Tag / Jen

by Greg

Yearning For Less

“I wish I had more time!”

I am saying that far too often these days. And, it sure seems true when I think it and/or utter it.

I am finding that I wake up tired most days, and often go to bed later than I thought I would. And understandably, have much to do in the middle of each day.

We are a family of eight, after all. And two of the eight are two and three years old. They need plenty of assistance, and beyond that they seem to have the most … aggressive? personalities of all eight of us! So, of course, there will be long day. Maybe most.

But it feels like more than that.

Last fall, Jen got to travel to California for about a week to visit with friends, and meet new ones. (She also attend a workshop called HeartChange that she really loved! We highly recommend, if you’re on the west coast.) Just before that we had a family vacation where the couple different places we stayed were so stark in their decor that it was truly one of the refreshing pieces of our down time. While in California, the simplicity of environment—and simplicity of daily schedule—came up in conversation and Jen became even more convinced that she really wanted a much simpler life. Even if only for a season, schedule and stuff needed de-cluttering.

Unbeknownst to her, I had made plans with my parents to do a pretty big kitchen transformation project! Not only did that involve ripping out the carpet that was in there and replacing it with a nice laminate flooring, it also involved a hefty amount of getting rid of things! I knew Jen had been thinking of that, so we took the first step.

New Kitchen

The Great Kitchen Transformation of 2011!

It was not just well-received, she loved it! She had been hoping to do a little rearranging upon her return, and this major “rearrangement” was the catalyst for much more!

We set to work in the girls’ bedroom. We had some great success in there getting rid of several large bags and/or boxes of things. (The thrift stores like us… I think?) And then we made some progress in a few other rooms (though there’s more to go there, to be sure!) … slowly, but surely we are thinning out. Trying to live a bit simpler.

It actually seems to be a sentiment that several people we know are echoing. Life is too full, too busy. Time to simplify. A friend wrote about living simply on her site recently, too.

So why do we want simple? Why do we feel so over-stimulated?

Partly it’s that we just have too many options. Whether it’s entertainment options, or activity options, or social options, home schooling options, or even work-related options (maybe that applies even more to me being self-employed?) and then throw in there family “options” (like One Kid Nights and date nights and just regular family activities…)

Goodness! There’s a lot to do!

Just thinking of the things I leave undone every day, there are so many books I am currently reading (and many more I want to read … have you seen my list?!) then there are a good many shows in my Netflix queue (including tons of documentaries that I’d love to watch … sometime?). That’s all after the work I need to get done each day, and—as I’m sure you’ve noticed—I’ve made writing a priority again, too.

So where do we breathe? When do we rest? Where is the quiet? The silence where we sit with our Father and learn from him, enjoy being his kids?

I really don’t know.

It could be that we are avoiding just that. But I don’t think so. Sometimes we do busy ourselves to ignore painful things, or things we in some way dread. That does work for a while, and in the end, will produce the same, tiring results.

I think it’s even more pervasive that that, if possible.

There’s some restlessness embedded in our culture that must have a full schedule, that must have a full cupboard, that must have all the things we need and might need.

At some level, it’s rooted in our level of trust in God to take care of us.

“So don’t worry about these things, saying, ‘What will we eat? What will we drink? What will we wear?’ These things dominate the thoughts of unbelievers, but your heavenly Father already knows all your needs. Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously, and he will give you everything you need.”

But is it only that? Perhaps. Is it bad to have stuff? Not inherently. But have you noticed how the more stuff you have, the more you need to have (like even, parts and accessories for your stuff), then the more you need to repair your stuff, then the more you need to buy things to keep your stuff in…

And the more events you do, the more people you meet, the more things you’re invited to do…

Which leads to needing more money to do more things, and to have more stuff…

More, more… MORE.

And thus, the yearning for simplicity.

Somehow, Jesus managed to live his life in skin as a homeless vagabond that never lacked for companionship (until the final days of his life) and he also managed to live arguably the most impactful life ever lived. Perhaps a full schedule or the most things don’t really lead to a better life?

“Sell your possessions and give to those in need. This will store up treasure for you in heaven! And the purses of heaven never get old or develop holes. Your treasure will be safe; no thief can steal it and no moth can destroy it. Wherever your treasure is, there the desires of your heart will also be.”

