Gotta Love 2009...

As I've mentioned before, my little sister is serving our country in Iraq with the Army. She's been there for 6 months or so and will continue to be there for at least another 6 months. We truly miss her and wish she was here with us, but some days it feels like she really IS here with us! This day and age, there is so much technology that helps us not only talk to our loved ones that are far away but also SEE them.

Today, I deemed it "Pajama Day" in our house. It's not raining outside, but it's gray and damp. Caleb and I both woke up crabby (and Hannah is good a mimicking both of us) so I decided that we'd all sit around and just hang out today. So far, I've accomplished drinking a pot of coffee, cleaning up the breakfast dishes and talking to my sister for over an hour. I'm so glad I picked today to sit around because I happened to be home and bored when Torie (my sister) sent me a text message saying that she was "around to chat" on the Internet. Curious, I downloaded the Instant Messager program that she uses and sure enough, there she was! After chatting for a few minutes, I got an "invitation" from her to look at her web cam (a camera hooked up to her computer). I don't have one of these web cams and I'm not sure how to use them, but nonetheless, I was SO HAPPY when I clicked a button and Torie's face appeared on my computer screen. I got to see all of her reactions to the jokes I sent her, plus got to see how long her hair is getting (when I use the expression "mermaid hair", I'm not joking!). Not to mention, she was listening to some of Caleb's favorite music so he got to watch her do a silly dance to one of his favorite songs. How special is was to sit and have such a great conversation with my sister and see her bright, shining face. While I'm not very smart in the technology department (this is why I married an engineer---so he could do all the techy stuff for me!), I am so grateful that in 2009, our technology is advanced enough for me to be able to SEE my precious little sister and know that she's doing okay.

(And thanks to the Army/Air Force for having computers available on base for the soldiers to purchase. Torie's original computer died and she was able to go right out and buy another one. Praise the Lord!!)