Out with the Old . . .

It was like Christmas today here at the homestead. All kinds of boxes arrived.

Since I wasn't able to find mom's Merrill's during the holidays, I finally went to one of the department stores and ordered a pair. They came in today! Since her others were so dirty looking, I thought I'd get her the darker brown. She loves them! Yay!

(Old)

Also arriving by post was my new camera. I think I may have mentioned the hub and kid bought me this fancy shcmancy Nikon for Christmas when all I wanted was an updated version of my little Sony Cyber-shot. You know me, I hate spending money on things I won't use (and since I have probably at least three nice SLRs sitting in a cabinet somewhere collecting dust), I decided to send the Nikon back and get my little point-and-shoot.

I've done the focusing and shutter speed and film speed, etc. For me, after being so involved in photography for so many years with my family in the photo biz; I gave it up so I could enjoy photographing again. I would go on vacation and agonize and fret over getting the best shot ever. Then I would go into the darkroom and do the same. Not any more. I just point and shoot, print it up on the computer. Good enough for me.

(New)

Bottom line is I love photography again. My brother Jim had bought me my first Cyber-shot several years ago and I have been addicted to it ever since. I found the love, again. It's about the size of a credit card, but thicker, of course. I can just whip it out of my purse or pocket, slide the front cover and shoot. No one even has to know I'm doing so as it fits in the palm of my hand. At any rate, yadda yadda yadda, my new one is shooting the best photos ever! My old T1 was 5.0 megapixels while the new T100 is 8.1. There is a new model on the market, the T200; but it has a touch screen back which I don't think I would like too much. I don't even like the cell phones that have that touch screen. But, the older T100 has the old push buttons which I have become accustomed to. Let me tell you, I had some searching to do to find one since it's an older model. But, where there's a will, there's a way.

This is my first test on the camera of my dashboard. (Now you know why I never answer my cell phone friends--this is where it sits, 24/7.) My "Superman" tag fell off my key chain the day Johnny was put in the hospital, unbeknownst to me--strange.

Look how great the close ups are! (You can click on photo to get full size.) Mind you, my old one did pretty darn well. I was amazed at my little silver charms in the sand a couple of posts back; but this is amazing. I did a little walkabout the house and took a couple of test shots. I am loving it! Wasn't sure I would. I'm the type that hates change. Guess we all do. But, I was certainly ready to send this one back too if I didn't like it. Grin.


I went to the tea shop down the street this morning to see if they had any little yixing cups. They had an entire set, cheap! Now I have another pot for a different type of tea. They say not to mix the teas as the flavor is absorbed in the pottery.

Speaking of tea, I think I had a little too much yesterday. I was buzzing all night, even after my head hit the pillow. Then I started worrying about everything as you do when you mind begins to run rampant. No more tea for me after 5! lol. Notice the pretty demitasse? This is from Raphael's grandfather in France. I purchased a lot of his things that were up for auction a couple of years ago. It is the perfect size cup for almost a pot of tea.

Since I couldn't turn my brain off last night, I started thinking (worrying) about Johnny in the hospital. I finally just got up and wrote his nurse an email about 2 a.m. I kept forgetting to ask if he had been put on a "liquidized" bed in order to prevent him from getting pressure sores. In years' past, you had to ask for one and then it had to be ordered. It took forever. If the nurses weren't turning the person every couple of hours, the skin could begin to break down. And let me tell you, nurses do not have the time to be turning a patient every couple of hours and some plainly chose not to. I can't help but feel that Christopher Reeve's accident and subsequent campaigning for better health care for spinal cord injury patients has helped in educating not only the lay person but the medical community as well. Bless him. Any way, sigh, my brother's nurse sent me a note back this morning that he was indeed in the right bed and reassured me that he was doing better and that he may even be off the ventilator next week! PTL! That's when I will probably make a jaunt up to DC and swoop in on him. I've even thought about taking mom up with me. But, after our last episode when I took her away from home, I think I best leave things well enough alone. God bless her.

The boys are leaving for NY tonight, heading up for Ukie Christmas (Southern style--always late). I'm going to miss all the festivities. The teenager is bellyaching, of course. Geesh, enjoy the flight up, enjoy the different scenery and enjoy seeing your grandparents! Kids! I think I will begin taking down the Christmas stuff. Yep, it's all still up. This is one of my Christmas Ukrainian egg ornaments I made many moons ago. I only have two left! Maybe I should make some more next year. Ya think?