My Life in Pictures (or not)

Last week was our spring break. You know, the week that was beautiful for all of two days, then cold and rainy the remainder of the week? Yeah, that week. Woo hoo for spring break.

In spite of the weather, I was really excited about our plans. I was going to take the kids to the zoo on Monday. On Tuesday, we went to a puppet show in Ben Wheeler which will be featured on Texas Country Reporter at some point in the future. Then the rest of the week my husband and I were going to spend some time in on of my favorite places in the world...the Texas hill country.

I want with all my heart to tell you what a great time we had. We went to the zoo and had a great time. The kids even got to enter an aviary and feed birds off popsicle sticks. The tigers and lions were on the prowl, and the otters were especially playful.

Jackson and Sadie loved the puppet show, and I loved the fact that I got to meet Bob Phillips...the host of one of my all time favorite shows.

Fredericksburg was still a really great place to visit, even though it took us a stressful six hour drive in the rain to get there. We got to hear great music and just relax for a couple of days.

I would show all of these escapades to you, but when we arrived in Austin, someone broke into our car and stole our laptops, my iPod, ...and my camera.

I know.

The night it happened, I was sick. But it wasn't until a few hours later that I realized my camera was in the bag with my laptop. My camera with the zoo pictures. And the Bob Phillips pictures (okay, I wasn't bold enough to ask for his picture, but I did take the kids' picture beside the Texas Country Reporter Expedition). And Christmas. And Sadie's first birthday. And the little moments that just warrant a picture.

My heart hurts over those moments that are probably erased by now, but at the very least are in the hands of someone who doesn't cherish them like I do. More than that, I'm angry. I'm angry at myself for taking all that nonsense with me, and I'm angry at a complete stranger who caused me to lose faith in complete strangers.

But the realization I'm trying to hammer into my head is that, in the end, it was just stuff. Most of my pictures were saved other places, thankfully. Laptops can be replaced. I will eventually get another ipod, and I will probably spend another week loading my songs back onto it. And I am so very glad that when I do get another camera, I can take more pictures of my beautiful children. Because regardless of what was taken from me, they are still here. And they are what keep me from losing faith in humanity altogether.

So take that, slimy thief person.