Hola

Good weekend.

GOT AWAY FOR A NIGHT with some friends. Oh yes, I did. And it was mighty fine. Five of us went to Niagara Falls NY for a night, which is less than an hour away. Shopped. Ate at TGIFridays. Went to Target! And Tops! Laughed our heads off. Shopped. Slept in. Ate at Applebees.


It was great. In twenty four hours I don't think I have laughed so much. I did some early Christmas shopping. I got Lucy the BEST coat. I got a skirt at the Old Navy outlet for four bucks, and a cookie sheet, loaf pan AND square baking pan for 11 bucks. Good times!

Jay held down the fort quite nicely whilst I was away. I did not come home to a messy house, which was one of my criteria for getting away well. My only regret is that I brought my camera but took no pictures! Wahh!

Saturday night we had an old friend come by for a visit. We hadn't seen him in about three years, it was great to catch up.

Sun we had church. And someone stole some stuff from our van right outside the church! Jay plays electric guitar in the church band. And after the service, he popped outside and put his guitars in the van. Came back in to help me get the kids from Sunday school. So he left it unlocked for about five minutes. (He insists that he locked it, so let's just say, um, maybe the lock thing on his keys didn't work. Because he LoCKED it, people. ) Anyhoo, it must have been unlocked because there was no other way it could have happened. We were getting the kids in after and I look on the passenger side floor and the floor mat is all yanked up and there are CD cases all over the place. I say, "Man! These KIds!"
Then I see my makeup bag is dumped everywhere. And Jays case/bag thing is on it's side and empty. And I am like, "Uh Oh. We got ripped off!"
First we were freaking out just a tad because Jays empty case thingy meant that his newish mp3 player was gone ($300) along with the accessories and cables ($100) and his philishaver that he keeps in there, too ($150). Which would be just about what we would pay for a deductible if we were to put a claim in. Which we couldn't anyway because Jay had left the car unlocked. (I mean, locked! I swear I locked it! You KNOW me, Aim!)

And there were all the cd's in the bottom drawer thingy gone. And all the spare change was gone.

But then, I started moving the mess around and oh! there was the mp3 player under my seat and the shaver under the car mat and the cords. All they took were about ten cds and about 8 bucks in loose change.

So really, we were happy. And a little stunned that we got off so easy. Jay had both his (expensive) guitars in the back, not taken either. Our church is right downtown. So someone probably was walking by and saw the door unlocked and decided to go for it. But they were obviously so focussed on getting cash (and cd's you can trade in for cash) that they didn't bother with anything else. I feel kinda sorry for that person. How frantic and desperate they must have felt to be scrambling through our car, looking for money. Now, had they taken the expensive stuff, I probably wouldn't be feeling so compassionate.

But it's a good lesson. Because I leave my purse in the car 80 percent of the time. But yesterday I didn't. And from now on I will take it with me.

So tell me,
1. When was your last night out with the girls and where'd you go?
2. What has been stolen from you?

A.