technology, smechnology

You may be wondering why I've posted so little here lately. Or, maybe you're not wondering. After all, there's only a handful of people who read this, and you're all busy folks. Anyway, in case you were wondering (or now you are wondering), here's why the posts have dropped off:

I am having technical difficulties.

Our computer is aging. It's a bit over 7 years old, which is about 112 in computer years. This sweet little Dell has been good to us. However, it seems time to let our friend retire. It is no longer keeping up with the technical demands of the Kenobi family.

The problem is that, for me, a new computer rides along that fine line between need and want. We do nearly all of our accounting, bill paying, communication with family & friends, and much of our shopping via computer. We store nearly all of our photos, music, and important files on here. I routinely use the computer to find or store recipes, calendars, medical notes, write the nursery curriculum & schedules, and do my "consulting" work. I could say we really do need a good computer.

(And yes, we back things up. Because it would be a major inconvenience (scary!) to lose it all.)

But truthfully, this computer does everything we need... just not everything I want. It is trying - really trying - to keep up with the demands of blogger, Explorer, itunes, outlook, excel, picasa, facebook, sitebuilder, frontpage, etc. As these programs get more sophisticated and I start to use them more, the computer processes ever more slowly. Do I need this? Do I want it? In thinking through good stewardship & personal relationships - is a new computer warranted?

I've had to start removing things from my "to do" list for the truly essential things. As much as I like this bloggety-thing, it rightfully falls behind making dinner, paying bills or writing my brother in Iraq. It is an outlet for my creative juices, thoughts (rarely profound), and desire to keep connected. So, it could be valuable time - if it weren't so often wasted while I wait for my computer to process or crash.

This is all to say we'd like to purchase a new computer, and I'm telling you for two reasons:

1. Solicit your advice: mac or PC?
2. Preface my upcoming blog series about Advent. As you will (hopefully) soon read here, we're doing some things this year to draw attention to spending & celebrating. It would seem a little hypocritical to approach that without sharing this decision.

Thanks for the patience & thoughts!

love,
MamaToo