Oh, Shut Up

In the beginning, we were hopeful.

"Welcome to your new HP laptop. Now let's get you set up," said the pleasant voice from my newly opened laptop.

I have admittedly been clutching my old laptop longer than I probably should have. It's familiar, everything on it--files, photos, apps--are exactly where I want them, the keyboard is comfortable and I can type sentence after sentence without looking at the keys, and even when it started developing little quirks they were familiar quirks and I worked around them.

Switching devices is so exhausting and frustrating, and so I dreaded starting over again. But the friendly HP voice gave me hope. Maybe this won't be so bad after all! Maybe the transition will be smooth! And with Joe helping me it will be a breeze.

Then, at STEP TWO the friendly voice asks for our Microsoft password and just like that our smooth set up came to a screeching halt.

Who has a Microsoft password in our family? Timothy, that's who. Only because he needs it for his Xbox. Except we didn't remember this, so we ended up requesting a new password.

And then we couldn't figure out why my laptop's opening screen had TIMOTHY NOVAJOSKY written across the screen with a GIANT can of Chef Boyardee Beef Ravioli displayed. When Timothy came home from school he was annoyed that his Xbox sign-in had been changed, and he didn't like our new password.

WELL.  I didn't like his name on my laptop screen, AND the Chef Boyardee can of Beef Ravioli, so we were even.

I eventually left Joe with the nice HP voice and went to fix myself a cappuccino. He was a good sport about getting everything installed, including setting up security and the printer. He only told the nice HP voice to shut up a couple of times. Well, three.

Okay four.

He left it up to me to change the TIMOTHY NOVAJOSKY/Chef Boyardee problem. Evidently I needed to get my own gmail account to set up my own Microsoft password, or something like that, and I told him I'd do it. But not at that moment because the whole thing was giving me a headache.

I'd do it soon, though.

The above all happened yesterday. This morning Joe, who knows that my "soon" can mean anything from today to next year, is setting up a new gmail account so I can get my own Microsoft password.(See what I did there? My "soon" actually means that if I wait long enough Joe will step in ;-)

And what am I doing?

I'm typing this very post on my OLD laptop because I want to add a photo to this post and there are no photos on my NEW laptop. Yet. And Joe absolutely, emphatically draws the line when it comes to photos.

I'm definitely on my own for that one.

Do you think that nice HP voice can help?

ONE, TWO, THREE

ONE 
Last night Joe and I attended a work party in Aiken. Having only the vaguest idea of what Joe's work entails, it was nice to meet some of his coworkers  and their wives. Now I can banish from my mind this James Bond image of secret people doing secret things. They all really do exist. And they're all perfectly nice and normal.

TWO
Doing a courtroom observation today for CASA (Court Appointed Special Advocate) so I will get to practice my new vocabulary (adjudication, reunification) and acronyms (MSL-minimum sufficient level of care).

THREE
My new laptop came yesterday. So thin! So light! So pretty! And I'm sure it works, too. I'll confirm once Joe sets it up for me today.

photo: Alas, no photos of us dressed up for the Aiken party, or the courtroom, or my laptop (which is still needs to be set up). So I leave you with this random one ...

Student & Teacher

Today, a little inspiration to go find someone who knows something you don't, and learn from them. Someone who inspires, teaches, encourages. Someone who opens your mind and introduces you to new ideas, thoughts, and ways of looking at the world.

And be ready for someone to find you. Welcome that person.

In life we are both the teacher and the student. Let us learn from one another, and grow.

Ogni persona che incontri è migliore di te in qualcosa ...

in quella cosa impara.
~Ghandi

(Every person you meet is better than you in something ... 

in that one thing, learn.)

Just Because

Sometimes, the nicest things come out of the blue.

For no reason other than just because.

Such as this bracelet, which my sister gave last November.

It wasn't my birthday. It wasn't Christmas. And yet she handed me a gift box and told me to open it right away.

Inside ... a map bracelet with a Verona charm on one side, an Augusta charm on the other, and a charm with the airplane from by book cover connecting the two. 

Laptop Shopping ... oy vey

My Toshiba laptop is seven years old and is starting to do weird things. Like, shutting down when it wants to, or freezing up at random moments.

We've been on CRASH WATCH since November, and I've been backing up my files on a regular basis in case the inevitable happens.

