Well sounds like you need something fairly portable so you won't be looking at the bigger cameras, I am biased to Canon as I find them so much better than the other brands I have used. I am not saying they are the only choice obviously, but they are good cameras.
Lisa's is a nice camera and is definitely worth a look! If you don't need the extra geatures, save the extra and go for that one, but have a look around, you need to be sure it will do what you need it to and are likely to need it to for a few years I would guess!
Battery life is good on the Canons and you can get fast SD cards to make the most of the technology available to you.
Whatever you do, make sure you have optical zoom and not just digital zoom and check the measurements to ensure it is a good size for you, ideally check them out instore even if you buy online.
