Pictures, pictures and more pictures.

I'm still learning the ropes with my not so new camera. I love taking pictures and I see the shots in my head that I want to get but lack the knowledge and money to get them.

Last year Sean bought me an excellent lens for my camera, a 50mm f/1.8.   It takes amazing pictures but the problem I was having was that it's a manual focus lens and I lack the eye to focus well. I need a automatic focus lens.

So, Sean was going to buy me a new lens for our upcoming anniversary and since a local camera store opened in a new, larger location we thought we'd go window shopping. When we got there we found out they were having a grand opening event today and were giving away 100 gift certificates valued anywhere from $10 - $500. We also learned they'd take my old lens on a trade in toward the new lens. So with that in mind, my mom and I went to line up an hour before the store opened (we were 32-33 in line)

When we got in we opened out gift certificates. I got a $10 but my mom got a $100 one. What luck!! I went right to the Nikon shelf to look at my choices and discovered that the lens I wanted was out of stock. Not only was it out of stock but there was a manufacturer shortage so the chances of my ordering one and getting it anytime soon were slim. I had a decision to make. Do I get the 35mm f/1.8 (which was what I was looking at when we went in a few days ago) or did I want to go bigger and get a 55-300mm f/4.5 - 5.6  since I had $100 off anyway.

What I know about photography you could fit on the head of a pin. I just know that I like taking pictures of my kids and of nature. So I asked the guy who worked there to advise me on my best choice. He said I should get the 35mm if I liked taking pictures of my kids since the kit lens would suffice for landscape shots for now (until my birthday and then I'll get Sean to buy me the telephoto lens hee hee)

So, happy early anniversary to me. It's not the lens I wanted when I went in but I'm still happy with my purchase and even happier that it was $100 cheaper!

And because I love to take lots of pics, here's some now. (the first one and the last two were taken with my new lens)

Owie Owie Owie

I don't like to whine but holy shit I'm in pain.

Would you believe me if I told you that the pain I'm feeling from the radiation is worse than the pain I had from the mastectomy?

It could very well be that when recovering from the mastectomy I was very heavily drugged (read: stoned) most of the time so I don't recall a whole lot of pain. I'd have to go back and read the blog to see if I was in pain.

I'm itchy all over my neck, upper chest and breast area. But under my arm and the side of where my breast would be, that's where the pain is. It's so burned that my skin has gone beyond purple to brown. And it's blistered and peeling. I've been walking around with my right arm out so that I'm not chaffing. I can't sleep on my right side at all because any pressure on the area hurts. And even when I'm doing nothing at all I'm getting shooting pains.

I know it will get better. For now though, I'm using my saline compresses and my cream to prevent infection and my tylenol 3's to manage the pain and hoping that this passes quickly.

It's hard to feel excited about being done treatment when the lingering effects are still there.