The Element of Surprise!

My husband came home the other night with a 'surprise gift for me.'  He'd been out with family and friends at The Cheesecake Factory in Nashville to celebrate our eldest child's birthday with a dinner of her choosing.  The restaurant happens to connect with The Green Hills Mall, which is a rather upscale shopping-extravaganza establishment.  One of its most popular stores happens to be The Apple Store.  Somehow, when that sweet little text from my loving spouse beeped in with it's message about a special purchase for me -- me, who was waylaid by the familiar refrain of female pain and sat on our worn leather couch with Hankie Mutt at my side and heating pad on HIGH -- my guesses never once wandered into the world of Mac and i-This and i-That.

Men.  Women.  Venus.  Mars.  Go figure.

What DID he bring home to his wife to lift her flagging spirits, you must be wondering by now?  It IS a type of metal.  And it IS silver.  And if it is turned on edge, there's even a diamond.  However, that's where all similarity to anything coming out of Tiffany's ends!  (Yeah.  It's THAT kind of a mall.)  It appears to be the latest and greatest in Mac computer mouse technology: a matte-silver metal square called a 'magic trackpad.'  A wireless multi-touch surface which matches the keyboard of our Mac set-up in design, only it's totally devoid of keys.  And it looks nothing like my little white Mac mouse; it's not made to be held in the curve of my hand.  I'm sure any techie with an affinity for Apple products would be drooling over it.  But I've checked my mouth and it appears to be drool-free.  I'm still wracking my brain, trying hard to remember when I asked for this device, but MY memory banks appear to have been wiped clean on this subject.

Last night, I received a quick lesson in the basics of magic trackpad.  I even dared to brave it to blog and post on Facebook and access e-mail.  It was exhausting.  My right hand now must retrain itself to an entirely new, and therefore foreign, piece of equipment.  All that fighting against muscle memory makes for slow going.  And slow blogging!  Aaargh.  There's a booklet which outlines several ways in which to use it with a one finger click, two finger drag, two finger pinch, three finger swipe, and even a  four finger up-swipe.  I needed two fingers to pinch the bridge of my nose by the end of my reading; and, I thought of an additional use with a specific finger in center position, too.  There may be opportunity to practice THAT one if I stay online too much longer.

I'm absolutely certain that once we upgrade our operating system, MY excitement will rise to meet the levels already present in my husband and son.  Evidently, the full potential of the magic trackpad can't be realized until the latest OS is installed.  In fact, THEY'RE so excited about it that it causes me to question whether or not this was my surprise present.  Maybe I misunderstood?  Maybe the thrill of this purchase wiped out my HUSBAND'S memory banks, thus disabling his ability to recall the what and where of my real gift?  You know . . . it could be forgotten and lonely, inadvertently discarded on the floorboards of the Ford Focus (that's the second time I've grabbed the old REAL mouse and tried to relocate the arrow) . . . awaiting discovery . . . for someone to hold it and love it and squee-e-eeze it tight.

For some odd reason, the word 'delusion' keeps floating into my tired brain.  Not sure why.  I'll just delete it when I one-finger click off this handy-dandy magic whatchamadoohickey miracle contraption.  Now, where are the keys to that car?