L's Birthday and Computer Disasters

This is the cake that L has been wanting for two years now. It is a Hylian shield from the game Zelda. It was two years and a day late, but he got it! R worked hard and finished it the day after his birthday. Since it was his choice, the cake was strawberry, the ice cream was strawberry and breakfast consisted of waffles, whipped cream and, you guessed it, strawberries. Now, I'm not a big strawberry fan - unless they are 'real', so this has been a real test of my "Mommery" and that, my friends, is an official term...as of a minute ago.

On a very sad note...a moment of silence please...our computer died. It was a slow and tragic death. It was sad to watch. First the new modem software wouldn't load. Now I can't go very long without internet access. I tried once and broke out in a cold sweat! Next, the computer would turn on, but it wouldn't do anything else. I couldn't run virus scans. I mean it wouldn't do anything but turn on. Such a sad, sad day. I must have looked pretty pitiful when RL came home because he even tried to fix it. Now you've got to understand that RL works on a computer all day long and the last thing he wants to do when he gets home is look at another computer screen. It was hopeless. A trip to the Geek Squad was in order. We went for advice, but didn't bring the tower with us. We went back home and got it. The tech started the scan and the first thing out of his mouth is 'uh-oh'. I don't like 'uh-oh'. I know what 'uh-oh' means and I don't like it. Scan after scan wouldn't work. Finally he found a way into the mess and it was totally infected with viruses! We described what we'd been seeing prior to the shut down and he was not the least bit surprised. A couple of other things were messed up with a card or whatever and also with our printer. So, our choices were $400 for repairs on a four and a half year old computer or double that for a new one. We got a new one. It has Vista on it and I have no idea what Vista is all about. So hang in there with me while I figure it all out. Looks good so far, doesn't it?