$5 Richer

A few days ago, I had a houseful of neighborhood kids. Unusual, I know. At any rate, I was still stressed about losing my camera. I don't usually lose things....I can misplace them for a day or two, but they usually end up being somewhere totally out of the ordinary and usually within a day or two I find it again. Not the case with my stupid camera. 3 1/2 weeks, it's been missing and not a day has gone by that I don't look 15 new places for it. So, a few days ago, with all the neighborhood kids in the house, I announce that I'm paying a $5 reward to anyone that finds my camera. Big mistake. These kids were pretty hard up for $5 and started tearing apart my house looking for the camera. I even had one kid looking through my dresser drawers for it...I had to draw the line right there. I'd all but given up on finding the camera - even started looking for deals on Black Friday to ease my pain.

Today, Kim's sister April, her husband Mike and their two boys arrive at our house to celebrate the holiday. My sister (Brenna) and I were in the middle of making pies - a total disaster, but I'll save it for another blog post - and the whole time I was thinking: "This would make a great picture...us in our cute aprons, trying to be all Martha-ish, and really, really stinking at it." We gave up on the pies (Thank goodness for Marie Callendar's frozen pie crusts) and April and I head to the store for some last minute items. As we're driving there, we're talking about the lost camera and Mike pipes up in the back seat " You know you're gonna find that camera in some totally absurd place "

We get home and the first thing someone yells is "Isaiah found your camera!! You owe him $5!" Sure enough, the little stinker's been at my house for less than an hour and he's $5 richer. And, Mike was absolutely right - it was in a totally absurd place - outside in the backyard laying in the grass. Don't ask me how it got there. My guess would be that it had something to do with someone who's name begins with an "N" and ends in an "atalie"....sounds like something she may or may not do.

So, the search is over. We've recovered the body of Mr. Nikon Coolpix. And, yes, it was a recovery. He is dead. After a few rainstorms, a couple of sleet storms and too many rays of sunshine, he is no longer with us. Looks like Santa may have to be nice to me anyway....

Detective Isaiah Nielsen

**Give him a call! He only charges $5!!**

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