Goodbye to a Loyal Friend

I nearly kissed the FedEx dude this morning when he appeared at my door with a brown box and a signature pad. I knew my good friend, my trusty Cannon Rebel XT, was back in my life. Things were looking up.

That was before I opened the box and found not only my camera inside but also his obituary. His official cause of death: "Moisture: repair to exceed replacement cost." If you're familiar with this camera, you know that's a pretty steep replacement cost. (Maybe this death in the family isn't the only reason I have a sick feeling in the pit of my stomach.) I also found a hospital bill of $105 which had already been charged to my visa. Needless to say, I picked up the phone. I'm soon to receive autopsy photos of the corrosion on the inside of my camera. As for the charges, they were for servicing my lens which I sent attached to the camera (which was totally fine). After 50-something minutes on the phone (which resulted in multiple catastrophes here at the homestead), I convinced Cannon to reverse those charges.

I'm wearing black today. I'm in mourning, you see...

(Just looking at the cruddy photos below (taken with the "stills" setting on my video camera) confirms to me what a fine friend my Rebel was.)

July 4th Catch-up

We spent the morning of the 4th at Grandma and Grandpa's carnival and breakfast. The kids love this carnival as they have an old-fashioned dunk tank, a High Striker game where you swing the hammer and try to ring the bell at the top, inflatables to bounce on, air-brushed tatoos and plenty of other fun. The kids and I each took a turn sitting in the dunking chair (yes, me). Jolie did it over and over. I should have listened to her when we were leaving the house and she asked for a towel (I told her she wouldn't need one, underestimating how wet a bucket of water can really make you).

In the afternoon we decided to see Up at the theater. Grandma came over to sit with Mia while she was taking her nap, which was a huge gift to me. I haven't sat all the way through a movie in years.

We were big old party poopers the evening of the 4th, didn't go to see fireworks or anything. I actually worked in the yard, pulling some of the thousands of weeds that took over the front flower beds while we were in Hawaii. The kids came out and did a little bit of helping and a little bit of playing. Jolie sang and danced to her HSM2 CD, showing me the dances in her play. It was a little difficult to watch our neighbors having a big patriotic barbeque and party, and we started to hear fireworks when we came in. We put the kids to bed amidst much whining and knashing of teeth. They did manage to watch part of a firework display from the boys' window after going to bed.

Flashback to the 80's

Between the recent death of Michael Jackson and today's shopping trip to Justice for Girls, I've found myself reminiscing of the glorious 1980s. Have you been to your local tweenie clothing store? Never in my wildest dreams did I think these hiddeous fashions would EVER come back. Guess again. And the little girls LOVE them (as much as we did).

My camera has been shipped off to the Cannon rehab clinic in Virginia so I can't show you what Jolie and I bought this afternoon. My favorite is the hot pink and black zebra striped "arm warmers" (remember those fingerless gloves?)with the silver chains. Jolie had to have them and she's been wearing them most of the day. We also bought hot pink knee-highs with sequined peace signs, peace sign jewelry, hot pink leopard print tights, a hot pink vest, and the swimming suit we went in there for. The kids' HSM2 performances start next week and she needed the suit as part of her costume.

I've been watching a lot of the news coverage about Michael Jackson. His music is like a soundtrack to my adolescence. My girlfriend, Lori, was a Michael Jackson maniac. She even wore one sequined glove on her (left?) hand. That was a little extreme for me but I did (and do) love his music and I still love to see him perform. RIP, M.J.