New Toy

So, the other day I realized that 98% of all the photos I take or have taken in the last three years have been with an ipod. I've mentioned that before, I think. I have actually owned a "real" camera but honestly, I don't really like it very much and it lives most of its life in the drawer of my desk at work. Most of the time, the ipod is the only thing I have nearby. It has no flash, so the only time I get good clear pictures are if we are outside and no one has spent the last three hours drooling on the lens. Ahem.  Anyway. We are planning a couple of trips here in the next three months--one to the Farm and one to Italy (as in: the country, not that town just south of Dallas that has a Dairy Queen and putt putt center and that's it). So, I thought I'd invest in a "real" camera.  I can't really "do" an SLR. I mean, I like them, but if there's one thing I've learned about parenting, I can only handle thinking about 27 things at once. An SLR would add about twelve things to that list and I just can't tack that on. So, I got a camera that I think takes some really nice shots, but has a hefty Idiot Bumper: the Canon Powershot SX40.

Sometimes. 

I've been slowly working my way through the manual, trying to figure things out before we leave on our first trip next month. I am proud to say that it only took me a day and half to figure out how to turn on the flash. I've also been playing around with some of the filters and effects. Here's some I took today. I'm still learning. It helps that my kids have the cute.