(43-298) Chat

Luis has now been on vacation for five days and I'm happy to say that he's having a great time and the kids and I are handling his absence, perhaps better than we'd expected.  I have been so touched by my kind, friends who've been calling to check on me and the kids.  THANK YOU all!

Before he left for his trip, Luis set up Windows Live Messenger so that we could video chat, and I believe that this has eased our separation, although it hasn't been working quite as well as we'd expected.  Since I'm NOT The Queen of TECHNOLOGY, you might assume that I was the cause of our technical difficulties, but in fact I was not.  On Wednesday night, Luis had sent me an email via Facebook, telling me what time he could chat.  We got online at the stipulated time.  I sat on the couch, and we IM'd a bit.  He then attempted to call; and although my exhausted, face appeared on the computer, we couldn't see him.   I was a little relieved because I took this to mean that he couldn't see us either and since I wasn't lookin my best, I was a lil relieved.  I thought "tomorrow night I'd better do my make up and sit in a flattering position, so that I give Luis something to want to come home to."  We attempted a couple of phone calls, but it wasn't working.  Luis continued to type his IM's but his English and spelling were not what they typically are.  I commented to the girls, that it had only been 24 hours, but Dad seemed to forget how to speak English; and Luis' next IM read "I can hear you."  Whoops!  My bad!  He then wrote "I do too speak English."  To which I replied, "Well you don't type like it."  He said that he could see and hear us, but we couldn't say the same.  Luis told me to keep talking and he'd type.  I agreed, and then his next comment was "Any gossip?"  Well at least that hadn't changed.   It felt odd to talk  to the computer screen and read Luis' typed responses.
Perhaps if  I could have seen his face while I was talking, it wouldn't have felt so peculiar.  But nonetheless, I was very happy to talk to him.

On Thursday night, Luis was able to get his camera working, so we could see him too; but his audio was still a problem.  Luis took us on a tour of the new bathroom that his dad had built and that was terrific.  We felt like we were right there with him.  Technology is just amazing.  I mean the last time I was in the States and Luis was in Vallarta, we were only able to communicate by phone and letters.  But in the past seventeen years, the Internet, email, Instant messaging, and video chat have all been invented.  I could only imagine that I would have saved a lot of money had this been the case back then.  Not that I'd change a thing.

Only three more days till Luis comes home, and the kids and I are fine.  Besides, this really has been good practice for when Lyndzi and I go to New York in 68 days.  Time is just flying by and I plan to enjoy it all.
Till next time...
Queen of EVERYTHING