I’m not sure if we Campbells are being asked (by God) to sell our possessions. I mean, it clearly says that in that verse from Luke, but so far that conviction is not in my heart, nor Jen’s. But maybe this hunger (however large or small) for simpler will eventually lead there? We’ll see.

For now, I do know that there is a deep longing in my heart for simpler. Less stuff. Less options. More rest. The phrase “less is more” comes to mind.

The tricky part is how do we get there. That’s the next part of our adventure I think.

I’m curious to see how Jesus unfolds that in our life. (Some “busyness” currently seems “necessary”.)

Further thoughts will be shared on these pages, of course. And if you are so inclined, would love for you to join the conversation below!

But only if you have the time. 😉

Scripture quotes from Luke 12, from the New Living Translation.

by Greg

Tradition, Tradition!

Traditional New Year's Day meal, pork, sauerkraut, mashed potatoes, corn bread

As far back as I can remember, my family has always celebrated New Year’s Day with a big meal featuring pork, sauerkraut, mashed potatoes, and corn bread. My dad enjoys throwing in some baked clams, but I’ve chosen to leave those out of our version of the family tradition… 🙂

This year was no different. Even though we’d been packing a bunch in between Christmas and Ian’s 13th birthday celebrations, and despite the fact that I had been feeling pretty sick the night before, I still managed to get the pork loin in the oven to slow roast overnight and we had a delicious meal for a late lunch the next day.

It’s said that having this meal on New Year’s Day leads to a prosperous year, but I’m really just glad for the fun of making it and the tastiness of eating it! Plus it’s a favorite of just about everyone in our family (and friends we’ve gotten to share the meal with, too!)

A slightly more odd tradition that we keep in the Campbell household is celebrating Three Kings Day, which we’ll be doing tomorrow morning! This is because of the few years of my childhood that were spent in Caracas, Venezuela. Three Kings Day is celebrated in many hispanic countries, including Venezuela! Our version may be a bit modified, but it suits us, and is mostly in the same spirit, I’d say.

Every January 5th, we leave our shoes out by the front door, ready to be filled by the three wise men. They leave us gifts, just like they did for Jesus. We can leave straw for their camels to eat, but usually don’t do that. 🙂 In the morning, we come down to find a small gift and usually some candy left in everyone’s shoes. Fun!

And, every once in a while, we’ll bake an oven-safe trinket into a cake and then whoever gets the piece of cake with that item in it gets to be KING for the day! We’ve modified this a bit, too, in that we know the King of kings, we try to be a king in the way he was: serving, not being served. (And yes, the kids still want to do it!)

Speaking of knowing the King of kings…

After reading many of her favorite mom/big-family blogs this Christmas season, Jen thought it might finally be the year to “do Christmas differently”. We’ve had a pretty typical Christmas tradition of lots of gifts, and the big family Christmas at Grandma & Grandpa’s, and so on. This year she thought we could focus more on the reason we’re celebrating: it’s Jesus’ birthday! (At least, the day that is celebrated.)

We’ve tossed some of these ideas around for the past several years, but we decided to really do it this year. First, we each drew a name of someone else in the family, and got just one meaningful gift for that person. (So, still gifts, but much less about gifts for us.) We spent as much or more money giving gifts to Jesus. How, you ask? Matthew 25 says, “Whatever you do for the least of these, you are doing for me” (my paraphrase), so we did that! We bought (via World Vision this time) 13 small farm animals for people who could use them for daily sustenance. It was really cool to see the kids excited to do it! And it was so nice to have the focus much less on the gifts (and the getting) and much more on Jesus, and the incredible Gift of his becoming a man that “…all who believed him and accepted him, he gave the right to become children of God.” (John 1:12)

We also made a birthday cake, of course, and had a great time celebrating Jesus’ birthday! (We’re pretty good at celebrating birthdays around here!) Hoping that this becomes our family tradition as the years go on. And I’m sure there will be some great modifications along the way.

Born 4 BC? 2015 in 2011!

Note: we based the “age” upon a birth year of 4 BC… thus the 2015. (Though, if you count the year 0, wouldn’t he be 2016?) 🙂

Do you have family traditions from your childhood that you have continued with your family? Any new ones you’ve begun with your own family? Comment below!

by Greg

On Being Thankful

This is the day we are thankful. All over our country we spend the day—even the whole weekend—thinking about the things for which we are thankful.

