My Mommyology

Learning from Motherhood.

A Fresh Start

| 7 Comments

Who could’ve guessed, that this big “life changing move” would take a toll on my gadgets.

First it was my iPhone.  Two weeks before our actual date of departure, I dropped it face down on the cement floor of our parking garage.  I was getting Jamie out of the car that bright and early that morning and didn’t bother storing my iPhone in my pocket before doing so.  This was the nth fall in the last four years, and probably all it could take..  The inside of it cracked and the blue liquid leaked all over.

It looked something like this...

It looked something like this…

I was in a bit of a dilemma then, knowing that I was leaving in a couple of weeks (When it happened, I didn’t know the exact date), and I knew that my husband had an iPhone waiting for me here with my new line.  So it was quite the decision:  do I get a new iPhone in Manila or not?  According to the Apple Care person I approached in Manila, unless I had backed up or used iCloud, then there was no guarantee they could get the data on my phone back.

By the time Powerplant Mall closed that same evening, I was holding this:

Hello there new iPhone 5S.

Hello there new iPhone 5S.

I decided to keep my Manila line, and with the loyalty scheme came a low-monthly cash out for a 16GB iPhone.  It was a down-grade from my 32GB memory, but I figured it would do.  Better than nothing right?  Fortunately, I had somehow synced the phone to the Mac and to iCloud and so I was able to retrieve contacts, photos and purchased Apps.  Whew!

It was only then when I realized that I really couldn’t live without an iPhone, even if it was just for a few weeks.  Amazing how Apple has penetrated our lives, no?  I couldn’t even settle for a different smart phone, because all of my back up systems were linked to some Mac product.  The saying still holds true: once on a Mac, you can’t go back.

Then the day after we arrive in our new home, my Macbook Pro decides to crash.  Crash.  CRASH!

These blue vertical lines gave me a heart attack.

These blue vertical lines gave me a heart attack.

Never in my life did I think that possible.  I was filling out some forms on the web when the screen flickered and died.  After that, I couldn’t open it again.  My Apple Care had expired at this point too (just my luck ey?), and so I had to pay tech support to try and fix it on the phone.  After two hours, they concluded that it wasn’t a software issue, but a hardware one.  So the next day I trekked on over to the nearest Apple store, and the Genius tells me it’s my video card that crashed.  It was of course attached to the computer’s logic board, so they needed to send it back to the main repair center.

In my jet lagged state, we assessed the situation:  Is it better to buy a new Mac altogether or to try and salvage this one?  The thing was that either way, he wouldn’t be able to guarantee if they could save all or any of my current data.  He said he hoped I was one of those people who backed up (After what happened to my iPhone, I did back-up, but it had been a few weeks.  Can you blame me, I was packing up the house!).  In the end I decided it was cheaper to have this one fixed than get a new one.  Besides, I really didn’t have a new Mac in my budget to begin with!

I’ve been a week without a computer.  And I only got it back today.  Guess what — it’s a clean slate.

Nothing. Was. Saved.

And there it was.  A totally 'new' computer.

And there it was. A totally ‘new’ computer.

I had some files that I was working on, but they’re all gone.  Even the most recent presentations for some of my clients:  gone.  The girls’ most recent pictures and our album I was preparing to print from the Disney Cruise:  gone.  For the last week I’d been preparing myself for this possibility.  And given what had happened to my iPhone a few weeks earlier, I figured that it was the universe conspiring to send me a message.

Change isn’t one of my strong suits.  Yet in the last six years, I’ve made three big moves and had two kids.  I realized that while I was definitely excited, there was always a part of me that was nervous or worried about what was to come.  I don’t like not knowing exactly what to expect — which is in fact impossible.

An implosion always happens and I think this time, subconsciously it released itself upon my phone and Mac.  They were after all, the two items I couldn’t live without (next to my kids of course).  In the weeks leading up to our departure, they were under the most duress.  My Mac and my iPhone contain everything:  lists, contacts, notes, reminders, to do’s… everything I needed, and everything to drive me crazy and up the wall.

For once in my life, I felt lighter.  Instead of hanging on to the past and its data, I just… let it go (literally)!  Instead of trying to pre-determine the where and what and how, I’m left with just going with the flow and taking things as they come one day at a time.  Figuratively and literally speaking, the past after all, will always be there (thank GOD for back-ups), and they are memories of good times and good experiences, but they need not all be carried through into the present and the near future.  And knowing this I know that as I move forward, there’s less anxiety and more excitement.

That’s the nice thing about a clean slate right?  It’s a fresh start.  You get to do everything for the first time — again.

Author: mymommyology

I am the mom that I am because of my two wonderful little girls. They teach me everyday.

7 Comments

  1. Nice read, Jen! I remember losing all my pictures of Ladybug – never got her months 0-11 back intact 🙁 I feel ya!

  2. Sometimes the universe forces us to let go. It’s a beautiful story Jen 🙂 It reminded me to 1) back-up and when all else fails 2) let go. Haha! Enjoy your new chapter. A clean slate! A fresh start as you said 🙂

  3. It’s really so hard to let go, especially important files and photos. I couldn’t even let go of my clutter! Situations do force us to learn what lessons we need in life.

  4. Pingback: A Halloween of Firsts | My Mommyology

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