A Baby Shower and a Good-bye...

Last Saturday, I helped throw Laura's baby shower up in Ashburn. It turned out wonderfully! There was a huge crowd of fun ladies that came, a silly game involving words like "engorgement" and "conception", and tons of awesome gifts for the new mama. Laura looked like she was having a ball, which was exactly what I wanted. My family all pitched in to help set up, decorate, make food, and clean and I have to say, it looked beautiful and was a blast.

As most of you know, I'm addicted to taking pictures of everything. My Nikon D40 SLR is my constant companion and more often than not, I'm snapping away during events. Such was the case at the shower. I was the only one taking pictures and I probably snapped over 100 photos of ladies talking, Laura opening gifts, the cute favors, and the little kids that accompanied their moms. Unfortunately, I am unable to post any of said pictures because...

...my camera disappeared during the shower and is nowhere to be found. We were holding the shower at my mom's house and it was over, but most of the guests were still there when I set my camera down on the kitchen counter and walked away for about 5 minutes to talk to some friends. I came back and it was gone. I didn't think too much of it at the time because my cousin had been helping me take pictures during the shower and I figured she had it somewhere. She didn't. After the shower we tore the house apart looking for it. I dug through the trash, searched all the gifts, looked in every nook and cranny, every cupboard and in every room of the house. Heck, I even checked the dishwasher and refrigerator. Gone. It's not a small camera you put in your pocket, easily lost or misplaced. It's a substantial SLR with a large lens attached that won't fit in a small purse let alone a pocket. It's not like it could have been accidentally thrown away in the pile of tissue paper.

I've come to the sad, depressing conclusion that it had to be stolen. And stolen by someone at the shower. The worst part? The only people at the shower were close friends and family. I expected to feel angry, but to my surprise, all I really felt was sadness. I was sad for me because I was losing a great camera that I cannot replace anytime soon, I was sad for Laura because it happened at her shower, and I was sad for the person who took it. Think about it: in order for someone to do something like that, there are only two possible explanations. One, they are a kleptomaniac and therefore have a mental illness of compulsion, or two, they were so desperate for the money they could make by selling it that they were willing to risk important relationships (i.e. family and friendships) to get it. George claims there is a third explanation--that they wanted the camera and just didn't care--but in my heart I just can't accept that. In any case, the camera is gone and I cannot replace it, nor the hundreds of pictures I had yet to download.

I've priced new SLR's but realize our family does not have the $1000+ it would cost to buy another camera like the one I lost and it will most likely be years before we do. If any of you own an SLR, you know once you have one you can never go back to a little hand-held. You'll always be disappointed by the quality of the photos and the annoying delay that makes you miss all the perfect shots/funny faces your kids make. Oh well. For now, we're using George's 7-year-old digital camera he got before his mission. It does it's job and I guess that's good enough.

To my Nikon, wherever you are: You were a great friend, my trusted companion in my quest to capture the little moments in life, each precious day "in paradise". Good-bye, old friend. I miss you already.