Camera thieves should have their hands cut off!!

I have to start this post by saying I would like to have a number of pictures to show for the 2+ weeks I was in Barcelona and southern France with the Professor but that is the reason for this post. I do not have pictures because on the last day of our trip, we were at the beach in Barceloneta on the Mediterranean Sea and my camera was stolen with all the memory cards, battery charger and all. EVERYTHING was in my backpack and they took that from right beside me - one second it was there and the next it was in the hands of some thief among a sea of a thousand tourists on the sand.

Now I know that the title of this blog is a bit harsh, but I am PISSED! The THOUGHT of someone TOUCHING my camera, handling all the gadgets, the batteries, the case...possibly looking at the pictures as they delete them to sell the thing, it makes me want to vomit. I feel violated. It's like they were touching ME, my husband and our lives.

I am also struggling with the thought that it was MY fault. I should have been more vigilant, I should have left my camera in the hostel, I should have SAT on my backpack while I lay on the beach and not have laid it beside me. I should have left the full memory cards in the hostel. SHIT. I'd give anything to have that moment back, to have left my camera in the safe confines of the locker of our room at the hostel.

But, it was our last day. We wanted to see the sea one last time. As we approached the beach, people had surfboards...we wondered why. The last time we were there, there was nary a wave that could be called surfable. This day though, it was windy and there WERE waves, surfable ones. The Professor was soooo excited. He is a longboarder and that means he is a surfer as well. Even though he has never surfed, I think he imagines himself doing it when he is on his long board. So, he was out there, immediately, playing with those waves and although he didn't have a board, he pretended he did.

I got some great video footage of him that day. It was the first video I shot the whole trip. I hadn't wanted to use up too much memory or battery beforehand but since it was our last day, I thought, what the heck? That was the last thing I will ever put on that camera.

We got the camera before the Professor went to Vietnam the first time. It was our first digital camera. We went with a small, portable one so that it would be easy for him to tote around, a Canon PowerShot SD1000 Digital Elph (I am looking at the box right now with the manual and cords still inside). I loved it. It took awesome pictures for such a small camera and only 7.1 mega pixels.

It wasn't the actual thing that I was so attached to but what I was able to do with the "thing". Photography became a hobby for me. Getting cool, interesting shots of people, places and things - I have a good eye for a good shot AND my pictures of Spain and France were INCREDIBLE!

Provence, with it's lavender and sunflower fields, it's stone houses with colorful wooden shutters. The summit of Mount Ventoux, where the Professor and I were so scared of falling off the edge we didn't think we'd be able to drive back down. Those pictures were taken from the door of my car because I was too afraid to get out for fear I'd be blown off the mountain top (I swear they sweep up the bodies every evening). The multiple castles. The castle of the Marquis de Sade in Lacoste, the random Salses castle originally Spanish but now in France built on a narrow flat streak of land along the coast of the Mediterranean Sea. So many more. Our tour took us to many Roman ruins as well. The Pont Julien (Julian bridge),in Bonnieux near Apt, France which we specifically went to to take pictures of for our eldest son whose name is Julian. It was built over the Calavon river but I'm sure the river has changed since the Romans marched over that bridge for today there is just a small puddle or two left of the Calavon.

Oh, I could go on and I just might in the next blog which will be more about my trip than the camera but I needed to vent. I MAY need therapy. The Professor says I should buy a BETTER camera - the Nikon D90 was suggested to me by the make-up counter lady at Macy's (I went there to replace all the make-up that was stolen as well). I just don't know, small and compact is nice, easy... but maybe I go for big and better now. It is just too soon. I have to mourn the SD1000 for a bit and be without.

Little Man Update

We have made it out of the dark tunnel. This wasn't done alone. It was done with an incredible amount of love and healing energies from people near and far, people close to us and people I might not even know.

The Little Man is walking again. He is without walker or crutch. He has a slight leg length difference (his left leg is 3 cm shorter than is right) that he didn't have before, so he wobbles a bit. The doctors say that this should correct itself in 1-2 years. All regular activities have pretty much resumed although mom is a bit hesitant to allow sledding, skating etc...The Little Man though is resilient and oblivious to his wobble or what he has gone through.

At Gillette in October just after break

I guess this is the light that the nine year old holds...he is very much in the present (although he has already been planning his double digit birthday coming up this summer). The Little Man has physical therapy twice a week now. One day is land therapy at Gillette Children's Hospital and the other day is water therapy.

Water Therapy started in late November

Going to Gillette weekly, I see how lucky we are. The Little Man is walking, unlike so many who will never walk. He talks, unlike many who will never utter a word.

