Wish List Thoughts...

I don't expect any presents this year, but I thought I'd update my mental wish list. My needs have morphed a little since I got my job, and I want to get my head straight on what I really need versus what's a nice fantasy versus what I want.

On the need list is mainly new clothing. I've got enough shirts to last for a bit, but by next spring I'll want to get more. The real urgent areas are pants and shoes. I've been wearing jeans to work, but I only have enough pairs to last a week. I'd like more variety and more security.

As for shoes, well... I've got good ol' walking shoes with mesh sides which won't do me much good in the coldest winter, nor are they really that useful for visiting dairy farms with the attendant hazards of such places. No, I really need a good pair of shoes or two. To complicate matters, I've been wearing men's shoes for the last few years because my feet are too wide for normal women's shoes and finding the wider sizes can be tricky. So I get to pick from men styles, which is a plus and a minus. I also ought to find something I can use in the snow, because the odds are good I'll need to walk it in soon.

I think those are the only things that fall into the really need category, and Eric and I will be taking care of them as soon as the finances allow for it. So as far as real needs go, I think I'm in pretty darn good shape. On to the nice fantasy!

My biggest fantasy item now is a camera. Not just any old camera, as I've got a decent little Nikon CoolPix that works in an absolute pinch. No, I need a digital SLR camera that I can use for work with at least two lenses, one for normal photography and one for sports, and an external flash. And while I'm dreaming I would also want a nice case (like a sling bag) to put it in.

See, the problem at work is that we've got five reporters. Two of those reporters have their own cameras, while three use the in-house cameras. And there are only two in-house cameras. Leading to a lot of juggling schedules when all three of us need a camera on the same night. As I said, my little Nikon works in a pinch (for non-sports), but I'd love to kit myself out with a decent camera of my own so I wouldn't have to worry about camera availability.

The in-house cameras are both Nikon D50s, a model that has been superseded. But the cameras and their lenses work well enough for our jobs. I've considered looking for a used D50, but even used they are around $300, and that's out of my league. The newer version, the D3100, rings up at about $600 with only a normal lens. And it's considered a lower end camera. The sports lens could be upwards of $200, and I haven't even found an external flash for it.

In short, I know I'm not going to get a good camera, but I continue to fantasize about it.

Moving on to just regular wants... well, there's all the normal stuff. I have couple of Amazon wish lists full of junk that would make me temporarily happy. My regular wish list has a bunch of books and other merchandise I want. My Kindle Books wish list has a lot of Kindle books I hope to get, most of them I'm just waiting for price drops on. I also have a Longshots wish list of stuff I don't expect to ever get. I also have the normal wants of chocolate and such, but honestly, most of my wants and needs are actually met. I don't want much, so I don't expect to get much.

In fact, looking at what I've just written, I realize I'm in pretty good shape. Sometimes just stopping to count your blessings makes everything seem better.