Good s/w, no h/w.
To get a gentle introduction to hardware, a 'Fun way into Electronics' kit from your local DSE shop would be a good start. I bought mine yesterday, I'm in similar circumstances [but without the girls].
Don't they know that D**k is a perfectly legal contraction of Richard? Took me a while to work out who 'thingy Smith' was, after which I changed it to DSE