Wednesday 17 January 2007: Sarah loves her new sweater and internet (Skype and Yahoo) telephoning and webcamming!!! And Heidi makes another comeback!

Heidi says: Hi everybody! Finally I found some time to upload a picture and to chat with you a bit. Although... This is one way communication. That's alright! I'll make it short so you don't have to listen too long! Yma is doing great. She is growing and growing... It makes me proud but sometimes a little sad too. There will come a time that she will be too big to hold her in my arms. Snif... But that time ain't now! :)) Yma is asleep right now. She needs an afternoon "stop" nowadays. That is good for the both of us. She gets new energy and I get to rest a bit as well. Here is a picture from 14 January 2007: Yma as a bandit. Or pirate lady.

Sarah says:

That's my new stripey sweater! I had tried it on months ago but didn't buy it because of the price and because of how it needs to be washed to stay nice. But now during the sales it cost 10 Euro in place of 40 Euro! I am so happy I found it again. I love it. It's warm and cozy like a good sweater should be! By the way, I only just woke up so that is why I look so tired in the above photo. I am really tired today! That's the pattern: one day active and the next day kaput. My back feels better but also feels really tired - like I need to lie down a lot today and take the pressure off of it! I will do my best. Shall finish the book I m reading today and watch Dr. Phil and Oprah soon! This is my morning ritual I'm afraid...Pathetic, I know!

Here you can see my kid and my friend Mona from New York talking by Skype to each other yesterday. Mona has a camera on her computer so it was all in real time as you can see by their tongues sticking out! This is such a great thing! I know it has all been around for a while and I am just jumping on the bandwagon but how cool is that to be able to not only talk for free via the internet but also to be able to web-cam the conversation so it sort of feels like the person is in the same room with you! I mean just look at Mona's head up there! It looks like she lives in my computer! I sort of like Yahoo phoning better because you can leave voice messages for free too when the person isn't available. With Skype I think for free you can only talk in real time or leave a chat message. Anyway, all you need is a strong internet connection, a microphone of some sort (often built in to newer computers) or a simple, cheap headset that you plug in and there you go! Well, first you must download the program(s) for free (Skype or Yahoo for example) and then off you go! I must sound like a kid in a candy store, I know, but I just can't resist free phone-calling! It's fantastic when you know people all over the place! My friend Carmen in Russia has been telling me to get on Skype for ages already! I should have listened to her! Once you try it, you wonder why you waited so long! I guess I feel this way because I am home now for these months and need contact with the outer world more frequently or something! But maybe even when I am back at work I will be in contact more because it is free. It will be great to not have such a huge phone bill all the time. It will also be fun for my kid and me to be able to see who we are talking to on webcam sometimes! A whole new world of communication! So any of you who haven't tried talking this way from PC to PC for free, maybe try it out! You'll probably be pleasantly surprised!!! Man, Yahoo and Skype should pay me for all that free advertising!!! Have a great day!