My husband is awesome

But I think I probably blogged that already. Can I say it enough? He comes inside today and says, "Merry Christmas!" (Yeah, I know...it's really the second day of spring.) So what do you think he got me?
A new laptop! Here I sit playing with it. It's a Compaq. Don't ask me the tech stuff about it, but it's faster than any other computer we have with a longer-lasting battery.
My son (the computer expert) set it all up for me. I just need to get a mouse. (I've found from experience I do not like the little pad attached to the computer, but it's okay for now.)

One nice aspect is a button that tells you if a site is okay to use. It is a green circle. If it isn't all green, the site is questionable. In fact, Michael says it won't even let me on any bad sites at all! I'm pretty sure that's why my last laptop eventually crashed.

There is a blessing in disguise, though, regarding the old laptop. After it crashed, Nick reset it to its original factory settings. Everything was lost, but the truth is that all my photos are both on my desktop computer and my camera, and I had already moved my writing work to that computer, too. So...without all the programs, the computer now runs almost as fast as it did two years ago.

What a great day--I got my new laptop, and Nicky now has his own. I'd say that was awesome, except I'm reserving that word for my husband.

Yeah, he's a keeper.

He did it!

My fourth and youngest, Nicholas (Nicky to us, Nick to his friends) graduated high school today. It was a nice ceremony that ran just under two hours. There was a dark cloud in the nearby sky, but it moved away from us. Pleasant breezes took care of the heat that usually plagues these outdoor ceremonies. (And to think, I had four personal fans in my pocketbook!)

Nick will be attending a local community college. He recently took a two-day program meant to assess his strengths. We haven't gotten the results back, but he's best at math and science. (He's great at history, too, if the topic interests him.) The program will help him pick his major.

With the economy as it is, many more kids than before are attending community colleges. This means a longer waiting list. We got our notice that Nicky's application is being processed. I'm pretty sure he's in. He has the grades and I think community colleges have to accept local residents as long as they qualify. It isn't like Harvard. Thank goodness...it isn't like the tuition there, either.

So the future begins. I only have two of four kids living home now. It is weird to come home and know the house will be empty for a few hours.

Sewing/organizing Project

My son Nick has a collection of playing cards, in different colors, that usually ends up all over his floor. So I made him this wall hanging to hold them, and other things. I had a big piece of 'ticking stripe' which must have originally been a pillow (my mom gave it to me), because 3 sides were already sewn up. I just finished it off and added some pockets. I sized the bottom row to hold the playing cards, but just used whatever size scraps I had for the remaining pockets. Nick really likes it. I hope it means there will be a few less things on his floor!
BTW, when most of the sewing you do is for girls, it's really hard to find 'boy' fabrics in your stash, LOL!