Camera, oh camera, wherefore art thou camera?

Many of you who know me, know that my camera is pretty much a package deal with me. It travels with me--always safe in it's seat beside me or behind me. It's always in its case, protected from the mean outside world. It gets wiped clean regularly and babied. I love to take pictures of everything from flowers to barns, pets to people, and especially sports. So here's my story!

The day before track season officially began--and this is Hunter's first track season EVER--I get home to find that my camera is not working. I don't want to say on a public forum exactly what happened because I'm still praying the warranty will cover it, but let's just say one of my children did something they shouldn't have. Now, the camera from the outside looks great. Same as every other day....nothing wrong....UNTIL you try to turn it on. That's when it stops! DEAD!

I try to resist panicking (or killing my child), so I gingerly pick the camera up and carry it into my bedroom. I call the local camera shop only to find out the "problem" is going to cost me $150-$200 to fix. Then, I call Canon to hear them tell me it's going to cost $190 to fix. Pretty much the same story from both and I learned that this is why they don't make this particular part on the new Canons. GREAT! Thanks for telling me that now!

The next step is relaying that information to my dear husband, who is less than thrilled to hear it. He starts off by saying "I shouldn't have.....you know better....., etc.", but when he hears me tearing up decides I already know ALL of those things. We talk when he gets home and he even looks at it to see if there is a possibility he could fix it. I can't even find the part online, so we pretty much decide I'm out of a camera until I save enough to fix it. Even if I could send it off it can take 3 weeks or so to repair and get back, so track season is gone almost by that time anyway and baseball will have already begun. :(

I begin to think of all the opportunities to take pictures that I will miss---track, baseball, Chris' graduation from Army Basic Training, Charley's football kick off, possibly Chris' wedding, my is my head getting heavy! Here is what I will have to take pictures with for the next however long......

Yeah, like that will capture the memories!!!!!! :( 

So, then I had another thought. Check online to see when I bought it. I knew I had a 1 year warranty with it, but was almost sure my 1 year was up.  I checked and guess what?  I had purchased it on March 31 last year (the day it happened was March 29). 2 days! Really, God? 2 days?

I sent an email as fast as my fingers could type (which is pretty fast), but after checking it before bed a million times, there was no reply.  I jotted down the phone number and called it as soon as they opened the next morning (the 30th---1 more day!!!!). The lady I spoke with was very nice and sent me an email with the information I needed to send it back.

Now, here's where it gets interesting.....I have sent it back today (31st--last day of warranty) and am waiting to hear if it will be covered. I am praying that it will and would love for anyone who doesn't feel silly praying for a camera to pray with me. I saved for SO long to purchase this camera and was so sad to see it go in a box away from me. I posted on Facebook the other night that I loved that camera ALMOST as much as I love my children. :)

Yesterday, I had a friend loan me her Nikon to take pics at Hunter's 1st track meet because she couldn't be there. That was 1 out of 8!  I have another friend who offered to loan me her Canon to take to GA for Chris' graduation also. Just trying to make myself believe that I will survive if I don't get pictures from EVERY event (although I can't say I believe it yet). :) So, I will keep you posted. If you see me with a bummed look on my face, you'll know it's because my poor camera is travelling all alone to NY and back & I can't even go with it to take pictures. HA HA!

I know all my "camera buddies" will understand--even if the rest of you think I'm crazy. LOL!