More exercise stuff? Who have I become? Anyway, the Fitness Pro 360 pedometer by Sportsline ($39.99 at Dick’s Sporting Goods) is another item I THOUGHT I needed. The 360 does have some good qualities, it keeps up with time, can work as a watch, counts steps fairly well, tracks mileage, and gives an estimated calories burned. It works well when walking, not so much when running. With a walk mode and run mode, which requires you to switch modes for accuracy, it’s more annoying than helpful while running. I have yet to get close to the same distance numbers when traveling the exact route while running, which either means I’m not wearing it correctly or it’s not picking up all my steps. And since the distance seems to be accurate while walking, I am going to go with the later. Mainly when running I use it for keeping time rather than distance which is the exact opposite of what I really wanted. However, since it does have a walk mode and it works well with that setting, I can’t give it a bad rating. So therefore, I’ll bite my tongue and say it’s a fair buy, but I’ll keep my eye out for something better.

You must remember what I am and what I am not. I am a mother of two small children who never stop moving. I am not a photographer on any professional or even amateur level. But I do take lots of photographs of those two fast-moving children. And my Kodak Easyshare was just not cutting it. I almost broke several ten commandments when I borrowed my uncle's Canon EOS Digital Rebel 8.0 SLR. I had to have one! I finally was able to afford the $900 price tag after a rebate offer at Best Buy. I have to admit it was a little harder than I thought to make the transition. Things weren't quite as easy as my point and shoot Kodak but when I got it right, it was worth it. Those funny faces my kids make and the silly things they do actually got frozen in time in a clear, high quality 8MP picture. And hey, being able to slap on my dad's (yes he HAD to have one too) telescopic lens was fantastic for taking great pictures of certain bald men at certain American Idol concerts I might have attended.

Ok—Just when you think they have this wireless thing all tapped out, someone surprises you with another great idea.  As a cell phone junkie, I occasionally switch between my cell phones week to week, and after purchasing a new cell phone (Treo 650) I was looking to buy yet another set of accessories.  Stopping by Target to pick up a memory card for my phone I perused through the car chargers and as I was about to spend another $30 on a PalmOne Treo specific phone charger I happened to see the answer to the Middle East crisis (see ratings scale).   A phone charger which can accommodate more than one type of cell phone!!!  To my delight, I found a charger that would fit the Blackberry (6200-7700 series), Treo (650), and Motorola Razor (the latter two I own).  And what would I pay for such a great invention?...$12.99!!!  Though I have yet to find where I can buy just the extra phone connections, I have confidence it must be out there.  For those of us that have multiple brands of cell phones, this is a must have.  And at only $12.99 it gives you a reason to buy another cell phone.

Breaking my previous cell phone (story of all my cell phones) this past April,  I decided to go with a company recommended and sold phone from Cingular. Not being very web savvy with phones in the past, I decided to change that and get the Treo 650. A full set keyboard, a large touch screen(2.6 inches), and somewhat compact considering the features, got me sold on this phone. Now, 4 months into using it and finally breaking it (ok, dropping it) this past weekend, I think the features I found somewhat prohibiting at first have become absolutely annoying. The phone is a mini-brick, not very cool if you have to hold it to your ear, even a bluetooth did little to help the image with a mini brick on your belt. So for who is this phone best designed? Its absolutely great if you spend more time surfing and text messaging than you do actual talking… definitely not for me. The Palm Treo 650 is available at Cingular for $199.00 after discounts and rebates.