Texas & a Sewing Machine ?

So this is what Dean found interesting on the plane...and what Lucas does with his plunger.

Thanks for the tip about fabric barren-ness in San Antonio, Kid. We battled the crowds at Six Flags (Fiesta Texas!) instead. The last 2.5 hours in their water park were almost enough to do me in. But we did also tour the Alamo and get a little history of Texas. Lucas remains confused about all the Mexican people and isn't Texas a state in the US (I think he thinks we're in Mexico) and he didn't picture Texas looking like New York City. He doesn't get out enough, apparently.

Now my friend Lisa asked me for a rec on a good machine to learn to sew on that can be put away easily. I've only sewn on this new Janome 3128 a little bit, so if you guys have comments, fire away. I will say this one is small and light and sews great, though it is loud compared to my Brother and the foot pedal seems a little less sensitive than mine. Price is another issue - you can get this on sale at Hancock for $80 currently, whereas my computerized Brother PC-420 was $500. Do stay away from the embroidery models unless you want to take that up - those are thousands of dollars. I'll turn it over to the experts now...