An Anniversary, a Birthday, and a New Computer

Jack Russell working on a notebook

It was a very busy, exciting weekend here at the Miller home. First, we celebrated our 16th wedding anniversary. Typically we celebrate by doing our normal day-to-day activity: working, softball, etc., even the mundane covered dish (lamb chops) for my husband’s dinner as he will still work his normal hours. We have a cake at the end of the day with candles.

Then we got to work preparing the house and yard (in between thunderstorms) for my three-year-old’s birthday party. When she woke up Sunday morning, I told her it was her birthday and her response was “CAKE!” She was happy when some little girls joined her in the pool, and I was happy to get the adults out of the air conditioning and two of them into the pool. It was a lovely day.

In between all this, I finally got to PC Richard to buy myself my anniversary present, a new laptop, my first new computer since 2001. I purchased it Saturday night after softball practice, put the box away, and kept up with my food preparations.

So I finally opened up the box after midnight on Sunday (technically, Monday). With a small school scissor, I gingerly sliced upon the sealing tape. I peeled back the protective clear plastic to reveal the shiny black casing of the computer. With great excitement, I popped open the laptop to reveal the 17-inch screen. I turned on the power and listened to the background music as the machine powered up. It asked me to create a name and password.

With finality, I typed in “Elizabeth-PC”. Yes, this one is all mine. No kids will use it as a CD or DVD player or for school work. This machine will contain my whole life: family, softball, home business, writing career, finances, educational. With “Phantom of the Opera” playing in my bedroom, I started up the recovery disk program. I had an old bath of DVDs and put in the first one. As it loaded up the backup files I paged through the manual.

A warning popped out at me just in time. Apparently you are not supposed to leave a laptop or the adaptor on a soft surface such as a bed. My sheets were red-hot. I propped up the machine and adaptor on some books and turned on The Honeymooners. Ralph Cramden decided to purchase a summer cottage, a great deal that went sour. Around 2 a.m. I was informed that there was an error verifying the files on the disk. I closed down to start again in the morning.

Monday morning I got a fresh start, with a new disk. We went to get my tires for my husband’s vehicle and came back to the same error message. I put a call into two friends who were more expert than me in computers; they were perplexed. Three times was a charm though, and after several more hours my disks were completed. (Later when I told our friend how old the disks were he said that probably explained it.)

So I’m up and running with the laptop, but still working on the old desktop while waiting for my wireless connection to be installed. Now back to Mavis Tire to get the tires on my minivan.

Small Successes Wedding Anniversary Edition

This week my small successes include:

1. Remembering to make my husband lunch every morning.

2. Keeping our 11:00 t.v. date every night.

3. Getting my husband to let me cut his hair.

This week I am thankful for:

1. My marriage: 16 years today.

2. My children: the littlest one turns 3 this week.

3. Wireless service and the new laptop I will be shopping for this weekend.

For volume 27 of Faith and Family Live’s Small Successes click here

The Resume of My Married Life

Last night Kevin and I celebrated our 15th wedding anniversary. When I think of all the major life changes we have been through in such a relatively short time, it is amazing. I have touched on some of these lightly and expounded on others throughout my blog entries. Here is a short resume of what we have accomplished together…

1993-1995
I finished my Masters’ Degree.

1995-1996
We moved to North Carolina for a year.
We moved back to Long Island.

1996-1997
I worked as a teacher for a year.

1997
We bought our first house (and quite possibly our last).
We had our first baby.

1998
We had our second baby.

2001
We had our third baby.
We started homeschooling.

2006
We had our fourth baby.
We enrolled our children in Catholic school.

The different periods of our lives seem to be defined by these life-altering events of births, moves, and schooling and career moments. I look at the above list and I think, “What happened between 1998 and 2001, between 2001 and 2006, between 2006 and 2008?”

Indeed, if I was handing a job resume to a prospective employer, that is the first question he or she would ask.

As someone recently said so poignantly, “You couldn’t possibly write about every single thing that happens to you in the course of a day.” Indeed, many days I cannot make it to the computer to write about all the things that have happened in that time. And when I do, I must leave out so much because otherwise I would be writing non-stop. (Possibly a seemingly noble goal for a writer, but only truly feasible for such writers as Dostoyevsky who composed his masterpieces while sitting in a Russian prison for many years.)

Those years are composed of hundreds of days, which in turn are comprised of thousands of minor moments which truly define our lives. And those moments are so important that our Creator keeps count of every one of them. I look at the blank years of our resume and remind myself that every thing I do, every thing I think, every thing I say has an effect on the building of our lives together.

“But do not ignore this one fact, beloved, that with the Lord one day is like a thousand years and a thousand years like one day.”
2 Peter 3:8

Painting above: The Sundial Garden by Simon Burtall

Fifty-Seven Happy Years Together

Happy 57th Wedding Anniversary to my “Nanna and Poppop”, Mr. And Mrs. John S. Nagy! Dale is a registered nurse and John is a retired detective of the New York City Police Department. Nanna and Poppop enjoy golfing, dancing, bicycling, and spending time with their grandchildren.

“Set me as a seal on your heart,
As a seal on your arm;
For stern as death is love,
Relentless as the nether world is devotion;
Its flames are a blazing fire.
Deep waters cannot quench love,
Nor floods sweep it away.
Were one to offer all he owns to purchase love,
He would be roundly mocked.”
Song of Songs 8:6-7

Picture of Mr. and Mrs. John S. Nagy at picnic, October 2006

KISS (Keep it Simple, Stupid!) : Love One Another

Today is my fourteenth wedding anniversary. Last week, my sister, was engaged. Oh, I am so happy for her! I wish we weren’t geographically so far apart. Then I could fling my arms around her and wish her the same happiness that I have known. Follow St. Paul’s advice and you can’t go wrong. Love one another, honor God’s commandments, and you will have a beautiful marriage.

See Joanna's beautiful engagement story at her blog: http://part-of-something.blogspot.com/