3 inches

Remember my broken laptop screen? Yes, well yesterday I was sitting on the floor paying bills and balancing our checkbook, while also talking to Lizzy. She was playing with her Little People Noah's Ark, which I've been trying to teacher her NOT to throw. Because seriously? The thing hurts to be hit with. but of course, she rolled back to throw it, and my cries of "Lizzy! NO! DO NOT THROW THAT!" went ignored. I tried to catch the flying ark, but instead it bounced off my fingertips and directly into my laptop screen. The screen promptly went white with neon colored stripes. I have about a 3 inch window that iss still usable.

So, I had to scour eBay for a new screen, which my dad or I should be able to install. This was mostly irritating because we literally had planned to replace the screen next week when our tax return will come. Seriously?

Then, to top out the day, Justin and I had a huuuuuggggeee argument about future placement of the laptop. Right now, it sits on a side table next to our couch, which is admittedly not a great solution because Lizzy is always playing with the cords and it's just in the way. Justin wants me to use a desk. Hey, I'd like a desk too, and I've racked my brain about how I could fit a desk into the living room with everything else, and I just can't figure out a logical way. First, we made the mistake of using Clearwire as our internet service provider, which, contrary to their slogan is NOT wireless internet, at least not in the way most consumers probably thing. I basically thought that it created a wireless hotspot in the house, but no. The computer has to remain wired to their little internet thingie to have access, which gets best service (which is still bad) in the window of the living room.. Justin brought a spare desk from college days into the living room and wedged it next to the couch, where the computer would still reach the Clearwire  thingie, but we just don't have room for it if we're going to keep the other things that we need in the living room, such as the Pack N Play (which is absolutely necessary for me since our laundry is outside and our house is not babyproofed to the point where I can leave Lizzy alone while I'm outside) and toy box.

Justin's solution was just to leave the Pack N Play and toy box in the middle of the room.

Are there any other moms (or non-moms) out there who can sympathize with my freak out at this point? Our house is already too cluttered. And it drives me crazy. I can't relax with crap everywhere. I need everything to have a place that it can be put away, and floating things in the middle of the room does NOT count as being put away. And hello, I spend 90% of my time at home in the living room--a room that causes me to cry every time I walk into it is just not feasible. Eventually, I think Justin got the picture that while things not having a home clearly doesn't bother him, it would drive me BANANAS.

We still don't have a good solution for where the laptop can land. I really do want the computer to remain in the living room, and I really would like a desk, but I just can't figure out a good place for it with our layout. Boo.

So, anyway, my computer sucks right now. Please be patient with my posting/commenting the rest of the week!