Nano

….sometimes, it’s the little things 🙂

My dad called me around lunch today with the bestest news – they found my iPod!! I’ve been without my iPod since we moved….so seriously, the last time I used it was November 28th, 2009….I was seriously just saying to my dad on SUNDAY that I was convinced the thing was gone a was thinking of buying a new one…..and I actually felt really bad telling him that because he bought the iPod for me…..4 years ago! I’m just sick of using Brittany’s because there’s no display on it :-p

Anyway, I thought I remembered it being on my computer desk, which was *the* last thing I packed up at the old place which would mean it wound up in the box of computer desk junk…..which I went through no fewer than four time, including spilling the whole thing out all over the floor…..twice.

Then I thought that maybe I left it in the pocket of the scrub top I last wore to work…..I didn’t remember which one that would have been so we went through every bit of clothes that we had brought with us and went over to storage to go through the bags of “yeah, we’ll get around to bringing them over” clothes and still couldn’t find it. I thought it was gone forever….every time I would open a new box I hadn’t been through yet, I got all excited thinking “Maybe I put it in here…..for some strange a** reason…..” But no…..

Yesterday, on the way to pick up Brittany, I stopped at the storage unit because I want to start getting all of the “I just need to get this out of the way for right now…” stuff out of there so we can get back to the smaller unit…..I brought back all of our board games – which I’ve really been missing, too! – a bunch of books and two small laundry bags of clothes. I asked my mom if she would mind terribly washing one bag for me and left it at their house…….today, Dad called…..

Dad: Guess what?
Me: What?
Dad: We found your iPod.
Me: Nuh-uh!!! Where?!?

(cuz I’m dumb and forgot about the bag of clothes)

Dad: In that bag of laundry you left here….Mommy said it was in a scrub top along with a bunch of money. So she set it aside and we’re gonna go out to lunch, okay?

MWAH!!

Yeah, sure – Bugaboo Creek on me!! I got my 4 year old, 2 gig iPod back – I’m happy as a clam!!!

….and yes, it’s full of Queen and sitting on my Queen mouse pad…..it’s an addiction I’ve been dealing with for 30 years, you’ll all get used to it eventually…..

Happy Lent!!

Yes, I said “Happy Lent” and it is quite appropriate – this is not a dismal season of suffering because we are giving up things we enjoy or doing things we don’t really like as a sacrifice. We are preparing to celebrate His death and resurrection, we are offering thanks for His selfless act….He died and was raised for us! The very least we can do is give up soda or chocolate for a little while.

Having said that, now…..what are your plans for Lent this year? I love Diet Pepsi…seriously, it’s my favorite beverage – yep, even more so than coffee…I used to be able to get through a whole 2 liter bottle of DP every day….and I gave it up for Lent about 4 years ago because I knew I would really miss it.  Really.  And I did.  But by the end of the 40 Days it seemed like such a small sacrifice – especially compared to His!!  And to this day, I’ve never gotten back to drinking it – or any soda – like I used to.  Now, it’s like a treat and I might have about 12 oz. a week.

As I’m sure you are all aware, I’m struggling with some demons right now. ::snicker:: Spiritually and (outward) physically so I wasn’t sure what I wanted to do as far as my personal sacrifice….but since I’m battling on both fronts, I decided to get out the big guns right away. I will be fasting for the duration…what that boils down to is one regular meal each weekday and two small meals each day on the weekend. No, I am not giving up coffee….it aids me in my physical battle. I’ve also picked up on a habit I’d lost recently and am praying the Rosary daily. I’ll be the first to admit that it’s a trick to find private quiet time to pray the Rosary but I’ve discovered that breaking it up throughout the day makes it do-able…even for me!

Remember…”sacrifice” is not a dirty word.  And you’d be surprised at the good that comes from every little thing you offer up….whether it be something as simple as giving up soda because you love it….or helping out at a soup kitchen “just for Lent” and still being there when Thanksgiving rolls around 😉  Do everything you do with a little prayer in your heart.  Do not be resentful….seriously, He DIED so that you may have eternal life – isn’t that worth a little effort on your part for a few weeks?

-Peace and Happy Lent to you all 🙂

“Filled with the Holy Spirit, Jesus returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit into the desert for forty days, to be tempted by the devil.  He ate nothing during those days, and when they were over he was hungry.
The devil said to him, ‘If you are the Son of God, command this stone to become bread.’
Jesus answered him, ‘It is written, One does not live on bread alone.’
Then he took him up and showed him all the kingdoms of the world in a single instant.
The devil said to him, ‘I shall give to you all this power and glory; for it has been handed over to me, and I may give it to whomever I wish.  All this will be yours, if you worship me.’
Jesus said to him in reply, ‘It is written: You shall worship the Lord, your God, and him alone shall you serve.‘
Then he led him to Jerusalem, made him stand on the parapet of the temple, and said to him,
‘If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down from here, for it is written: He will command his angels concerning you, to guard you, and: With their hands they will support you, lest you dash your foot against a stone.‘
Jesus said to him in reply, ‘It also says, You shall not put the Lord, your God, to the test.‘
When the devil had finished every temptation, he departed from him for a time.” –Lk 4:1-13

The Transition

So.

There it is.

Both of these pics were taken in the same room, in front of the same mirror with the cameras set on their absolute basic auto settings and no post-processing except to “collage” them….I am officially in awe of my new camera 🙂

But I have to say that my Pentax was the single best camera I’ve ever owned and better than anything I’ve been able to find in years….which is why I’ve had it for so very long….it was a Christmas gift…in 2003.

I am not getting rid of the Pentax. I fully intend to keep it around to use when I don’t want to eff up the new one or am afraid of getting mugged or something…..but the fact of the matter is that it is dying, slowly. The battery will not stay charged anymore. I bought a new charger and two new batteries, cleaned all the contacts and all….but can’t get more than 30-45 minutes of run time out of any of them. It makes me sad 😦

But, this new camera is tha bomb-diggity and I can’t wait to play with all the features!! Yes, I bought a book….and boy am I glad I did, the one that cam with it is crap!!

Meeting a new friend :-)

I was down at the door taking pics of Brittany playing in the 26+ inches of snow we have in the courtyard…..and just as I turned to go back up to the apartment, I caught a little figure making her way towards Brittany.

She lives in the building next to ours and the two of them have been playing together for about 4 hours now….they can get back and forth between the buildings through our laundry room and have *been* back and forth since about 12:30 – lol 🙂

I’m so happy! We didn’t know there were kids in any of these buildings so this could be pretty cool for Brittany 🙂

I fully acknowledge that I haven’t been keeping up on writing as much as I had been….but I started to feel like I was just popping things on here just for the sake of doing so….and that’s not what I want to do. So I took a few days off to see if I could collect some real thoughts…..

Nothing’s coming yet…..

😉