Spoiled

I bought the lens.

Yep, I bought it. For some reason, it ended up being less than she quoted me yesterday, even with tax. I can already see the difference. Here's two photos taken at the same settings, the one on the left is with the new lens, the one on the right is with the regular old lens. And, here's one that's the best ever! I was able to open it up and let in way more light than I ever thought possible. Watch out Europe, here I come!

Holy Cow!!

Who knew camera equipment is so expensive? Well, I always knew, but yikes! We're going to Europe next month, and many of the sites we're going to in Italy don't allow flash photography. Non-flash is okay. I have a fabulous camera (the Canon 20D), but I'm afraid even it won't be able to get the awesome shots I'm hoping for sans-flash. So, I've been doing a little research. I started on 2Peas, asking questions of the super knowledgeable gals there. I was wondering if I should buy a 50mm lens or if I should go with something else. Several people suggested a 24 or 28mm lens (they are wider angle than the 50mm and instead of being able to get just the door to a cathedral, I'd be able to get the entire back wall). This morning, I decided to go across the street to Camera Gallery and see what they suggested. Humph! I was not impressed. I was a little nervous walking in. I know, seems odd, but I had to admit that I was clueless about something, and I'm not so great at that. The older gentleman behind the counter was nice, but didn't want to tell me much more than, "Well, you could get a 50mm." Huh? But what about the other 2? So, I inquired. "Yeah, you could go with those if you want to, but the 50mm is priced a lot less." Okay, but I asked what's going to work best for me. Yeah, not so much in the helpful department.

Soooooo....after a brief pit stop at one of the thousands of local Ron's Hamburgers (where I usually refuse to go) for lunch with Chris and some of his former Boeing co-workers, I headed over to Apertures. Of course, this is the farthest camera store from my house, there is a heat advisory (110 with the heat index), the A/C in the Miata doesn't blow very hard, and I forgot deoderant this morning. All of that notwithstanding, I made it to the store and even managed to get my momentarily directionally challenged mom there. She and I have lived here for a lot of years now, and I can't believe this was our first time there. I've no idea the name of the woman who helped us, but she is a godsend! We're even going to take photography classes from her (that would be after we get back from Europe, of course). She got out a 50mm lens and put it on my camera so I could see what kind of shots I could get with it. Then, she gave me another which is actually like an 11mm-30mm (or something like that) so I could see just how much more I could get in a picture.

Of course, she got me hooked on it before telling me the price. The 50mm is about $85(ish) the 24 &28 run 200-300. So I'm expecting something in that range. I'm not gonna kid ya about it, my heart dropped to the floor when she told me the price. Are you ready? $599.99. Um hello? That is a joke, right? Nope, it's the real price. HOLY COW!!! She put it aside for me so I could think about it. I didn't come home empty handed, though! Bob bought me a second battery for my camera. I figure if I took 3000 pictures in Ukraine, It's going to be some crazy, outrageous number in Europe! I can't wait! But I still had to talk to Chris. Yikes. It's a good thing he's such a sweetie! Even with him being such a sweetheart, I was totally dreading it. Sometimes it seems like all I do is spend money. He's amazingly supportive of me and my crazy endeavors, and after the initial, "How are we going to afford that?" he was actually trying to find a way to make it work. We shall see.

This would, of course be AFTER I realized yesterday that we probably need new backpacks for our trip.  Couldn't have figured this out months ago. Nope, had to wait until 5 weeks out. Anyone who's ever traveled with me knows, I'm a planner. I want to know what there is to do and see ahaed of time, and I'll have it all worked out so that we can see the maximum of things with a limited amount of worry while making sure there's ample time for relaxing (I've only learned about that relaxing thing in the past couple of years) and learning as much as possible about how life really is where we are. Well, all of that is the goal anyway. So, I'm doing all kinds of research and reading and watching of shows and checking of websites and what-not. Yesterday I decide to check our flights. Um, yeah, we have a 1 hour layover in Paris. That's it, ONE measley hour. Normally, I'd be glad to be in and out of France so fast, but herein lies the problem. France is the first place we stop after leaving the good 'ole US of A, and if my memory serves me right, that's where we have to go through customs. Which means we have 1 hour to go through customs and get checked in for our next flight (oh yeah, and not to mention get on the flight). I don't see how it's possible. The only way we could possibly even think about making it is if our flight is late and the other is delayed and we already have our boarding cards and we don't have any checked baggage.

This brings us to the new backpacks. I'm a big fan of Rick Steves (we're taking 4 of his books with us and have all of his TV shows on DVD), and I know he goes on and on about carrying all of your luggage on, but I found the backpack I wanted and so did Chris, so those are the ones we got. Well, turns out the Frenchies are VERY particular about their carry on regulations (you're surprised, aren't you?), and there's no way we're getting either of those two bags on. Here's what AirFrance's website says: Carry-on baggage must have the dimensions of 45.2 inches and 26.4 pounds. That's it. That means that the height + width + length of the bag can = no more than 45.2 inches. Yeah, right! So, in order to help us make our connection (which is pretty much impossible), we're getting all new bags that can be carried on. Watch, the Frenchies will change their regs. the day before we go. That would be just my luck.

