Mishmash Musings

Although I’ve never really observed Grandparents Day in the past, I decided that this year would be different. I’m going to buy my mom a card and a gift, and then maybe organize an outing so she can spend the whole day with my son.

I haven’t quite decided what kind of present to get her, but am leaning towards a formal portrait of my son in one of those nice custom picture frames that really make the photo look great. Her whole house is already plastered with pictures of my son anyway, so I’m sure another one would be more than welcome.

Since Grandparents Day is next week, I’ve really got to move on this idea if I want to pull it off in time. Maybe take the photo tomorrow after school and try to get it framed by the end of the week. It’s definitely doable, right?

I’ve been shopping around for a sports watch to wear on a daily basis when I’m just lounging at home or running errands. All of the watches I own right now are expensive dress watches that look pretty ridiculous when paired with a t-shirt and sweats, so I want something a bit more casual (but still nice).

I saw this Festina Road Warrior while browsing online, and I think it is awesome! I’d never heard of Festina watches before today, but was pleased to learn that the company is very established and has a 100-year history of making higher-end sports watches.

Anyway, the Road Warrior is a bit out of my price range right now, but maybe I can ask for it for Christmas or my birthday. That means waiting a few more months of course, but from what I’ve read, the watch will be well worth it!

I have had a Nikon D70 digital SLR camera for several years now, but it has been out of commission for the last two. Something happened to the lens that came with the standard kit, so the camera couldn’t Autofocus. I had to shoot everything in Manual mode, which, not being much of a photographer, left me with very few usable pictures. I ended up buying a small point-and-shoot camera instead, and let my D70 gather dust.

But then I started feeling guilty that I was letting such an expensive camera simply sit around, so I finally bought a replacement lens from an online store. The lens is not a Nikon, but it’s compatible with the brand and thus far has worked just fine. I paid $219 for the lens, plus another $29 for a new compact flash card since I couldn’t find the old one, and now have a very good digital SLR at my disposal again.

I’m not sure why I waited so long to get a replacement lens for this camera. I should have just done this as soon as the problem occurred!

I spent most of the day cleaning, as we’re trying to get rid of at least some of our clutter. We’re total pack rats over here, and are reluctant to throw anything away — “just in case” we need it later. This especially applies to baby accessories that we’ve held onto for 5 years now, even though we’ve known for quite some time that we didn’t want to have another child.

So we’ve got a bunch of stuff out in the garage that we’re finally going to put on eBay. I don’t know how much money we can end up getting, but it should be a pretty decent haul considering what we have. For example, we’ve got a Maclaren stroller that is in excellent shape still. I received this particular stroller as a shower gift, and had no idea that they retail for around $300.

But apparently, they’re quite popular with celebrities and so forth, which is part of the reason for their appeal. Plus, they are just terrific products that come with a bunch of features that other strollers lack, such as a convenient carry handle on the side frame, a water-resistant hood with UV protected viewing window, a raincover, and reflective accents for safety when darkness falls. We should definitely be able to get a tidy sum for ours even though it’s used.

In addition to the stroller, we also have a nice crib, bassinet, baby gates, and assorted furniture that I’m sure someone will want.

I don’t often resort to eBay sales because I usually know a few people who need the stuff I’m getting rid of. But I guess it’s a sign of how old I’m getting that none of my friends can use baby items either! Sigh.

Our house is pretty small, so it’s important for us to be able to make the most out of what little space we do have. Unfortunately, neither my husband nor I are very adept at figuring out the best way to arrange furniture in a particular room, which is why the whole house has a cramped feeling to it.

Anyway, today we’re trying to figure out how to get more space in the spare room. Jerry currently uses it as an office, and it is so cluttered that I can barely stomach going in there. He’s got one of those huge computer desks that an executive might use, even though his monitor and keyboard take up just one tiny corner. The rest of the desk is covered with paperwork and junk, and looks pretty bad!

We want to get rid of the desk, replace it with a smaller hutch, and then buy a filing cabinet or two to keep the papers in order. That ought to give us more space in the room and help with organization, both of which are desperately needed in that area.

Our family loves to play video games. I guess that’s why we have two PS2 consoles, an Xbox 360, a Nintendo Wii, and assorted handhelds including Nintendo DS, DS Lite, and PlayStation Portable. Throw in all the game discs and cartridges for those systems, and it’s no wonder we have a big mess on our hands!

