Happy 4th Of July Everyone

Hard to believe it's the 4th of July. Yet here we are ... sitting and waiting for the fireworks display at O'dark 30 tonight. That's what I love about Seattle, and what I hate...fireworks start so late.

It's been a couple of weeks now since vacation and I'm still wishing I had more time off. I really don't feel like I got much of a relaxing vacation, but then again, I guess I knew that going in. Jet lag hit me hard on the way back. Harder than it has before. I survived. And SIL and I are discussing our next great adventure. May be more people involved this time, so it might me even LESS relaxing...bring it on.

I did learn one very important thing about myself this trip and that is I MUST get back to the gym. I was sad at how quickly I tired out. And, truthfully, a bit embarrassed at myself. I hate being tired and not being able to see what I want to see, or worry that I've missed something because I'm too tired to walk two more blocks.

So what am I doing about it? Getting to the gym for starters. Taking the lead from The Niece who's gone to the gym for like 30 days in a row and who's got her health on track. If a young'in can do it, I surely can. I HAVE to make my health a priority. It'll take a little to get into that habit, but baby steps are still steps.

Missed mom this week, a lot. I unpacked a box that had some of her journals. I made the BIG mistake of reading her journal for the year after dad passed. She was so sad and alone. I knew she was, but didn't really fully understand her sadness until I read her words. Broke my heart a little. I knew there was nothing I could do for her to make it feel better, but it's still hard to read the pain from someone you love. Of course the year following BigBro passed and that really set her down a depressed path.

I also found her report cards. Can I just say? My mother was not the straight A student she said she was. I did find it amusing she got just "satisfactory" scores in penmanship. She had the best handwriting to me.  She got C's in PE...so I know where I get that from.

Finally finished all my Ireland photos and am going to post them ALL on Flickr. Over 1200 photos that I "fixed" this year. Took over 3000 and dumped over half.

Oh, and I bought a new camera. While on vacation one of the camera people on the trip had a smallish camera that he shared photos with me from. The screen was so clear and the photos so fantastic that I wrote down the model.

When I got home I did more research on it. I read review after review after review. Amazon had the review that tilted me to hit the purchase button. A guy who had the same Canon DSLR I have bought this little camera because he was tired of carrying the big camera (sound familiar?). He then posted photos of the same photos taken with the Canon and the Lumix. The Lumix in some cases were almost better.

Meet my Lumix DMZ ZS100.  It's not a cheap camera. It has leica glass which makes a HUGE difference in cameras. It's high end and worth the extra $$. The camera is "heavy" but not HEAVY like the DSLR. And so far it's taken some fantastic photos of the demons.

SOOTC (Straight out of the camera)

These were taken immediately after I charged the battery and hadn't read any of the manual yet. The camera is easy to use and allows for adjusting exposure. It has several scenes on it that are easy to access. Overall, with the very little I've played with it, I love it. Next Saturday Megaroonie and I are going to go on a little photo stroll to take some shots with it.