He saved it. Saved EVERYTHING off the trashed hard drive, and installed a brand new bigger drive. All in one days time. I love the computer doctor. It doesn't matter to me that the bill rivaled my fabric budget for the whole year (eek!). My computer is back, and with it--all my photos, files, and music. And even better than it was before. Ahh.... Lesson learned, and much gratitude to the doc. And thank YOU for all your suggestions and sympathy! I've still got lots of email and updates to wade through, so bear with me if it takes a bit longer than usual to hear back.
And stepping back a few more days, I really wanted to say thank you to everyone for your kind and heartfelt words about Calvin's letter, and your empathy in the challenges of talking to kids about war honestly and with heart. I so very much appreciated the support, and hearing others stories, etc. You'll notice in my "what we're reading" sidebar a few books we're reading on the subject, with more to come in the next couple of days. And I'll check back in soon about the letter writing, too.
On a lighter note, what exactly does one do without a computer for a day? Make leather pants, of course. Or, red pleather, to be precise. The length (or lack thereof) by the way, was entirely the wish of the designer (also the model) and not the seamstress. (And Mom, did you really wear this as a skirt once? Um, wow.)