Color me happy!

When digital cameras first hit the market ages ago, I was resistant to change. I always am. Once I figure out a way to do something, I like to stick with it til it is so stinkin' obsolete that I'm forced to change. I'm like that with everything. (In fact, I'm feeling that tonight with AOL...I've been having some issues with it, but I hate to change b/c I love AOL! Anyway...that's a whole other post!) I think we were the last people in America to own a CD player. And a DVD player. And ya know what? To date, we still don't have a DVR/Tivo. Or iPhones. Or any other sort of 'fancy' phone that you can do more than call someone with. So with all that said.....I did finally make the switch to digital vs film cameras.

A couple of years ago, my camera died on me. In a panic to replace it so I could take pictures of Sarah's baptism, I put out a request for one on Freecycle. I thought maybe someone was upgrading & would be willing to share their "outgrown" one. I had several offers, but ended up getting one my sister had stuck in a closet somewhere from her last upgrade. I took it & fell IN LOVE. It was as simple as my old camera had been, but took MUCHHHHH crisper, sharper, brighter pictures. I used that camera to death.

Literally...to death. I accidentally knocked it off the counter in my classroom on the day of my first Thanksgiving party back in November. I was devastated. We were in the middle of serious financial stress and I had *very few* dollars to spend buying a new one. I had another Thanksgiving party with my other class on the next day & I needed (or at least wanted!) another camera. On top of everything else, Christmas was coming & I knew I'd want to be able to take pictures of the kids & everything else related to Christmas. I asked friends & family, once again, if they were upgrading & had a spare camera I could borrow for a few months or buy cheap.

My sweet girlfriend came to the rescue. She had a garage sale a couple weeks prior & had attempted to sell a cheapie point & shoot camera. It hadn't sold & it was still sitting in the box in her storage building. I intended to BUY it from her, but forgot my checkbook when I went over to her house. She said to just borrow it or pay me later if I really felt like keeping it. Months went by before our finances improved & we both forgot about exchanging money for the camera. It's served its purpose, but the pictures it takes are not really clear or sharp, so I've been anxious to get a replacement for the old camera. I've looked at sale ads and checked a few in the stores. Lots of them caught my eye, but the pricetags were a little too steep for us right now, so I've looked on eBay for a duplicate of my old camera.

And guess what? I've found, and bid on, MANY of them. I've lost soooo many auctions, but finally last week, I got lucky & WON!!!!!!!!!!!!

I can't tell you how excited I was to rip into this box today & pull out my "new" camera!


It's identical to my old one so I know exactly how to use it, I've already got memory cards for it, the USB cord, etc. In fact, tucked away in some drawer in our desk, I have the manual for it, too! It was missing the lens cap & carrying strap, but I was still holding onto the old camera so I swapped those out, and voila....I'm sooo excited to have "my" camera back! Just in time for a big week at school this coming week, too!

Here's a pic of the old/new camera.



And the one I've been using since November.
Yeah, I know...it's still nothing fancy AT ALL, but it's clear & crisp & it makes me happy. So that's all that matters, right?