Last Thursday night James and I made a “just before closing” run to Best Buy.  They close at 9:00 and we arrived after 8:30.  It was just enough time to purchase a new computer and camera.  My computer is my primary means of communication from Japan. It’s my phone for anyone living outside of Japan via Skype I use it to email and to shop.  My computer has made most of the planning for Kristina’s wedding possible.  The HP I have been using has been a great laptop for the past 3 1/2 years, but the screen has a line running down it and I worry that one day it will just stop working.  So, now it will replace my circa 2003 Dell as my backup.  Here is a photo of James helping me set it up. Yes, it is red! My favorite color.

This photo was taken with my new camera.  It is apparent that I need to figure out how it works.  I did not get the Canon SLR that I was planning on.  I decided that I was not willing to pack a camera that size with me all the time.  Ruth’s sister-in-law gets fabulous photographs with her Canon Powershot.  It fits between my point and shoot and an SLR.  I am confident that I can learn to use it to take photos that will make me happy, but the week of my daughter’s wedding is not the time to try and figure it out.  I’ll have plenty of time on my flight home to figure it out and read the photography book that James bought for me.