Sometimes we have cute ways of saying it. You know, like the annual “go around the table and say what you’re thankful for” exercise. Or maybe it’s a more tactile expression, written on paper or some other tangible medium.

Sometimes we are just quietly, introspectively thankful.

But on this day, we are Thankful.

And even though I have one of those brains that is always going, always thinking, always processing, always introspectively examining and pondering … and also despite the fact that I am wont to buck almost any tradition… I’m certainly not exempt from being in this frame of mind come late November.

In fact, there are quite a gamut of things I’ve dwelt on today, grateful that God has either been the Giver (James 1:17) or he has walked with me through it.

One of the first things I was grateful for today was a dinner that I got to prepare and share with some new friends one year ago this day. They were new friends to us, had known them only a few months. But they had already been so welcoming and loving toward our family that our kids readily adopted them as their third set of grandparents! I felt a kinship with Wayne, too, as he was a prolific writer (something I have aspired to be) and definitely marched to the beat of his own drum (something to which I also aspire).

The reason I am extra thankful for that one particular meal we shared together (besides the fact that I always love to make food for people, and visit with people) is that just two months later, Wayne would no longer be with us.

Ordinarily we would have been visiting with family that day. With Jen’s family, or perhaps my family … or both? In fact, that had been the plan: to join my parents who were with my sister and her family after the birth of their daughter. However, various circumstances kept that from happening … and when we found ourselves with an open Thanksgiving Day, we were delighted to find out that our new friends had found themselves in just that same spot!

Who could have known that there wouldn’t be very many more meals we’d all share together?

I think that’s a great reason for being thankful. I read a sign tonight, it was a picture of a sign actually. It said, “It’s not happy people who are thankful, it’s thankful people who are happy.” Indeed. Somehow it’s a truth that is at the core of our makeup. The “power of positive thinking” perhaps. Whatever it is that is behind it, there is a deep reality in the power of our perspective, our attitude.

I can go through my days worried about how I am going to pay our mortgage this month, or afford the repair work for our van (or really, the new van we need to be saving for!), or how I can better help equip my kids with the right tools they need for life, or even just spend my days being bogged down by the details of all the various projects I juggle for my work. Those things are indeed important, but perhaps not mine to struggle with.

When that is my focus, I might miss the chance to have an impromptu Thanksgiving dinner with someone whose presence I will not much longer share. I might miss an opportunity to see my wife’s beautiful heart in the way she expresses a thought she had or something Jesus is teaching her. I might miss (and sadly, have missed) the tender, loving heart of one of my sons or daughters so open and fully extended to their Dad (whom they often seem to view as so much more than I know that I am).

All because I was so focused on the things that seem to need attention—or change—rather than savoring the gifts that the Giver has already provided.

Like my beautiful, precious wife. Like our six amazing children. Like the family that God has surrounded us with: parents, siblings, grandparents, aunts and uncles, cousins, and even non-blood family.

And how about a roof over our heads? All the crazy freedoms and luxuries we have in this country? (Though, perhaps that is not really always—or ever?—something that we should be thankful for, at least, not in the way we usually think we should be.) How about the incredibly difficult year that 2011 has been for our household? More importantly, the fruit that we’ve seen Holy Spirit grow in and around us as a direct or indirect result of that?

There is an unending list of things we can be thankful for. In fact, it’s really more of a reality to live in (a paradigm, or perspective) rather than a list to check off.

Jen said it best today when she commented, “I’m really not any more thankful on this day than I am any other day. I’m not sure how to be!”

When you can breathe thankful, that is certainly the case. “Always be thankful.” Not just a command to “do it”… or else! But an invitation to the fullness of life that can be known when we shift our focus from our own efforts and abilities (or lack thereof) to gratitude for his provision, his caring… and his extraordinary capabilities. (Ephesians 3:20-21)

So as this Thankful day comes to its close, I am thankful. For the day spent with nearly all of our close family. For a belly full of delicious food. For a quiet house full of Sleepers, without whom my life, even I myself would not be the same. I’m thankful for my Father who loves me, and even likes me. 🙂 That he wants to be with me, and me to be with him, still amazes.