I'm a slacker

I'm totally a writing slacker. I have journals and diaries out the wazoo that have been started and then fallen by the wayside. Apparently my blog has met the same fate of late. But, this seems much easier for me to start back up, so here I am again. I was semi-recently informed that everyone can only read about GSN so many times, so I'd better get on the stick. I promise I'll do better, I promise!

I love GSN

I never really understood the point of GSN....until now. I mean, really, who wants to watch re-runs of people screaming, "No Whammies"? But, I've finally realized the beauty of GSN. On July 11, they started airing The Amazing Race, from the VERY beginning. The first episode of Season 1. And they're showing all of them....in a row! It's awesome! One episode per night. Chris and I are in heaven. They had a casting call here, and he refused to go with me. Stinker. Says he likes watching it. I'm DYING to be on it. Mark my word.....one day. But for now, I'll be content watching reruns...a new one every night. Rockin'! Thank goodness for Tivo!!!

By the way, do you think Phil's had work done? Not that it really matters, 'cuz, why not? But what do you think? Check out his eyes. His lids seemed heavier in the early seasons. Chris totally disagreed with me at first, but tonight, out of nowhere, he said he thought maybe Phil's eyes looked lighter.

My Son, the Genius

Remember, our children are of the four-legged variety. Nevertheless, my son, Scooby The Magnificent, is a genius! I’ve been taking cough syrup to help me recover from my bout with bronchitis. This cough syrup just so happens to be a narcotic. Cracks me up! Yes, I’m taking narcotics. Who knew a little Codeine tastes so darn bad? Well it does. Ick. I even questioned taking it, it is so bad. Thank goodness for Chris. He comes up with the craziest little tidbits. Who knew a peanut butter chaser would do the trick? Chris did!! His grandmother was a nurse, and when he was little, she would have him eat peanut butter after taking cough syrup to get rid of the taste. I never would have though of this on my own, but boy did it do the trick!

Enter the brilliant Scooby. I had some extra PB on my spoon one night, and thought I’d be a good mom and share. The puppies love PB, so this was a win-win, right? Nope, not for Scooby. Like me, Scooby has allergy problems, and he has to take Benadryl. Instead of using one of those handy-dandy puppy shoot-it-in-their-mouth thingies, he uses a regular spoon. When Scoob caught sight of my spoon with the PB on it, he said, “No Way!” turned around and hightailed it into the other room. Only after he peeked back and saw Mimi going to town did he come back and check it out. It took another couple of times of me sharing my PB spoon with them before he was totally comfy with licking it. I love my genius Scooby!

If you’re ever in the market for a dog, I highly recommend a Scottie. They’re geniuses!!

A special kind of souvenir

I came home from Ukraine with bronchitis. I can't believe it! I've never had bronchitis before, but here I am. I got a little tickle in my throat my last couple of days in Kiev. I was in this internet cafe for a couple of hours my last two nights, and it was like 300 years old with NO ventilation, lots of mustiness/mildew, cig. smoke, and stinky non-deoderant using boys.

By the time I got off the shuttle from JFK into Manhattan (I had to spend the night there and then fly out of Newark the next afternoon...needless to say, I did a little shopping), I was losing my voice. Two days later, it was gone completely. I finally started getting better, but not fast enough, and my chest really hurt.

So, Tuesday night we went to the urgent care place. I told Chris that I wouldn't wait if there were more than 2 people in the waiting room. There wasn't a soul! So, a half an hour later, I've been diagnosed with bronchitis and am sent on my merry way with perscriptions for antibiotics and a cough syrup that's a narcotic. I'm only allowed to take it when I'm at home. Funny, huh? It's amazing how this is taking the energy out of me. I've been lying on the couch for days now and get dizzy if I'm up for too long. The marathon training has had to take a back seat. Thank goodness I have puppies who like to cuddle and a mom and husband who will bring me lunch!!  I've started a new love affair with Panera Bread's (I still call it St. Louis Bread) chicken noodle soup. Mmmmm...yum.

greetings from Ukraine

t nSo, I'm in Ukraine right now, and it's just crazy! I love it! I'd come back in a heartbeat. My mom's friend, Sam, is adopting a child, so I came to help. We spent a couple of days in Kiev, but now we are in a smaller town called Zhytomyr (about 300,000 Kiev is about 7 million...who knew?) where the child is in an orphanage (they call it a baby house...the children stay there until they are three). Kiev is wonderful and I'll be glad to go back there to see some more things and take some more pictures, but I'm really glad we came to Zhytomyr. In Kiev, you see all of the fabulous things of Ukraine, but in Zhtyomyr you see how the people really live. Boy, do you see.