My Surprise

Jon told me to be ready to go to our friend's house in 30 min. I got the kids ready. Jon got home and told me that he had to take a shower (he was filthy) before he joined us, but that I should just go on ahead because they were waiting. Then he backed the van out of the garage, turned it around, and parked it in the garage tail end first. Odd.

I forgot something so I dashed inside. When I came out, the kids were running all over the place. As I gathered my flock, Sinatra kept pointing to the side yard and yelling something. Finally I made out the little guy's words, "We got a Jeep!" I went to the side yard and there was a Jeep with a tarp thrown over it. They were not supposed to have discovered that. The surprise was ruined--just a little.

Jon came down and we loaded kids in the van, but my slightly dejected sweetheart took Sinatra and drove off to the friend's house without saying a word about the Jeep. Now I was wondering if I would forever associate the memory of getting a Jeep with the uncomfortable passive aggressive anger of my husband. We had talked about the possibility of this for years, but had always come to the conclusion that it would be way too impractical. Odd--he's not the passive aggressive type. I pulled out of the garage FORWARD, so as not to see the hiding spot, and joined Jon at our friend's house.

We dropped the kids because Jon had arranged for the two of us (and Sugar) to go Jeeping and to dinner while our friends babysat. We loaded in and took off with the wind in our hair. He still wasn't talking. I asked direct questions about the Jeep. It had 132,000 miles on it--how much did you get for your truck and how much did you pay for this? No answer. Did you buy it from a friend or somewhere else? Do we own this? No answer. After 5 min. my anger reached ticked off level and I told him what I thought of his silence. He didn't seem angry though. In fact, he seemed rather pleased with himself. He smiled at me and didn't say a word--smug little rodent. Odd. Odd. Odd.

I tried to calm down and enjoy the ride. It was, after all, a Jeep with the top down on a beautiful evening. After 10 min. of this, he finally broke. He laughed and told me that the Jeep was on loan from a friend who wanted to sell it. "Was that so hard, Jon?" I asked. "Why wouldn't you answer my questions?"

"I just wanted to see how you would have taken it if I had really pulled something like that--you did pretty good," (Unedited...I would have corrected that last little word).

Glare. Sneer. Laugh. Really enjoy the ride.

We went north of town to a Mexican restaurant. When we got out, Jon was going to leave his duffel bag in the car. He said that it would probably be okay. "What? No way. Take it in," I insisted. Towels and swimsuits aren't too expensive, but why risk it.

We sat down and ate. When I had finished eating, Jon opened the bag and started rummaging around--crinkling plastic. Odd. He pulled a box out and set in in front of me. It took a moment to register, then I dropped my jaw and was speechless. When I found words they were so eloquent--"No way. No way!! No way!!! I can't believe you got me one!"

Okay, let's cut to the chase. It's a Nikon D60 Digital SLR. It's a really nice camera for an amateur. I've wanted one for so long, but never could justify the price tag. Feed the kids for two months or buy a camera? It had always been a tough choice, but we'd always chosen the kids. Apparently, my husband thought that we just might manage to do both.

The camera came with a 18-55mm VR lens (nice and basic), but Hubs added a 55-200mm VR (telephoto) lens too.

I actually cried--no boo-hooing, but watery eyes and emotion. Then I smiled the rest of the night.

Of course, they don't make it so that you can play with the toy right away. I had to charge the battery overnight. And then the next day was one that I am glad I will never have to repeat. So I finally got out my camera tonight and started taking shots. The light had faded outside so these are all inside in the fake light. What an upgrade!!! I can't wait to snap away in the daylight.

About the Jeep--we're considering it. I think it's horribly impractical, but wonderfully fun.

What a nice, non-passive aggressive husband I have.



Macro setting.



Picture using pop-up flash--notice harsh shadows. Have a plan to remedy all that.



Picture set to no flash and high ISO (kind of works like the speed of film you would buy). A bit of blur, but really sharp compared with what I've been using. You can really see the difference between the flash and no flash shots if you click on the picture. Also, you could take my fingerprint from that macro shot--without a macro lens even!



Here's what Popcorn thinks--two thumbs up. He just can't wait to see the shots his mom gets when the sun pops up tomorrow.