And I’m thankful for Wayne. Glad for the very short time God crossed our paths. Looking forward to the rest of the path crossings God has in mind for me during the time I have left, however much that may be.

We can’t know. We only know now. We have now.

And for that, I’m grateful.

by Greg

Clocks

Sometimes in life, you just have to take the bad with the good.

I’ve always loved the “fall back” Sunday, where you get an hour of your life back. Who couldn’t use an extra hour!? Either another hour of sleep in the morning, or really, whatever suits your fancy!

The extra hour was always especially helpful when we were regularly working Sunday mornings, doing music for churches around the country. Sometimes that was quite early, and/or after a gig the night before… and sometimes that was in a different city or state! So an extra hour was a very welcome gift. We loved ending Daylight Savings Time!!

But it does seem that every good things has a bad side, too, no?

In the spring, when you lose an hour (the bad), it’s at least very easy to just bump all the clocks up one hour. All you need to do is click the “hour” button once (the good).

In the fall when you gain an hour (the good), depending on the clock, you may be able to do 60 minutes backwards, or, you may have to go 23 hours backwards. That’s 23x more button clicking! (The bad.)

The best part is, one of my wife’s favorite things is to have a clock in every room. (Some rooms have more than one.) So… 23x more clicking … times many clocks…

Well, let’s just say I’m super glad I have an extra hour. 😉

by Greg

Thankful

There are days that it’s incredibly hard to see the good side. Where you’re so completely overwhelmed by the crushing weight of sadness, or failure, or just plain pain that you can’t see a way out of and seems it will never end.

For whatever reason, we’ve had more than our share of those around here lately.

But last night as I was putting the four youngest kids in bed, for some reason I decided to start (quite randomly) naming things that I was thankful for. “Thank you for Mom… and for (insert sibling name here)…” was how I began. Then I began just literally saying any word that came to mind. Some things I saw around their room, or then any related item or word. It quickly exploded into a fun game of who can think of the most random thing to be thankful for!

And the neat thing was, it worked.

The kids were not that excited to go to bed last night, but that little exercise lightened their hearts, and perhaps enlightened mine.

I found it was easy to rattle off all sorts of “good” things that we can be thankful for. Stars, trees, the sun, the moon, Grandmas & Grandpas, other friends we love, books, paper, paint, carpet, air conditioning, and so on. So I began intentionally thinking of “bad” things. (Or at least, weird things to be thankful for.)

“Thank you for toilets. For bottoms. For toilet paper.” Emma (our three-year old) picked right up on that, “Thank you for pee pee… AND poo poo!” And then I actually made myself say, “Thank you for HOT days.” (Reasoning in my mind that, though I loathe and detest the heat, I do love a good, juicy tomato … and they rather enjoy hot days.)

This seemed to work for all of the kiddos from the youngest (just about 2) who would grunt his approval with a little, “mmm hmm” after every word or phrase I’d say, to the room full of his three sisters all spitting out random words as fast as they were able to fit them in. It really was incredible!

It made me think of a book that Jen asked me to read, One Thousand Gifts by Ann Voskamp. Jen reads her blog, and so decided to purchase her book, and was challenged (in a good way) to try to change her perspective on life, as Ann has tried to do. It’s kind of a “glass half-full vs glass half-empty” idea, but a bit different. Her challenge was just to write down 1,000 things that you are thankful for. A few each day.

I think we may have hit about 400 last night alone! 🙂

There are so many things that we can be thankful for. It really just depends on your perspective. If you can come at life looking for goodness, you’ll often (usually) find it. If you’re expecting bad, you’ll usually end up there.

So maybe try it tonight. Putting kids to bed… after they are in bed… on your way home from work… just let you brain bounce from one thing to the next and speak it out, “Thank you for _____.” Not just things that God directly gave us, necessarily, but think about the things that are part of our everyday lives, and how they help us. We really do take much of life “for granted”, as they say. Doing so lifted my spirits last night, and four other tiny spirits.

Perhaps it can lift yours, tonight, too.

by Greg

Good (Competitive) Family Fun!

