Recovered

It's been a long couple of weeks.  Getting broken into has had a few effects in our family.  It seems I feel the need to lock doors now.  I don't feel "crazy" about it, but still...when Tracy isn't there I don't feel quite "safe".  We've been ok for the most part now that Sarah is back to sleeping better.  She had some problems getting her work in at school and paying attention, but it seems to be mostly back to normal now.  Life is starting to go back to how it used to be.

We did have an interesting experience yesterday.  We went to two pawn shops with the local police to look for some of our things.  Evidently we are unusual in that we kept some pictures and information on things taken.  We have been pretty good about keeping boxes for laptops, phones, etc for at least a few years as well as receipts for major purchases.  Funny enough, the camera we just got the day before the theft was one of the things stolen.  We had the receipts and serial # handy and were able to get it back yesterday!  Luckily we had only taken a few test shots with the camera so I wasn't worried if we received the chip back.  The biggest thing is not having a good camera to take pictures with.

The visit to a pawn shop can be an interesting experience!  There were some pretty unsavory folks in the pawn shops we visited.  I know this may not be the case everywhere, but personally I wouldn't have gone in these by myself.  They had some great merchandise by the way...I looked around while we were waiting for the managers.  The one police officer indicated that although the shop is required to take and ID from each seller...because people don't always have a great description of their property...much of what was there will have been stolen but can't be proved.  Did you know that a laptop is stolen every 53 seconds, and that more than 12,000 laptops disappear each week from U.S. airports alone and only 3% of laptops are ever returned.  I saw that evidenced in these shops.  As tempting as these deals were I don't think I could buy them from there, knowing that there was a possibility that I was benefiting from someone else's loss.

Oh...revelation:  criminals are really that stupid!  The people that stole our camera took pictures of themselves and people they knew with our camera...sometimes in front of our stuff...and left the chip in the camera!  We were also told that this is not an unusual thing!  Some of the pictures were pornographic in nature so I didn't actually look at all of them, but Tracy was able to pull them off and supply them to the police and the insurance company.  Crazy, right?

So basically...I'm feeling better about things.  We will be getting our lost list into the insurance company and hopefully getting some reimbursement for that...and I've learned some interesting new stuff.  I'm sure more will follow :)

Tish & Tracy 10-14-1995

My husband and I have been blessed to have found each other.  Today we have been married 15 years.  We have known each other 21 years.  By now, there have been a lot of lost marriages along the way.  I'd like to say I know what makes a good marriage over one that won't last but sometimes you just don't know.  I know that we faced marriage as being a forever deal.  I haven't been sad for even a moment that we chose each other.  There have been a few challenges but I have to say I still feel like the luckiest woman alive.  I heard Tracy tell our friend Sean this last weekend at his wedding, to do at least one nice thing a day for each other...even if she doesn't acknowledge it, it changes the way you look at marriage.  You are each other's best friend, the one that should be there always, even when you don't feel like it.  I've always felt like Tracy has been there for me.  He does more than just one nice thing a day for me.  Sometimes I'm overwhelmed by how much love he gives me and Sarah.  I hope that he feels that way too.  I can't wait for the next 15 years....who knows what life will bring, but I do know whatever it is, I can face anything with my dearest husband with me

Our friend Sean married his best friend this weekend. It was such a beautiful wedding. It reminded me of Tracy's and my wedding 15 years ago. This was the first time we met Kendra and I am sure we would be friends if we could spend time together. I can tell already that she is just the person Sean should have in his life. We were able to spend the weekend sans child. It is unusual for us to go anywhere without Sarah but we decided to honor the kidless reception and enjoy our "almost" anniversary. We came back exhausted but happy to have been able to spend some grown up time together. Happy Wedding Kendra and Sean!

Invasion....

We got broken into.  Thankfully Tracy had left the house for a few hours and he didn't encounter them, however they did invite themselves to a few of our things.  I guess the money amount is probably not that much for most people...and we do have homeowners insurance but I still feel invaded upon.  The police didn't show up for 5 hours so we got to "stew" in the loss before they came.  They took a 60" flat panel, 2 laptops (the one we just got for Sarah's birthday), my purse - which I left on my dresser because my shoulder was hurting and I didn't want to lug a big old purse around, an old ipod, Tracy's jewelry box with some family history, Sarah's allowance that she had been saving and our change jar.  Oh, and they took the wine out of the wine cooler.  It was not a major invasion but now I'm crazy about locking the doors.  How did they get in...either Tracy accidentally left a door open when he left or they came through our dog door...it doesn't really matter.  I'm thankful there are no broken doors or windows.  I found out a couple of days later that they probably hit the puppy...our neighbor to the back of the property heard him yelp and cry out like he was hurt and came running out.  I'm saddest that they hurt him.  He has been very needy this week.  Hopefully he will start to trust other people again.  I think he will...he is such a sweet soul.  So, I'm dealing with a sleepless child, a roll around in bed husband, and the tax man this week at work....can you say overwhelmed?