New MacBook Pro!

The MacBook Pro with Retina display that I ordered last Friday (Black Friday) arrived today. And I am writing this blog post using my new laptop!

It was on sale last Friday ($101 off) and that was all I needed to make the purchase. My six year old MacBook Pro has finally given up (I think it over heated and fried some components). We have another MacBook (also six years old) that is still working fine but using it to edit photos was getting painfully slow. It’s funny how our threshold for “slow computing” gets lower and lower as time passes.

This is my first ever computer purchase, which is pretty amazing. Work has always provided me with a machine to use at home but my work laptop now is a Dell and I am not interested in using Windows at home. I’ve been using Apple laptops since 2004 and all my stuff are too embedded in the Mac. I love, love, love this new laptop. It is super light and fast and the retina display is stunning. I’m very happy right now. :)

Black Friday purchase

I didn't go to any mall but I still spent money.  Just ordered a 13" Mac Book Pro with retina display. Apple computers don't go on sale very often and I have been contemplating buying one for a few weeks now.  Finally, with Ed's prodding, I placed the order. And as typical behaviour for me when making a big purchase, I feel guilty about it. But also very excited to get the laptop and start using it. Is the retina display worth the extra bucks?  I sure hope so.

The moose and the canoe

Julia, Sophia's daycare teacher, shared this story with me yesterday.  During their circle time, Julia read a book that was new to the kids about animals in a canoe.  I guess the canoe starts out empty and each animal takes a turn getting into the canoe.  The second to the last page shows the full canoe and a moose waiting to get on.  Sophia then pipes up, "They won't fit". She was the only one who said anything like it.  Sure enough, on the last page, it shows the canoe tipped over.

Julia was pretty impressed that Sophia made the connection before seeing the last page.  So am I!  She's a logical thinker, which is not a surprise given her parents are both logical thinkers.  Julia's story made me so proud.  That's my girl! 

Pumpkin patch, Oct 2012

Pumpkin patch, Oct 2012, a set on Flickr.

A week before Halloween, we went to Aldor Acres to get a pumpkin and visit the animals. This was our first visit to a pumpkin patch and Sophia seemed to enjoy the experience. It helped that her friends were there, too. This definitely made Halloween more fun for me.

Above are some photos from our pumpkin patch adventure...

Halloween #2 with our little monkey

We got a monkey costume as a hand-me-down from friends (I love hand-me-downs!) and so Sophia got to be a monkey for Halloween this year.  The kids at daycare got to put their costumes on after their afternoon snack, then they visited the offices in the building for some trick or treat fun.  The kids looked so cute all dressed up in their costumes.  They each took home a goody bag, as well.  As we were leaving the daycare, I was able to take one photo that wasn't too blurry while Sophia was still in costume.

It was pouring that afternoon and Sophia's monkey feet got wet when we walked to the car from her daycare.  Once we got home, she took off the monkey suit so that I can dry the feet.  Then I announced that it was time to put the costume back on so we can go trick or treating around our complex.  No.  That was Sophia's response.  Don't you want to go trick or treat? No.  Don't you want more candy? No.  So that was that.  It was raining hard so I got over my disappointment pretty quickly.

I found other ways for her to do some Halloween activities. I got her to help with lighting the pumpkin (she handed the candle to me, then I lit it) and we went outside to place it outside our door.  We also put up a "Happy Halloween" sign on our door.  She quite enjoyed this part.  What she didn't enjoy too much was coming with me to answer the door when people knocked.  She found the costumes and masks scary.  Oh well.  Hopefully, next year, we will actually make it out the door to go trick or treating.