NFL LogoFor the last two, or maybe three years we Campbells have been having some more interactive fun with the weekly NFL games. Not only do we enjoy watching as much of them as we can on weekends, we also try to predict the outcome of each, and we have quite the “set up” to track our results!

Before the season begins we print out all the NFL logos on card stock (6 total sets) and then we set to work cutting each one out. That’s a pretty fun part, too, as the kids enjoy cutting out the shapes of the logos. (And Alex enjoys making the shapes even more interesting!) Then we put them all in little ziploc baggies that bear our names and we’re ready to go.

Then each week, I print out the schedule of games and one of us sets up the bulletin board with the week’s games. Everybody then pins up the logo of the team they expect to win and we have a nice little pick’s board hanging on our dining room wall. On Sundays we put up big colorful thumbtacks next to the choices that were correct.

There are five columns of predictions next to the game list. Dad, Ian, Alex (the original three participants), Mom & “The Girls” (our six- and four-year-old girls who work as a team). So far Emma and Cameron are not participating. But I’m sure they will!

Now, the best part this year is the current standings. The first year, I finished as the winner, but only by a narrow margin over our then 6-year-old son. Last year I believe Ian won, by a good amount of games (Dad finishing second) and this year? I know it’s only two weeks, but… the girls are SIX games ahead of the rest of us!!!

The Girls: 23-9
Dad: 18-14
Mom: 17-15
Alex: 16-16
Ian: 14-18

Too funny! I mean… those little girls probably have the best record of any prognosticators anywhere. And the best part is, they’re not just completely guessing! They actually know the teams, which ones tend to win more or less, and that home teams generally have the advantage over road teams. Incredible!

Family Fantasy SportsSo, along with our own family fantasy football league (hosted at FamilyFantasySports.com we have quite a bit of fun here in the Campbell household during football season!

(Fun except when Ian steals all of the free agent running backs that I am trying to pick up!!!)

🙂

by Greg

Book Sales Are Dangerous

Stack of BooksOur library has a book sale annually where they weed out their own collection as well as receive hundreds of donations from generous library users and other friends of the library. It goes on for quite a while after the official sale portion. The starting price is $1.00 for a hardcover book and $0.50 for a paperback. A very enticing price for a book lover, to be sure.

But the most dangerous time on our library’s book sale is about one week after the sale starts, they lower the price to $2/bag of books. And that’s when they hook both Jen and me. We can’t resist! And even our kids are getting into it now! Emma (our two-year-old daughter) and I were out on an “OK Night” (One-Kid Night) tonight and we stopped to have a look at the sale and came away with many more treasures filling another bag of books! (Many of which she picked out!)

I say another because well… we just got five bags last weekend!

You can’t beat a good book sale—nor can we resist it, apparently—but there quickly arises the issue of where to store all these books once you bring them home…

Time for more bookshelves!

If you’re a book lover, too, there are still hundreds of books left to browse! Come have a look.

by Greg

A Few Things I Love

Tonight I was noticing several things I love about our family, and I just wanted to write them down.

I love that our family reads. I mean really reads. We took our customary Monday walk to the library this afternoon (with MOM this time, since Grammy & Grandpa were here to stay home with the sleeping babies!) and each time we go to the library we can’t get less than a dozen books! (To be fair, there are MANY of us in this house…) And, when we get home, each kid finds a seat in the living room and begins devouring their new literary treasures. So great.

And then tonight, after giving the babies a bath, I asked Emma to pick out a book and read while I helped her older sisters get cleaned up themselves. I found her a very thick story book (with pictures) and once I showed her what a neat book it was she got very excited and ran to her bed to start reading it. Five or ten minutes later, she was still sitting on her bed, happily “reading” her book. She’s two!

All day long we are reading. Separately, together, doesn’t matter. And often we are telling one or more of the others something we’ve found interesting from one of those books. I love that our family reads.

I love that our family loves music. Tonight after the reading fun, we were finishing up getting ready for bed and I just decided to sing a couple songs with the girls. I didn’t think anyone was picking up on it, so I stopped after a verse of one song. A few moments after I was done, a tiny voice expectantly asked from her bed, “Sing more, Dad?” I looked over to see Emma, face and eyes beaming, slightly tilting her head… how could I say no? I sang another verse and she just giggled when I finished. She loved it!

