Bryce and Parker make me UN-smile (but only for a little while)

Yesterday started out alright.  I got lots of cleaning done (recovering from a long weekend is always bonus work...you know what I mean).  I took a trip to DI (a 2nd hand store) and found some treasures to save for Christmas.  The kids were pleasant and things were going well.

Then the afternoon got rough.  Josh and I spent much of the afternoon phone fighting with an instacare and medical equipment company that are trying to bill us for a nebulizer that we returned to them unused within their 24 hour time limit in December. 

PJ and Bryce posing together blissfully unaware that in a a few short
months I would no longer be able to capture their smiles with this camera
because it would be broken.  Sad day.  (But the boys are still cute).

The rep we returned it to said we should be fine and there would be no bill because we returned it in time, but three months later someone decided to bill us anyway and we've spent two months trying to get them to fix it.  No one seems willing to help and now it looks like we may be paying $150 for a nebulizer that we don't even have so we don't get dinged on our credit just before we have to buy a car since our van conked out (grrrrrrr, I am NOT happy about any of this). 

Long story short, it was a long, hard afternoon already.  Then I went out for a bit and left Josh with the kids.  When I came home Logan (age three) was waiting at the door and immediately chirped through his smile, "Bryce and Parker broke the camera!"

WHAT!  I was only gone an hour!  We just bought that camera last November (because our previous camera magically vanished).  Apparently Josh gave PJ permission to take a couple of pictures which Bryce then wanted to see, but PJ didn't want to show him so a struggle ensued which ended in my camera smashing to the floor. 

Now the lens won't move.  It's hard to take pictures when the camera can't focus.  The camera also makes a sickening rattling noise if you shake it, that is new.

My sweet husband tried to take the thing apart to see if he could fix it.  Man, there are a lot of bits and pieces in there.  Fixing the thing seems hopeless (although I thought it was really wonderful of him to be willing to try because he knew I was upset).

We really got after the boys.  They felt bad.  There were tears involved (from them and me...but no screaming, that's something).  Then once I calmed down a bit, I felt bad that they felt so bad.  So, Josh and I wrote them each a note telling them how much we love them and how much more important they are than a camera (or anything else we own).  We left the notes on their beds to find this morning. 

I guess we will be using Josh's phone as our family camera for a while, or maybe our five year old digital camera that sucks batteries like crazy (we did learn that if we take the batteries out when we are not using it they last a bit longer, we'll give it a try...at least we have something). 

Anyway, it was a rough afternoon/evening.  Sometimes life is just like that.  I guess it makes you appreciate the good days even more.  Maybe I needed a reminder of that.  Here's to hoping today will be a better day.  Of course, they say the day is what you make of it, so maybe I just need to DECIDE today will be better. 

Either way, I'm hoping for a great day.  No new disasters would be awesome!