A Long Day

We’ve been waiting for C’s pediatrician’s office to get the H1N1 vaccine.   They did get a small amount in, but it was allocated to high-risk children – those with asthma, diabetes, cerebal palsy, etc. 

Last weekend, our county held public vaccination clinics.  S and I decided to take C so she could at least get the first shot.  (At her age, she’ll need a second booster as well.)   The clinic was from 9:30 to 3:30am. 

We arrived at 7:30am after waking up a sleepy C.  The line was already around the building!   We settled in line.   Luckily, I brought snacks for C as well as some books.   But, she was very content with playing games and videos on our iPhones. 

She did surprisingly well considering it was SEVEN hours from the time we got there to C getting the vaccine!   She cried and screamed when she saw all the other young kids doing the same in the room where the shots were taking place.   But, we managed to get through that.

A very long day, but I’m glad that C has received the vaccine.

Living Quarters

A child’s imagination

Charlie and Lucy watching TV

Sara Lynn and Maggie watching the stove

Bus Driver and Big Bird chatting

Furniture gets moved every day

Little People arrive and leave

Where will her imagination take them tomorrow?

Book: The Help

I am getting back into the reading groove.   Usually when I read, that’s all I do on my free time (usually when C is asleep or playing on her own).  So, I had stopped reading any books for a few months so I could get some other things done.   But, I’m back into reading again.

I usually look at Amazon’s bestseller top 100 list for ideas of books.  I had seen The Help by Kathryn Stockett and downloaded a sample to my Kindle.  Finally got around to reading the sample this morning.  It seems promising.   I can actually picture the characters in their Southern homes as I’m reading – in the first few pages, I already like one of the main characters.  

I’ll know in a week or so if I agree with the 900+ Amazon customers who gave the book 5 stars….

Glass View

I generally modify (clean-up) my photos in Photoshop Elements.  I always use the “auto” enhancements to contrast and/or color.  Yesterday, a friend showed me how to use the various “filters” available in Elements to create different styles, blurs, etc. 

I just took a photo I had taken with my new camera and added a “glass” distort filter to it.  Pretty neat – looks like I took this photo from behind glass.

(I’m now the one at our family events carrying the camera and putting it in everyone’s face!)

A Close Up

Taken from my new camera.  I had wanted a DSLR to be able to get photos that look like this (close up shots, sort of blurry in the background).   What’s cool is that this was taken using an automatic setting – I didn’t even have to configure anything manually.

Oh, I’m loving my new camera.  I’ve been playing around with it and reading the manual whenever I get a chance.  So much to learn!

I Splurged

I love taking photos.  I have a Sony point-and-shoot camera purchased about 5 years ago.  While I love the ability to carry the camera in my purse and be able to take a shot anywhere, it frustrates me that I have to wait for the flash to recharge in between shots (indoors) or wait for the flash to charge up.  I’ve probably missed lots of good shots of C because she cannot stand still for so long.  And, I haven’t really gotten a lot of good candid shots either.

I’ve been thinking about getting a digital SLR camera for a while now.  And, I finally bought one!   I ordered the Canon Rebel XS camera yesterday.  I spent my free time the last three days reading various reviews on digital photography sites as well as reading user reviews.  This is a good entry level DSLR camera at a great price point. 

There is so much to photography that I need to learn.  I want to learn how to capture those close up shots where the subject is in focus, but the background is a bit blurry.   I want to be able to understand the manual controls on the camera.   I browsed flickr.com to look at the photos taken by a Canon Rebel XS.  A lot of beautiful shots out there.  I wish there was a way of knowing the lenses used for those photos. 

And, my cousin recommended a great camera bag (that doesn’t look like a camera bag) by Crumpler to me.  Now, I’m all set!