Life without Lappy

I work on the computer a lot.  I also resist increasing technology a lot.  Several years ago, my brother thought that it would make my life easier, and gifted me with a laptop, so I wouldn't need to spend several hours a day in the office, but could just work in the living room (and keep him company).
At first I barely used the thing.  Files were synced on the 2 systems, and still it sat, rarely used.  The printer was hooked up, allowing me to print from any room in the house.  Oh, how I resisted.

But eventually, I started to use it, of course.  Gradually my housekeeping skills fell by the wayside, the writing that always took place with paper and pen became rarer, and even personal paperwork got shoved off into the roll-top, out of sight.  Not that one needs to put things out of sight if they are the owner of a tool that manages to turn their home into a tunnel between the door and the computer screen, mind you.  Did I mention anything about an addictive personality, because um... yeah, there's that.

That laptop was replaced with a new one about 6 months ago.  All of the letters on the keys have started to rub off in that short time.  There's no 'e', no 'n', and barely a smudge where the 't' was.  Under contract, into the shop for a replacement keyboard it went.  The timing completely escaped me, and when I realized it was Friday afternoon - leaving me laptop-less for the weekend - it was too late.  No biggie, there's still the desktop computer in the office.

Saturday afternoon, my daughter asked me if Martha Stewart had visited.  The house was clean.  Orders were out, charges run, personal mail taken care of, articles written (!!!) and the shipping area under control.  Sunday, the writer's copies envelopes were all addressed, and the magazine didn't even get delivered yet.  Product labels were printed, trimmed, laminated, and filed.  I played outside.  I worked on some soap.  I created and thought and produced.  I remembered my life.

The plan now is to take the laptop out of the house each weekend (my sister's) for a while, and see if that works out.  That might sound ridiculous, but clearly if there was a good supply of willpower or self-control around here, we wouldn't be having this conversation, now would we?  I really want my life back, and seriously doubt if, when this laptop wears out, there will be another.  And it is clear that there can never, ever be a smart phone in the house.

Here's one of the plans that happened over the weekend: 

There's an article all ready for the Nov/Dec issue, too. It's been a great weekend!