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My computer is broken (The screen on my laptop has gone black - inverter problem?). This spells disaster for the Conleys.
A few weeks ago I mentioned to Darren that I like the fact that we're a one-TV-family and that I wanted to try to maintain that status for as long as we could. But being a one-computer-family is another story entirely.
I sure do miss my computer (name pending; I must be slipping!) It's not that I'm stranded; Darren's computer is working just fine. The problem is that he's often working on it. Over the past four months (almost) we've learned to share lots of things, but our computers were not one of them! We've grown accustomed to being able to work or play simultaneously, and that was before we were both in school.
The biggest downside is that I feel out of touch with "my people" - you know, the ones whose blogs I read daily in order to feel like I'm actually a part of their lives. Oh, and I have to actually enter my passwords on his computer. And his computer has sympatico weather bookmarked, not The Weather Network (why I'll never know!). I guess there are a few "biggest downsides."
Speaking of computers saving passwords: yesterday, when it was time to do our daily trivia game Darren didn't notice that the computer had saved my information and it was actually me who was logged in. So, he played under my name and got a good score. Well, I wanted to play, too, so I naturally played as him. For the first time in this category, I beat him, but of course HE got the win! GRRRRR...gotta fix that laptop!
When I was young I remember my mom saying that she looked forward to the day that all 4 of her daughters left home. She wasn't being spiteful or anything; I think she genuinely longed for a little freedom from the busy-ness of parenting.
Personally I think this cartoon illustrates how I'll deal with the empty nest syndrome, except chances are high I'll never have a dog. But it's hard to say considering I have no children. :)
Anyway, my mom's wish has finally come true. As of Sunday, September 2, 2006, my parents are officially empty nesters. Alicia and I have been gone for years, Alaina moved out west last year and Leona got launched this weekend.
Mom, dad and I helped her move into her residence at the University of Guelph yesterday. Actually, it was second year students who helped her move in; the only thing I carried was her computer monitor and the only thing she carried was, I think, her purse!.
But we did help her unpack and settle in. Dad got her computer up and running, mom made her bed, put away clothes, etc., and I...well, I did a few random things and took pictures. I guess I was there mostly for moral support.
Leona's room is quaint and absolutely adequate for her needs. The girls on her hall seem nice and the building is gorgeous. Here are some pictures from the big move.
It was exhausting! :)
Leona will turn 17 this December, making her the youngest Morris to move out, followed by Alicia who was older, only because her birthday comes earlier in the year. I left home a few months before I turned 19. (There were 5 years of high school back in the 90s.) It sounds old compared to my sisters, but then again, I helped Darren move out of his parents' house a few months before he turned 30! In his defense I've got to say that he had lived in a number of places prior to that move, but kept coming home.
My parents are off for a little vacation and when they come home I think they'll find the house quieter and life calmer than when they had a houseful of girls. I wonder if it's time for some new hobbies? Or maybe a boarder? Who knows!?
I'm a fixer. I like to fix things...no, not things. I couldn't fix a single thing around this apartment if I tried! Our currently broken toilet is a testimony to that.
I like to fix people. More accurately, I want tofix situations in such a way as to help people avoid having to learn lessons that I've already learned...the hard way.
I realize that most people don't want to be given unsolicited advice, so the culturally acceptable thing to do is sit back and watch people learn for themselves. Also, I know that a person learns best through experience. (I really do agree with Confuscius' "I hear and I forget. I see and I remember. I do and I understand.") But it's really hard.
On the other hand, when I think back on my life I can think of a few distinct instances in which I wish someone had told me I was making a bad decision. (For example, the decision to attend Bible College. Why didn't someone tell me that was a dead end choice?) There's no guarantee I would have changed my mind, but I'd like to think that I would have at least considered the decision a little more carefully.
I'm not speaking of a particular instance in which someone in my life is walking into a situation that could be better by a wave of my magical advice wand, but rather a general sense within me. Whenever I see someone in a place I have experienced and conquered (or at least survived and learned from), I want to transport him/her to the other side where I am.
I wonder if this is what being an adult is.
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