I took it out for the first time over the weekend, and I’m very, very happy so far. I haven’t learned everything it can do yet, of course, but I’m having a blast.

Here’s the quick story as to why I got a birthday present when it’s not my birthday…

Many many months ago, my parents talked about getting a new camera. Mom wanted a “real” camera, not just a point-and-shoot. They told me they’d give me their old camera when they got the new one, and I said sure. I wanted to have one of my own, and it had some features that Rand’s camera doesn’t have.

For various reasons, the purchase of said new camera was put off. When I was at home last weekend, my dad gave me the old camera. It was a Gateway, purchased when they bought their computer. It needed a new battery, and it didn’t appear to be compatible with my iBook. I started looking into inexpensive memory card readers as an alternate option.

So the other day, I was talking to Rand about the various options (I had ordered something from Amazon and was sending it back because it wasn’t what I wanted), and he walked away and came back with a box…

“Happy birthday,” he said.

I seem to have a knack for sucking the life out of my surprises… 😉

Anyway, the new camera is a Canon PowerShot SD1000 Digital Elph. I also got a case, a spare battery, and a larger memory card. It’s fantastic.