How many computers?

We say my SIL and her family over the weekend. One of our nephews had a Lego catalog with him and was showing me things that he wants for Christmas. As he was showing me, my BIL came up and was talking about how they are thinking about getting BOTH of our nephews their own laptop - that would be TWO refurbished Apple laptops - for Christmas and if they do that, they are hoping other family members would chip in also. Each of the boys would also be expected to chip in some of their own money.

Hubby and I were talking about this after and we were both flabbergasted that they would consider getting each of the boys (who are 9 and 12) their own laptop. One question that came up is "how many computers does one house really need?" They already have 3 in the house... Both SIL and BIL have laptops that they use partly for their jobs, but also for their personal use. Then there is a "family" computer that the boys mainly use.

I think part of the logic is that 1) the boys don't share well and 2) the older of the boys is having a lot of computer based homework and is expected to check Blackboard every day regarding homework assignments.

I guess if the boys are having that much trouble sharing, a second family computer might make sense, but two more computers???? The other thing that seems sad to me is that it seems to take the joy of Christmas away.... Christmas isn't about money (even though we all probably spend too much on gifts) and by having everyone chip in for the computer(s) they make it about money.

Ebay

We recently sold a more expensive item on Ebay. We listed with a 10 day auction and had watchers and questions from day 1, but no bids until the last couple of hours. I learned one thing in the process.... Listing first thing in the morning isn't the best idea. Evening would have been better. I did have one giant frustration during this entire process... questions. I don't mind people asking questions about the item, but I do mind the persistent, nagging questions. We had one interested party who asked between 10 t0 15 questions, including asking if they could pay a full week after the auction ended. This got more and more frustrating as the auction went one, but peaked when I discovered that this interested individual couldn't be bothered to place a bid!

E-mail

One of my biggest pet peeves is when people ask you for information via e-mail... you provide the information and then they NEVER acknowledge that they received it. E-mail arriving at it's intended destination isn't a given, so it would just be polite to let people know you received what you asked for!

Busy Week

It's been a long week around here between doctor appointments and DAR meetings. So far everything has gone well, but I am worn out today. I really should have worked out today, but decided to catch up on TV instead.

Calm before the storm

Today is going to be a pretty quiet day here at home and I'm looking forward to it because tomorrow will be busy and next week is going to be down right crazy with something almost every day. Pediatrician appointments, hair appointments, DAR meetings, and park district classes will be filling next week and among all that, I need to work on getting laundry done and keeping the house clean!