Minnesotans complain a lot about the weather. This incident has converted me from a fellow commiserator to a daily gratitude giver. I wake up thankful for all the little things. I am thankful for the snow, the cold, my heated home with warm bed covers that are soft and fluffy. I get out of that bed every day and I am thankful that I can. I walk out the door on my own each day...unassisted. I eat... unassisted. I taste delicious foods. I have a variety of food to chose from. How LUCKY is that?!

Yes, very thankful...for all the little things.

Etch- A -Sketch Prodigy

Ok - I suppose every parent thinks that their child is talented, special and fairly smart. I am no different. BUT... the Little Man, who is nine and in a cast is freakishly talented. No, he is not reading "Being and Nothingness" by Jean Paul Sartre or doing quantum physics...he is creating amazing pictures on Etch-A-Sketch! You know, the magnetic thing that uses one continuous line!

Now, if you have read my earlier blogs and have seen pictures of my house you will see the resemblance. This is a picture of our house, trees, bushes, wood-chip paths and all! I barely can write my name legibly on Etch-A-Sketch. Now, please tell me if I am blowing this out of proportion but I have never seen an Etch-A-Sketch picture like this...well, only in the movie "Elf". Pretty cool.

MN 80's music - here's to you Gary

The Professor and I watched the B52's on Gary's site...it brought us waaaayyy back. The Professor said as he watched, he could smell the smells of the time.

As he and I are both very passionate about music we thought we would share one of The Professor's all time favorite bands of the 80's. He once wrote a personal note to Chan Poling, who is now in "The New Standards" and he wrote back. Beej Cheney is one of his all time guitar heroes.

Feel the feelings and taste the flavor of the 80's.

'80's flashback

What makes you feel good when you are feeling down? A flashback from the '80's! I used to go dancing 6 nights a week in Minneapolis. I think the only night I didn't go out was Monday, every other night there was dancing... somewhere. I have tried to go out dancing in recent years but have not had quite the experience that I used to. I really believe it is the music. It is just not as good.

The best times I have had dancing recently have been in someones living room. Most recently it was to "Hung up" by Madonna. She's inspirational - I WILL DO YOGA EVERYDAY!!!!

Update on the Little Man

He is home now, in better spirits and taking things in stride. The surgeon in charge of his surgery drew this witch on his cast to help make him feel better. His favorite holiday is Halloween - the first thing HE drew on his cast was a jack-o-lantern.

The hospital bed arrived yesterday evening and we put it in the front room. He also has a wheelchair that reclines that he is able to move around in. I would like to get him outside as the weather here has been gorgeous and the fall colors are bright and in bloom but it may be a bit too soon for that as he opposes the idea of anyone other than good friends and family seeing him in a wheelchair.

There is hope though that he will be able to maneuver around in crutches down the line since he has his right leg free from the knee down...we'll see what happens.

What good comes from something like this? A friend said that it is "love" and I believe she is right. We have had such an outpouring of love and support from our family, friends, co-workers, and schoolmates that it makes things so much more bearable. The Beatles sung it like this..."All You Need is Love".

Send prayers/ healing energy this way please

The little man (my son, age nine)was born with a genetic bone disease called Osteogenesis Imperfecta type I. He breaks bones more easily than most. Luckily his "type" is not the most severe kind. He doesn't break when you touch him or is unable to live a complete life because of his disease. Up until now, most of his breaks have been fairly manageable, not extremely painful.

Today though, I am sitting by his bedside in the hospital where they care for kids with chronic conditions. While playing on the monkey bars yesterday at school, he fell and landed quite wrong on his leg hearing his bone snap as he landed. We were unable to move him when I got there and called 911. He was in excruciating pain and it took hours to transport him to the ER. It then took hours to try and get an x-ray because he could not move his left leg and the pain was so horrible when anyone else touched it even with morphine.

What we know now is that he has a spiral fracture to his left femur. The x-ray they finally got was ugly. The doctor said that it looked more like the type of break you see when you are in a massive car accident.

We are currently waiting for the surgeon to tell us what will happen next. We know that he will have to have some kind of surgery to put the bone back into place and either put in plates or wires to stabilize it. After that he will probably be in a full body cast- BOTH legs and hips from his waist down to his toes for weeks.

If you at all believe in the power of prayer or healing collective energies, please send them to the little man. He will need to be strong and patient with himself. He will need to be brave in endure the pain and he will need have courage to not get DIScouraged...he WILL heal! I also pray that he will not have to go through another break like this again and that this will be his last large bone break.

We are lucky to have family around us at this time for strength and help as we will need it caring for him as the weeks go.

This is bad but could be worse. We have hospitals, we have medicine, we have food, we have shelter and our family is together. There are many people who have experienced worse. I send my healing energies to them as well as my own son.