Hmmm...

In light of the recent events I started wondering if there was still Christmas spirit in the world. I started but soon realized that it was up to me to make sure that it does live on in my kids. I was bummed and even for several days I was just a breath away from tears. Every thing that was taken was just material and could over time be replaced. Unfortunately with my camera it was more the sentimental value.
As I came to terms with the loss of the camera I was drawn back to its beginning. I remember the day we bought it. It was not my idea to buy a camera that day, Heath had decided he wanted a camera. I remember being very impatient as Heath looked over every camera several times over and then being insistent on a cute little camera.
Some how I did adopt the camera and began to use and over time I called it mine.
That camera went every where with me and I have captured some of my favorite people with.
Out of anger and frustration I posted on Craigslist a rant about my stolen items. I had several people respond offering their sympathy and advise. These were people that did not know me! I was amazed by their concern.
Shortly there after I was browsing Craigslist, which I do about every day, and I saw a post that I had been looking for. The headline read "Canon Powershot S2IS...$75". At first I thought it was MY camera and it was now being placed on Craigslist for sale. I clicked on the link with my heart beating since it had been there since the morning so the odds were slim. One of the ladies that had sent me a response to my original had sent me another email letting me know it was there if I had not already found it.
I waited all night to hear a reply and when by morning I had heard nothing I figured it had been sold.
We purcahsed a couple of other things through Craigslist for the kids (shhhhhh...) and had to drive to another town to pick up the items. On our way back we decided to run to Toys R Us because we are looking for a specific transformer. (I know now as kids get older it gets harder to shop for them. Their list gets more specific and more expensive!)
On our way into the parking lot I got a email telling me she still had a camera available! I arrange a pick up time.
Unfortunately it was not MY camera but it was my camera model!
I quickly checked it over. It was my camera minus the dents scratches, wear marks and memory card. It had definitely seen less abuse than mine but it did come with the manual and the RCA cables that I had lost for mine.
I bought it.
Then a couple of days later I found a lady who was selling a new memory card for 10 dollars and I bought it as well.
So my Christmas present from Heath and the kids was my camera back. He was looking into getting me a camera for Christmas but as I told him I did not want or need a new camera especially when I could mine for so cheap!
It works just fine for what I need.

These are just a few of the pictures I have taken with it.
I am So happy that I will have my camera to capture Christmas morning!
As for life we are all doing good. We did hit a little road bump at the start of the month but we have made it though a little wiser and closer for it. As I am sure everyone has heard my sister was living with us and she took us for all of dvds, music cds and my camera along with diong drugs in our home. At first I was so angry and in disbelief. I wanted my stuff back and I wanted an apology. I soon realized that neither were coming any time soon. I think finally letting go of those silly wishes is what allowed me to get over it.
The pain that still lingers is the fact that she ran to my family here and turned them against us making us out to be the bad guys because we put her out of our house. As for me I really could care less if someone thinks I am a bad guy but I am ashamed that my family got the chance to meet my husband and kids and they pull the stuff they are pulling. They act like we over reacted and had no right to throw her out. The thing that bothers me is I did not ask any of them to take our side I respected that they wanted to remain neutral, or so I thought. I guess the fact that she stole and did drugs in our home and was mean to our kids means nothing.
When everything happened I panicked a little. I was scared that the bills she had left us with would overwhelm us and we would be back at square one especially with Christmas right around the corner. We were fine. This Christmas is our first REAL Christmas here and we are done shopping and the kids will want for nothing. I guess the whole "saving" thing works. :) We are going into Christmas and the New Year with our bills paid and while we lost some possesions we still have two healthy wonderful kids and a roof over their heads. Ah the simple things.
Hunter will be going in for surgery on the 30th to repair his hernia. It sounds simple enough. A two incut in his lower right abdomen poke the intestines back in adn then sew him back up. The hardest part will be keeping him from being rowdy was the pain goes away.
This will be the first time one of my kids has undergone surgery and while it is minor I still worry.
Heather is doing well. She grows up a little more every day. Her hormones get the best of her most days and we are learning that we should be careful how we look at her because it could be the wrong way and either she gets mad or cries. Some days she just can't decide which. I feel for her. She is in the akward phase where she is trying to determine if she is a little girl or a big girl.
We are thinking of getting her into to some kind of class for target shooting due to her amazing skills. We got a game when we bought our Wii called Link Cross Bow Training. Well Heath has taking a liking to it and came home the other day to discover that his best score was beat severly by Heather. For example, Heath's high score would be 3,000 points which was really good but Heather's would be 20,000. Heath was so convinced that Heather was cheating that he brought her down to play in front of us all. She kicked but!
Her aim is amazing and Heath was blown away!
Today we finished up the last of our shopping for Christmas day dinner which I am glad it was the last shopping we had to do! The crowds were horrible as were the attitudes.
I am on crutches now and you would think people would be a little more compasionate but no. I have gotten pushed cut off and laughed at the last couple of days.
I went into the doctors again yesterday and the news on my knee is worse. I am sceduled to see a surgeon on the 29th for what they think is a severe meniscus tear. I am on crutches and painkillers which is not a good combo!
So our stockings are hung and the presents are all wrapped. Heath has started chilli and the ham for tomorrows dinner is in the fridge. We are stocked up on soda, beer and even a bottle of wine. Cookies will be made later for Santa and the kids will get showers and warm glasses of milk before bed.
We are looking forward to not having to leave the house for the next two days. It will be not just a time for presents but a time for family and while not all our family is here in person you will all be here in our hearts and thoughts!


Ps:
Yesterday while waiting in the Dr's office I found this article and I wanted to share it.
It read...
I gave up on christmas when I was 16. It wasn't Christmas' fault: In the throes of puberty, a series of disappointments had lef t me in existential despair. Awkward and acutley self-concious, I measured myself against my peers and found myself wanting. My friends had done some mesuring of their own, and their repeated small rejections broke my heart. On Christmas Eve, with the mocking lights of the house across the street twinkling through my window, I lay in bed recalling with bitterness the simple joy that this night used to bring, before my belief in magic withered and I saw the world as it truly was. Life, it was now abundantly clear, was full of suffering and injustice. In desperation, you could pray for help and no help would come. We were all ultimately alone.
I was wrong about most of that, or at least about the conclusions I drew from the hard realities. Paradoxically, it wasn't just wonderful experiences that gradually transformed my perspective, but also the most painful ones: loving and losing. Enduring the death of my brother some years ago and of my father this year. Witnessing my teenage daughter's own encounter with despair. It was through these and other struggles that I came to understand-was taught, somehow-that despite its cruelties and suffering, life is ahrdly pointless, but rich with meaning. Our bonds with each other, I learned, are stronger that our isolation, stronger even than death. I came to appreciate the heroism and nobility of every individual life, and and of the light humanity chooses to shine even in the darkest hour.
Merry Christmas Christmas my friends and family.
William Falk