Call me... on vacation

Oh, look! It's my new cell phone!



But wait, it's not just a phone...it's a little teeny computer device which will give me a calendar, notepad, and even email access.



Is this the cutting edge of technology, or what?

Of course, it will take me DAYS to figure out how to use it...Which is why we bought this today. Caroline and I are headed down to my parents' house for 3 days for rest, relaxation, visiting, swimming, and general laziness to start our summer off RIGHT. Poor Roger will stay here proof reading the last two chapters on his text book, for the final final FINAL time. So he will enjoy the time alone and I suspect will do a fair amount of napping in between vigorous bouts of proof-reading.

But with 3 days ahead sitting and watching Caroline splashing around in the pool, I figured it was a great time to fiddle with a new phone. And besides, the battery on my old one was pretty much completely dead.

I HAVE already managed to download a ringtone that makes me grin: The theme from "Bewitched." I was briefly tempted to download all sorts of funny choices..."If I Only had a Brain" from the Wizard of Oz, for example... but it's nice to know I have options. I can hardly wait for a Christmas ringtone at Christmas time. (As my mother would say, "Small things amuse small minds.")

In preparation for our trip, I have been putting leisure material in a basket to take along...magazines I've not had time to read, some new library books, some reading material for Caroline, my Ipod and headphones (more CLE podcasts ahead)... At this point the basket weighs a TON and it looks like I am planning to camp out for 2 weeks to do nothing but read. Oh well, it's my mini-vacation and I can dream, can't I?

Among the materials in my basket is the new book from Freddy Moran and Gwen Marston! I got my signed copy (Adorer of All Things Freddy that I am) from Thimble Creek. I notice that Amazon doesn't even have it yet! But this book is GORGEOUS. Thick, with quilts and history from Gwen and Freddy separately, and wonderful stuff about how they worked together.



I'm going to enjoy pouring over every picture again. And I'm especially excited because the book describes their process of making "parts" (blocks from the same palette of colors) while apart, then getting together to make quilts with the combined parts. I'm thinking this will be perfect for me and my friend Silvia, who is too far away in Guatemala City.

So, you will know where I am when I'm not here. (Gee, I wonder if I can blog from the phone?!)

Oh! Just one VERY cool thing that happened today! I found an old friend on the internet and we had a quick but lovely instant message chat to greet each other! Celine (known really to me as Sleen) and I met back in the days when CompuServe's dos-based forums were the height of online sophistication. We were in a small group of avid rubber stampers and a bunch of about 6 of us became fast friends through online chatting and the occasional face-to-face meeting at rubber stamp conventions. Sleen had her daughter Holly the same year that we adopted Caroline. I had a fun time preparing a "baby shower in a box" for her, and she and other friends did the same for us. So imagine my shock to learn that Holly is going into 6th grade and Sleen and her husband have 2 more kids, both rather tall and non-infant like at ages 7 and 4! What a wonderful re-connection and I am looking forward to catching up with her further.

Okay...off to pack a few more things (oh, yeah, I might actually need clothes)...