The plan was to wait until my birthday in February and ... HAPPY BIRTHDAY a new laptop for me!

But then I started training to become a CASA (court appointed special advocate), and because the class has an online component we realized I couldn't wait.

So last weekend Joe and I went laptop shopping. We went here, there, and everywhere, but we couldn't find what we wanted. If a laptop had that, it didn't have this; if it had this, it didn't have that; if it had this and that, I hated the keyboard.

This was us when we returned home late that afternoon ...

In the end, we ordered a custom laptop from Hewlett Packard; Joe entered in all the specs we wanted and I handled the color (Fog Blue). The HP elves are building it as I type.

My new laptop will be here in two weeks and so far the Tobisha is holding steady, still doing weird thing but hanging in there.

Fingers crossed.

Speak to Me Sunday: Wonders Happen

Last night during Mass, I prayed for a man I didn't know. His name is Max and he lives in Berlin, Germany with his family. 

Earlier I had received an email from Max who came across a blog post I had written on the Sanctuary of La Verna, a Franciscan monastery nestled on the top of a mountain that we visited during a family trip to Italy. La Verna is where St. Francis of Assisi went when he needed spiritual nourishment and discernment. And it was on that mountain that he received the stigmata. 

Max wrote that at the age of 16 he had a near death experience and a vision came to him of a man in a brown robe. He recognized the man as St. Francis, and ever since he has been reading and studying about the saint. The reason for his email was to ask permission to use the picture I had taken of St. Francis' robe for a lecture he will give to some Christian communities in Berlin. 

"Wonders happen, we have to talk about it!" said Max in his email. 

I told him that he could use the photo, and any others on that post, with my blessing. I also sent him a PPT presentation on La Verna I had given to a Women's Bible Study since it contains additional photos of the monastery that I did not post on my blog. 

His response, a few hours later, was filled with such joy about the photos. 

"What a nice Saturday evening this had become!" he wrote. "What could I wish more for "my" story (or better, "his" story)! I promise: as soon as it [the lecture] is finished, in a few days, I will translate it into English and send it to you."

He also sent a photo of a slide from his lecture, and I look forward to seeing the finished product.

I have often said that one of the most beautiful things about this world is the interconnectedness of humanity, that we all have more in common than we think, or even realize. 

And that something as simple as a photo can make a connection between a wanna-be writer from Georgia and a stranger from Berlin. 

Wonders do indeed happen. 

This photo is my most pinned photo on Pinterest, 

and it generates traffic to my blog every single day. 

Life Lately: The Perfectly Mundane and Ordinary (in 7 quick takes)

1- Food on walls

Due to a roof leak, we are re-painting our master bedroom and bath. Now comes the Paint Selection Headache. Seriously. I do NOT like to pick out paint. Here are some of the names of paints we've used in the past: Irish Cream, Cappuccino, Cracked Pepper, and Cafe-au-lait.

So basically I just need to look for paint cans of food, and start from there.

2- Enough already

Remember Jonathan's accident that happened LAST JULY, the one where not only was Jonathan's car totaled but we lost the St. Christopher medal? The accident which provided a wonderful experience with the city's towing service? The very same accident in which the Atlanta city police department's computer system was hacked so all record of the accident was deleted?

Yeah, that one.

Today Jonathan is in Atlanta at a court hearing to settle the down thing.

Finally.

3- Back to School (again)

This was week one of training to become a CASA (court appointed special advocate) and just like that I'm back in school. Although the class meets only once a week, the rest is done online so every morning I fix my cappuccino and study. I love it. Give me notebook, highlighter, keyboard, and a writing assignment and I'm in my element. But I'm not going to lie. There was a learning curve with an online class, but on the upside I'm learning an entire new vocabulary like adjudication and permanency.

4- Spring Break Plans

Today we are planning and booking our plans for spring break. Some of our ideas include a trip to Sedona, a cruise, or a whirlwind tour of London. We'll see ...

5- Plot Twists

I'm listening to The Silent Patient on audible. It's the story of a woman who murders her husband and then refuses to speak. The chapters alternate between the therapist's point of view and hers (via her journal) with one plot twist after another. I have one chapter to go and I STILL have no idea what is going to happen.

6- He'll Know when He Knows

Joe and I have a date. He just doesn't know it yet.

7- Lunch Inspiration

With or without the aeperol spritz. We'll see ...

grazie Girl in Florence