Wednesday, December 29, 2010

Surprise!





Dictionary.com defines surprise like this:

–verb (used with object)
1. to strike or occur to with a sudden feeling of wonder or astonishment, as through unexpectedness: Her beauty surprised me.
2. to come upon or discover suddenly and unexpectedly: We surprised the children raiding the cookie jar.
3. to make an unexpected assault on (an unprepared army, fort, person, etc.).
4. to elicit or bring out suddenly and without warning: to surprise the facts from the witness.
5. to lead or bring unawares, as into doing something not intended: to surprise a witness into telling the truth.

–noun
6. an act or instance of surprising or being surprised.
7. something that surprises someone; a completely unexpected occurrence, appearance, or statement: His announcement was a surprise to all.
8. an assault, as on an army or a fort, made without warning.
9. a coming upon unexpectedly; detecting in the act; taking unawares.


Life is full of surprises. Some are good; some are bad. I've had my share of the bad ones over the past year. More than my share actually, so I was overdue for some of the good ones.

And I got a really good one this past Monday. #2 son has been visiting me and the day after Christmas we were supposed to go visit his older brother who is married and has a four year old. Now, I love my sons and my DIL, but you must understand that after raising two boys, I derive great joy from buying girly stuff. So while I enjoyed the white Christmas we had, I was very disappointed our trip to see the grandbaby was delayed a day.

But we needed to stay safe and the roads were quite treacherous. On Monday, though, things were fine and we travelled without incident. I pulled out my gifts and distributed them to both boys and to my daughter in law, and they were excited by what they received. Then the granddaughter opened hers and oh my gosh, it was just a giggle-fest as she unwrapped rhinestone necklaces, a new outfit with sparkles on the top, a child-sized pink travel neck pillow with a cat head on one side and a cat tail on the other, a personalized Princess Tea Party CD and a big story book. Her stocking had lip gloss, nail polish and a little bit of candy. Her great-gran sent her a tiny tea set in a wee wicker basket. Of course she had to try everything on, wear some lip gloss and have a tea party while she listened to her CD.

Then I was given a box wrapped in red and white paper. "This is from all of us," my daughter in law said. I tore off the wrapping and found a sturdy cardboard box with these words on the outside:

AMAZON KINDLE


Color me stunned. Speechless. Almost in tears. Of all the presents in all my years, this ranks among the very best because I know it was a stretch for my kids to buy it. And you will have to pry it from my cold, dead fingers to get it away from me.

But now I have to figure it out. I spent yesterday morning trying to just get it registered with Amazon and in the process I messed up my network. At that point I was completely frustrated and had to just set the Kindle aside until my stress levels dropped. Eventually I figured out that certain letters in my network password were capitalized. Duh.

So now it's registered, I've downloaded a free book from Amazon for practice and set up a Romance collection to categorize the download. I'm still a looooooooong way from conquering the Kindle, but doing so will keep me out of trouble. ;-)

So... who else has a Kindle? And what tips and tricks can you offer me? Where can you buy books for the Kindle besides Amazon? And what about covers? I want to get one but there are so many choices.

The best tip today will win a paperback book from my stash. Kinda funny, huh? A paperback in exchange for an e-book tip? Surprise!

11 comments:

Charlotte D. Margolis said...

I bought myself a Kindle right before Thanksgiving and LOVE it!

I don't know where to buy kindle books except Amazon, but I know there have to be other places. Can't wait to see what tips you get b/c I can't even figure out how to read what highlights are in the books I've downloaded...lol.

I love the free books & I have to be really careful when I'm shopping in the Kindle store on the device b/c that BUY button is so very easy to hit & it's 1-click so it automatically purchases the book. But at least there's that CANCEL button...whew!

Anyway, LOVE MY KINDLE!!

Katherine Bone said...

I'm trying to figure out my Nook. I think everyone in the world is trying to do the same. ;)

Marie said...

There's a website called Kindle Nation Daily. Just google it for the URL. It has a lot of great info on books available for the Kindle, especially free ones. And it's all legit -- no pirate websites at all. Your going to love the Kindle.

Unknown said...

For the bookcover on the newest kindle, there is a lighted book cover that runs from the kindle itself. It comes in different colors. You can buy kindle books from http://www.fictionwise.com and
http://www.allromanceebooks.com/

Link for lighted book cover is http://www.amazon.com/Lighted-Leather-Burgundy-Display-Generation/dp/B003DZ166Q/ref=_1_4

Angel said...

So totally cool! I'm eagerly watching comments because I hope one day to be a proud owner. I asked for one for Christmas, but the hubby refused to buy me only one gift. :) And what I did get was awesome, so I'm not complaining.

One day...

Angel

catslady said...

Sorry, I'm still in the land of print books lol. My husband would love for me to switch over probably but I still love being surrounded by books lol.

alinaduffer said...

Well I dont have a Kindle, but my best friends does and she loves it. She is constantly downloading free books from amazon. She has downloaded some wierd stuff too, lol! But she figures its free so she might as well. I think I am a bit more picky then her since I wont read something that doesnt interest me. Hope you have fun with your!

Have a Happy New Year!!

gigi said...

Hi Marilyn,
Steph got a Kindle also for Christmas. Hers started turning itself off over and over. She called Kindle support and found out it was the leather Kindle case. The Kindle support team was great. Within minutes of calling they had credited her account $60 and told her to upgrade to the lighted Kindle case. So if you have any problems call the Kindle support number. She said they were easier than having to talk to Microsoft. She got the $189 model it will read the book to you and she has figured out how to download her music to it. Cool little machine.

Unknown said...

My son bought my Kindle a couple of months before Christmas and I love it. I still don't quite know how to use it, other then downloading the books and reading them. Son seems to know how but he is good with electronics. My tip is on the covers, I had one cover that clipped into the side of the Kindle, but was very hard to get the Kindle in it. Then my husband opened the cover the wrong way and broke the clips off of the cover inside the Kindle. I called Amazon and they replaced the Kindle. Now I have a cover that the Kindle just slips down inside of it and its much better.

Patricia Preston said...

Marilyn, my son got me a Kindle for Christmas, too!! I did get it charged up and registered but have not had a chance to download any books or figure out how all that works. Pat T got one, too and she loves it. Says it is easier to read than a print book.

Michele L. said...

I have not bought a Kindle or a Nook yet but I am sure I will someday! I was given a demonstration at Barnes & Noble. Loved all the cool features. I think the best feature is the font size. I am at that stage in my life where I need glasses to read. So to be able to make the font bigger would be fantastic!

Also, one thing that is neat about a Kindle is that you don't get a cramp in your hand from trying to hold open the pages, i.e. if you are reading a large hardback book. I think that would be the best thing about it. Reading in bed at night, having a lighted screen, and no pages to flip. That is don't have to turn on the light to read it. Ok, look out, I think I am going to the store right now to buy me one! I just talked myself into all its great features. What have I been waiting for?