July 4th

This year was Matt's first July 4th off in forever. And how did he spend it? Puking. He got the stomach flu and spent all weekend puking. Connor and I have been keeping our distance, in hopes of not catching it. So far, so good (knock on wood). Connor and I headed to Heather and Joel's to celebrate the 4th (in case you haven't noticed by now, we go over there a lot--they have a lot more space for entertaining). There were other family members and neighbors there, which meant six kids total (and a happy Connor). We played, ate, and had our own little fireworks show. It was so much fun! And not wanting to be the inconsiderate wife, I occasionally called or texted Matt to check on him and see if he needed anything.

Anyhow, I would love to post pics of all the fun and chaos, but I didn't bring my camera. Why? Because one of my lenses (which is no longer under warranty) is broken (again) and my built-in flash is also broken. I did some research and found that the flash on my particular model (Nikon D50 SLR--since discontinued) has been a problem. To replace the lens, I'm looking at $200+. To fix the flash, I'm looking at $150+. Or to buy an external flash, I'm looking at $200+. Either way, I'm looking at $400+ to regain full picturing-taking capacity. However, if I buy a brand new, upgraded SLR camera (I'm looking at the D60), which comes with the lenses I want, it'll cost $700. So, it looks like I might be getting an early Christmas present in the next few months. Why fix an outdated, discontinued model when for a few hundred more I have the newest one--and under warranty? But in the meantime, my picture taking will be limited to daytime pics. Better than nothing, though...