OOOoooops. *sigh*

First off, I would just like to say that my world has gone batty. Bonkers. Crazy. Freakin' unbelievable. Although I am very happy to have the children in school, the amount of stress incurred by trying to meet buses, sign all paperwork, remember what time each child is doing what, and making sure each child actually has shoes on before leaving the house is making my head throb. I have a job, fgs! How do other mommies DO this?! I believe I will have another glass of wine before continuing...

Okay. Better now.

Lake Winnipocket (sp?)

Here is the lake I float around on when visiting mom. Just hours of me and the fish and the sun...it really is heaven.

Thursday of my vacation started out just that way - floating. First on my back for an hour or so, and then I layed on my belly. Had to take off the sunglasses so that I could lay comfortably, of course. There really aren't very many places to put your glasses when you are out in the middle of a lake on an airraft, so I put them next to my head where they were sure to be safe. Only I didn't make allowances for a rapid movement of my arm to shoo away the dragonfly that had landed on my leg...yeah...the glasses went to the bottom of the lake. And they were my favorite, too. I was ohsosad...

When I finally came in from all the floating and sighing and whimpering, I was surprised to hear that I was going to Town for a random errand - an errand that was sure to take me near a Target. (Don't all errands take you to or near a Target Store?) After a long and wind-y drive through the forests, we emerged in some sort of shopping center that indeed have the store I needed the most. And a Circuit City. Which is apparently where my mom's errand was to be completed. That lady marched right in the door, straight to the camera section, and very cooly announced, "I will take a Nikon D70, please."

Whaaa? Knowing that she already had that model, I was confused and fascinated by her indulgence.

"We don't actually have that model, ma'am. The D80 has arrived, and we are all out of the one you are referring to. And the D80 is on sale! One thousand dollars...same price as the D70..." and that is where my comprehension level failed me.

One thousand dollars? Fgs.

"No thank you," mom replied, "I want a D70. Will you please check with your other stores to make sure there isn't one in inventory?" While one clerk complied with her wishes, the other tried to sell her a D50! (Silly boy. They don't know my mom.)

After finding out that the inventory was indeed depleted, my mother marched me across the street to a mall and repeated the same routine at a camera shop. And, to her glee, they did indeed have the D70.

Which it turns out - she was buying for me.

Can you believe this? For me. ME! Ohmygawd...me...

Everyone in the shop was so excited for me, and made a giant show of the "taking ownership of the new camera" ritual. The salesgirl put on the strap, placed it around my neck, and wished us good and happy picture taking - the perfect culmination to an amazing surprise.

Walking outside with my $1000.00 camera was like entering the world anew - so many pics to take, so little time! Only... as I took my first step into the parking lot my beautiful, amazing, fantastic camera fell right off my neck. Dropped- and shattered on the asphalt with a sickenly metallic sound. Broke. Done. Irretrievable. Complete devestation. Scr*w me in the head - I just broke the camera my mother bought me and I have had it less than 20 minutes...

Mumbling and sighing incoherently, I was led/pushed back into the mall - back into the store where my fantastic adventure had begun only moments before. Only to be ended by this senseless tragedy. "Oh no!", the salesperson said, "What HAPPENED?". I was apparently unintelligeble at this point, but somehow the tragedy was explained sufficiently enough for her to say - much to my amazement - "Oh, honey. Let me get you a new one. That was completely my fault because I put the strap on wrong, I bet." Whaaaa?


That camera store gave me a brand new camera, no questions asked, no paperwork involved, no exchanged exasperated looks...a brand new camera. With the strap on correctly.

And then I went and got new sunglasses.

WOOHOOO! Thanks mom! ;)