So, I grabbed my guitar and we sang a few songs together in our extended bedtime routine. As soon as I grabbed my guitar, Emma found her little clay flute (from Argentina) and started playing that. Next thing I knew, she was out of her bed, standing in front of me waving her arms and dancing “ballet” with me. 🙂 She invited her sisters, and without much hesitation, the other two girls were doing the same!

We belted out the chorus, “How great is our God, sing with me, how great is our God!” until it was really time to be done. I put the guitar down and hugged each girl good night. As Emma was waiting her turn she continued to belt out, “How greaaaaaat….. is Goooooooooood!” And of course, always with a giant smile on her face.

Just beautiful.

And, just a day or two ago, we decided it was time to enjoy some other people’s music. And to enjoy it loudly. (I think I have passed along a great love for very loud music to my children from their Grammy, whom I believe still enjoys feeling her music!) We were boogying to some Michael Jackson (from his album Off The Wall.) Even Cam, our now one-year-old little guy was smiling, laughing, and dancing!

I love that our family loves music.

I also really love that our family knows God. Really knows him. Not just about him, or the concept of God. But that they think of him as a person, as I have come to know him in my adult life. I mean no slight to my parents (I am especially thankful for them today, too, as we’ve gotten to spend the last two days with them) but I do not recall growing up knowing the reality of God in our everyday life. Where he is part of our everyday thoughts, and speech, and actions. Not just doing “God” things either—like going to church, reading the Bible, and praying—but that he’s just part of who we are; we, the Campbells. I hope that will be a great foundation for all of our kids to have full and rich lives lived with and through him.

It’s been fun to watch it developing already. My morning reading with the boys involves reading some scripture (varying amounts) and then talking about it as we go. I love hearing their reactions, and thoughts, and questions… and then just working through them together. Me not necessarily teaching… more facilitating, and learning just as much as they are as we go.

There’s more, but this is already getting long. No way I could present an exhaustive list here. Perhaps I’ll pick up this thread again later, but suffice it to say… I just plain love my family. 🙂

by Greg

The Family That Reads Together…

Time Pirate by Ted BellI absolutely love reading with my kids. Love it. I think I especially love reading stories that stretch out over days and weeks (even months in the case of some longer books the boys and I have read together, like Oliver Twist, and Nick of Time). The pure joy of entering new worlds every time you crack open the book and smell the fantastic aroma of time worn pages, or brand new pages for that matter.

I love reading, period.

The boys and I are currently reading Time Pirate by Ted Bell. It’s an historical adventure (a fictional adventure story set in an historically accurate setting) so it brings up plenty of questions about true stories from the past. The two “Nick McIver adventures” books have been set near World War II, as well as some time in the 18th century (he’s a time traveler, so… that helps for exploring several historical eras). We’ve also touched on WWI since the people Nick looks up to (his Dad, and his older friend, Gunner) served in that war. Nick rebuilt and learned to fly a Sopwith Camel bi-plane from WWI, which means we also are learning about flying (and sailing in the previous book).

There’s so much to learn, and it’s fun doing it!

Here’s a list of books (not comprehensive) that are currently in progress in the Campbell home (Dad & kids reading … Mom has a whole list of her own to add – maybe she’ll comment?) 🙂

  • Time Pirate by Ted Bell
  • The Story of Winston Churchill by Alida Sims Maklus
  • Voyager: an adventure to the edge of the solar system by Sally Ride
  • The Sun and Other Stars (from World Book’s Solar System & Space Exploration Library)
  • Galaxies and the Universe (from World Book’s Solar System & Space Exploration Library)
  • The book of Acts (Today’s English Version) by Luke (and God…)
  • Fairy Tales by Hans Christian Andersen (I read this with only the girls)
  • Anything and everything by Mo Willems! (He’s great!)

As I said, that’s not comprehensive… perhaps it would be fun to share a more comprehensive list? If you’ve not noticed it yet, there is a list of books that I am currently reading (and sometimes I’ll share videos/movies/TV that I am watching there as well) linked at the very top of this site. (Or just click here.) You can also see (when I’m feeling ambitious and keep it up to date) a few of the current reads along the right sidebar. But those don’t always include books that I’m reading with the kids. Perhaps I’ll share some of our favorites as a new page there: Books I’m Reading With the Kids.

