to come to his party, "Mom, you come to my birfday pardeee?". "Yes, Henry, I'll be there." I wonder who else he's been inviting that I'm unaware of. Maybe I should make more lasagne.

With that said, I need to get the house ready and make my lasagne... that is if I reach port in time.

"Application not responding" - bite me.

Well, last week was very hectic and expensive.

Beyond the regular clients whining "where is my layout." and the children demanding "i need more juice" and "I don't like sloppy joes"... my computer died. Yup, the lifeline to my outside world. My means to make a living (or at least a part-time one) was blinked away from me with the simple phrase "applications not responding".... over and over and over... its staring its maker in the face now. Unfortunately, my 3-year Apple Extended Warranty EXPIRED last month. Shit.

mmm...

This has happened before. No prob Bob. So,I proceeded to back-up and Stuff my files onto 2GB jump drives (this takes me until 10:30 pm on Wed) I did try to burn some CDs, but the burner sounded like a lawn-mower (even Madeleine said "Mom, that sounds bad") and she's 8. And I begin to re-install my entire OS system from scratch, which pretty much means that you wipe the slate clean and re-load it all back on.

Then at 12:00 am, I begin to re-install my neccessary applications to function on a daily basis. All of my design programs, my fonts, my compression software blah, blah.... except there were disks missing. They just weren't where they were supposed to be. I'm writing it off that they were "lost in the move" - Just like my elf. - Except I can't wait three more years to find them, they need to appear NOW. So I start futzing with my computer, half-loaded with software, and it turns out that I'm still getting the "application not responding" error message. Shit. This is bad.

Then I begin to go through the files I backed up. And they were corrupt, about 20% of them were. Which leaves me not only with a broken computer, but worthless files that I need to re-create when I figure out the first dilemma.

I gave up and went to bed at 4 am.

In the morning, at 6:30, I awoke with Henry's usual "Mommmm!, Where are youuuu?" It occured to me that I couldn't work today. And when Maddie woke up she said her throat hurt and that she wanted to stay home from school. Fine. Whatever. Here's some scissors, run with them. I can't even see straight, and I'm up shit-creek without a paddle or lifejacket. Greg (bless his heart) takes Henry to daycare, screaming "mommy do it.", while I prop my head up and stare at my computer trying to figure out what my options are. Maddie is on the couch fake-coughing watching the Disney channel and playing her Nintendo.

Hey! (I realize) WE have an Apple Store here in Grand Rapids! Maybe I can take my computer there and they can do a funeral. Something nice perhaps. Ok, they open at 10am. Put that on the schedule.

So from 8:30-10:00, I called my boss and about 3 freelance clients with my sob-story, and I even sent out my corrupt files in hopes that someone would be able to recover them.

And then I call the Apple Store to set something up. Ironically, I need to do this online with a broken computer. Luckily, we have more computers in our house than most third-world countires. My reservation with the "Apple Genius" is at 12:15. I call Greg and give him the update. He says he'll meet us there - why? you ask- motives unknown at this point.

So I make eggs, and shower and get Maddie in the car. (she's miraculously healed, now that we're going to the mall). We take my computer in to see the Apple Genius, Dan. I tell Dan, my life-story, and he's very empathtic to my needs. He runs a diagnostic and says, "Well, it is 3-years old, perhaps you've outgrown it and need something faster" Okay Dan, I need something that works right now. Greg, meanwhile, is eyeing up the iPods... Hey, motives revealed!

In short (because if you've read this far, you know where my expensive week is heading), I leave with a new iMac computer (image above), updated software, a free printer and a new iPod for Greg. Maddie is excited that I'll let her surf the web on my old-dying laptop (which is about all it can do after Dan finished with it) and she asks if she can put stickers all over it. No, please let it die with dignity for god's-sake child!

And now, on Monday night, I have finally caught up with my work from last Wednesday. Some of my corrupt files were recovered, others were lost. Thankfully, my clients were understanding (like they had a choice) and my new computer is purrring along nicely. For now. Or at least for 3 more years.

organize all the Christmas crap....

Yes, that was the theme of my weekend. Don't get me wrong, I appreciate the generosity of all our relatives, and Santa was good too. But c'mon, do I really need an 18' x 12' room to house toys in? Apparently, I do.

So, I bought a bunch of new shelves/baskets for the basement playroom (not from Pottery Barn) and if it didn't fit on the shelf, it went to the Goodwill box. "Good bye" junky, McDonald's happy meal toys. "See ya" , you one-armed Polly Pocket. "I won't miss you" raggy, filled in giant box of old coloring books.... THE PURGE is so nice. So, so nice. I'm glad to say that we had the biggest garbage pile on the curb yesterday. Greg wasn't as glad.

And coincidentally, I received an email from Pottery Barn, with the image above. ARE YOU KIDDING ME? Two sweet children, agreeably coloring on a WHITE table, in a sun-drenched room, with about $3000 of baskets on the wall. AND many glass candy jars perched on top of the highest shelves. Thats a GREAT IDEA, why don't I fill glass containers with candy and just let my kids dip in whenever they want....

that's all I have to say for now.