That’s why I’ve recently been looking at gaming carts and audio racks to help with the organization problem. Currently, all of our consoles are just on the floor in our living room, resulting in tangled wires and wasted space. I would love to get these systems off the ground and onto a nice cart or something, as the mess just makes me nuts!

My husband’s desktop computer is probably 7 years old at this point, which of course is absolutely ancient when talking about PCs. He would love to replace the whole thing, but we don’t have the money to do that right now. So hopefully he can just upgrade a few key components to get the system running a little better, which would allow us to put off a replacement unit for at least six months or a year.

Towards that end, we went shopping for video cards and extra RAM today just to see how much we’d need to spend on those things. Surprisingly, these types of upgrades are pretty reasonable, so I’m sure we’ll just go this route instead of getting a brand new computer.

The only problem with our plan is that we’ll probably end up having to replace two computers in a year or so because my machine is on its last legs as well. Why can’t these things last longer?!

It’s official: the long-awaited announcement from Apple concerning a 3G iPhone has finally come. The new version will be available on July 11th of this year, and will be far cheaper than the original that was released a year ago.

An 8GB 3G iPhone will cost about $199, while a 16GB version will sell for $299. There are several other upgrades to these phones, including longer battery life, faster page loads, and GPS capability, as well as thinner edges, a full plastic back, and flush headphone jack.

Personally, I’m still “meh” on the iPhone. I don’t really think it’s that big a deal, and I’m not too fond of the whole touch screen concept for a phone. But my husband is interested in the device, so if he gets one, I’ll be able to check his out to see if I want to buy one for myself.

Several years ago, a friend of mine gave me a coin that was issued in France to commemorate the achievements of linguist Jean-Francois Champollion. Even though it was a silver coin, I don’t think it had much real value, since it wasn’t rare or anything like that. Even so, I loved that coin and carried it around with me as a good luck piece — until I somehow lost it.

At any rate, I’ve been thinking about starting up a coin collection that actually does have a chance at appreciating in value. With the stock market as shaky as it is these days, I think putting my money into gold or silver coins would be a much safer way to go. I took a look at Monex.com this morning, and saw several excellent options for investing in gold and silver, so as soon as I get some extra cash together, I’m going to talk to someone over about making a purchase or two.

We bought an alarm for my husband’s new car today. It cost us more than $400 (installed), which was a bit more than I thought we’d have to pay. I mean, for that price, I figured we’d be able to get gps tracking and other cool features, but that wasn’t the case at all. It’s just your standard alarm that beeps and wails when it detects someone trying to break into the vehicle.

Oh, well. This was a purchase that we had to make, so I can’t complain about it too much. At least we’ll be able to save a bit on our car insurance now that we have the alarm installed!

With my braces set to come off in the next month or two, I’ve been thinking about an appropriate way to celebrate. Of course on the very first day, I’m going to buy a huge bag of Doritos and just go crazy, and I have a package of Crest Whitestrips waiting in the wings as well.

After those two things, I’ve decided that what I’d really like to do is have a formal family portrait done. We’ve never had one, but this would be the perfect time for it. I want us all to dress up in nice clothes, go to a professional photographer, and have some quality photos taken. Depending how they turn out, I might even take the finished product to one of those places that transfer photos to canvas.

Before that happens, I know we’ll all have to go shopping for some decent clothes. The nicest outfits I have now are business suits that wouldn’t look right in a family portrait, and my husband only has t-shirts in his closet, so we’ve got to find something for him to wear too.

Now I’m even more anxious to get my braces off!

My forehead has been breaking out with pimples since last December, and so far none of my acne products are working to alleviate the problem. My benzoyl peroxide lotion helped a bit at first, but then it seemed as though my skin built up a tolerance to it because now it’s not making any kind of difference at all. I’ve been taking DIM supplements for acne and have been following a dermatologist recommended regimen, all to no avail.

Maybe my next step here should be to try a few natural acne treatments instead of the harsh chemical-based stuff I’ve been using. Honestly, I’m up for testing out anything that will clear up my skin. I’ve never had acne this stubborn before, not even when I was a teenager. Something’s gotta work, right?