One thing is for certain: BOOKS are definitely part of the Campbell family identity!

by Greg

(A Very Brief) iPad Review

Last week we went up to our local Apple Retail Store and got to actually touch the new iPad!

And, yes… it was fantastic, as advertised.

I thought it might be fun to highlight a couple of things that I noticed and would say make the iPad worth the purchase. Certainly you may have a different list, or just disagree completely. But, without actually taking one home, here were my initial impressions/thoughts.

It’s Fast!
OK, I kept hearing everyone say this, but didn’t fully understand the hullabaloo as there aren’t really any Apple products that are slow. However, when you get into it and see how quickly everything launches, and that there is zero latency in how the stuff on the screen reacts to your contact with it … you understand. Apple took this part into their own hands by developing the 1 Ghz A4 chip to run their OS. They understand that what makes their stuff unique and great is that it, “just works.”

How It Felt
Clearly, it’s just an impressive device. When you see it, you can’t help but say, “Oooo.” That’s impressive to begin with, but then when you pick it up, it impresses further. Nice and thin, just about the perfect size for an handheld device (that doesn’t have a tiny screen or keyboard.) It was a tad heavier than I expected, actually, so that was a bit confusing to my brain. It was about the right size (height and width) and weight for a big hardcover book, but it was too thin to be a hardcover book!

Which leads me to the thing I liked best…

iBooks
iPad with iBooksI went in really wanting to see what books looked like and felt like on the iPad. I love the idea of digital books, but haven’t ever found a way that makes them enjoyable to see, read, and feel/touch. The iPad promised it would do that, and, I do believe it does. (Again, I have not actually used one, as I don’t own one yet. My opinion on this could change if I were to read a book or two on the iPad.)

The interface is just great. When you launch the iBooks app, you see a nice bookshelf with all your books there for you to choose from. Tap a book cover and you’re instantly in it, reading right where you left off. Check out the video at the top of this post (if you didn’t already) to see some of the other cool features.

The iBook store was very much like the iTunes store. Found some books fairly quickly, downloaded a sample of one, and was reading it within seconds. (Even on the store’s notoriously slow internet connection.)

I really think this is a big feature of the iPad and will perhaps do for (at least digital) books what iTunes/iPod did for music.

Camera?
The funniest thing I noticed was the spot for the camera, which is not currently a feature of the iPad. 🙂 Yes, there was a tiny hole/space right where a camera would go on the top of the front of the device. So, perhaps they are already in there? But, likely they are just saving the spot for a future (maybe near future) upgrade of the hardware. Thought that was interesting.

Final thoughts
I didn’t play with iWork, movies, games, maps, web browsing (ok, did that a bit… even updated the software that runs this blog!) … so there is much more to explore, but, from what I did see, it’s certainly a device that will be used—and used often.

Think of the iPad as another device. It’s not going to replace the laptop, which has much more expandability (including the use of more pro-level apps like Photoshop and Final Cut, and even consumer apps like iPhoto). It’s not going to replace your iPhone (or other “smart phone”) because, well… it’s not a phone!

(Note, however, that after playing with the iPad, we remained in the store for a bit, and while waiting to talk with a friend there, both my wife and I saw the iPhones and snickered at the thought of doing what we were just doing on the iPad on the iPhone’s (now) super tiny screen…)

The iPad is a perfect computer for what we use computers for at home. And you can even bring it with you, if you want. It’s great for kids. It’s great for students (think of the possibilities for the iBookstore and textbooks, plus the whole iWork productivity suite for only $9.99). And it’s great for Mom/Dad, Grandma/Grandpa who aren’t comfortable with a computer, but might be with this multi-touch interface device.

I think it’s certainly a great first release. With Apple’s track record, there’s no doubt it will only get better. (Speaking of which, don’t forget that this is only the Wi-Fi model. The Wi-Fi + 3G models ship in a couple weeks.)

Final conclusion… if you have the extra $499-$829 to spend, you will not be disappointed!

Your thoughts are welcome… Do you have an iPad? Let me know what you think!

DISCLAIMER: Though I was previously employed and otherwise officially affiliated with Apple, Inc., I am currently in no way affiliated with Apple, nor compensated for this glowing endorsement. I just like their stuff! 🙂