Ah, the sound of money, eh?

Much to the surprise of many at work, we received a bonus this year. And while thinking and thinking of what to do with mine, I had two major issues to concern myself with. First, whether or not I should cash it and go wild or deposit it into the checking account. Then secondly, if I should splurge and spend it on a new toy or do the responsible thing and pay off some debts.

After mulling over this for almost two weeks, I finally made a decision today.

It is a "bonus" right? It is money I normally wouldn't have, right? It is money I didn't expect...

So, I decided to splurge. Probably to no surprise of my family. To put it lightly, I've had a reputation to be somewhat irresponsible with my bank account in the past. Over the past couple of years I've done much better. Living on my own, having a career, and now having many creditors - I've pretty much been forced into it. It's for the better, though. And over the next year, I'm certainly going to have much more of an opportunity to start saving money. It was such a great feeling to hear "this account is closed" over the phone today, when calling First Third Bank to see if my last car payment went through. No more car payments... You have no idea how great of a feeling it is for me to say those four words.

Anyhow, so you're probably asking what I splurged on. To skip over the specifics, I may as well just show you...

This would be the 17-70mm F2.8-4.5 DC MACRO lens from Sigma. I found a fairly good deal on the lens and really couldn't pass it up.

I had thought long and hard about some things I really could use to spend the bonus check on and came up with either a lens for my Canon 350D or an external hard-drive for my laptop. Both are items I've been wanting and needing for quite some time. After some contemplation, I decided I would probably enjoy the lens far more than the hard-drive. I ordered the lens just about an hour ago and have a lens hood coming from Sigma, itself, as well.

The lens comes very highly recommended and I was sure to check on many, many reviews on the performance and versatility of the lens. One of my favorite photography review sites, FredMiranda.com, indicated great reviews and many described it as performing just as good, if not better, than some of the higher-end Canon lenses. It also sounds like everyone who has purchased it, has made it an all-purpose, walk-around lens. And that's something I desperately need. The kit lens (an 18-55mm) performs alright for my purposes, but I know a better lens would make a world of difference in my outdoor/nature photos. Premium glass results in better IQ (image quality) and deeper color contrast and better builds often result in faster lenses. Sigma has a strong reputation for both. On top of that, I've wanted a lens with wider and longer focal lengths since I bought the camera nearly two years ago. A 17-70mm range would be excellent!

So, again, yes I've spent the bonus check! Although, I'm sure you all would be even happier to know I will still have money left over. No, the check wasn't THAT much! :) I was just lucky enough to find great deals.

Thanks, Al Gore, for inventing the Internet. Hah!