We got robbed :(

In case you haven't heard, you'll need to call me to reach Simon because his phone was stolen in the robbery. Last Sunday someone came in through the bedroom window (we've had the windows open at night when it's cool and must have forgotten to lock it) and hid in the kitchen when Simon came home that evening. The thief waited until Simon went to sleep before going into the bedroom to steal nearly all of my jewelry and Simon’s keys and phone from next to the bed. He even emptied an old jewelry box from when I was a kid that was pretty far under the bed. I've always teased Simon about being a deep sleeper, but in this case it may have saved his life. Who knows what the thief might have done had Simon woken up while he was there. Simon woke up at about 4am to the tv, xbox, jewelry, liquor, ipod and the TRUCK all gone! The guy just loaded up all our stuff into our truck and drove off with it!

I was at a gala in Fredricksberg at the time, and I had both the dogs because Simon was supposed to be in Houston all weekend. We might have had a lot more missing if he hadn't come home early. Since Simon didn't have a phone he was emailing everyone he knew trying to get someone to help him and call the police. Thankfully my new phone gets email instantly so I woke up and was able to at least get the police to the house, even though they were worthless. I left Fredricksberg at 4am and didn't get to College Station until 9am. I was so scared of Simon being in danger that I didn't stop shaking until Bastrop (about 4 hours into my trip). That was literally the most scared I've ever been in my life, just the possibility of him in harm's way, and me being so far from being able to help and comfort him. Poor Simon wasn't much better off though, he threw up a lot from the stress and fear before I got there.

The jewelry was my biggest loss. They don't take jewelry unless it's real at pawn shops, so pretty much none of mine would work. Even though none of it was terribly valuable, it all had sentimental value to me. It made me sick to think that they'd probably just throw it all away since they couldn't sell it. All the earrings my mom has collected specifically for me from all over the country, things Simon had given me years ago, my Nanny's wedding ring, which I treasured more than anything else...all gone.

Thankfully we got a really lucky break though! I made up a flyer of all our missing stuff and took it to the pawn shops in case he tried to sell any of it. Well he didn't bring any of it in, but one of the employees I had talked to went home that evening and saw her daughter had some of my earrings that she recognized from my flyer! Turns out the thief was just selling them out of his apartment, which was right above hers! So she called the police and they arrested him that evening. My stuff was scattered all over the apartment, along with his marijuana and cocaine. He was even wearing some of it when they arrested him (luckily nothing I cared much about, threw that away walking out the door)! Scary thing is he lived only one street over. Looking out my backdoor I can see his apartment complex across the street.

Among the items still missing are our keys (all the locks have since been changed), my date planner with pictures of me in it, and Simon’s phone with all his contacts, which really creeps me out! Oddly the thief did not take our computer, several other gaming systems, or any of our video game collection. He also apparently had mental illness issues on top of his drug problems and obvious criminal tendencies. So we're trying to move right away! Unfortunately our landlord doesn't want to let us out of our lease at this time...we're still working on it.

Oh and we got the truck back! Some lady called me very angrily about the truck being parked in her driveway just a few blocks down. She figured we were just some drunk college kids that parked in the wrong place after partying too much and was threatening to have it towed. I have no idea how she got my phone number but I'm so glad she called so we could get the police out there to it! They didn't find any prints on it, the keys are still missing, and it reeked of marijuana and cigarette smoke! Took us a few minutes to convince the cop that it wasn't because of us! But he was actually a really nice cop who was trying to help as much as possible, he even waited with us for the tow truck to make us feel more comfortable. After a lot of fighting with the insurance we finally got the truck's locks changed and new keys on their dime. You'd think that'd be an obvious one if they could just come back for the truck whenever they wanted with the keys, but we really had to fight for that one. My opinion of USAA has fallen dramatically through this whole ordeal. I'm still fighting with the property agent for my renter's insurance.

There are still some big things missing: the xbox with hundreds and hundreds of hours worth of game saves from so many years, my charm bracelet with charms from all our vacations, and some other odds and ends, but at least we're both okay. And I got Nanny's ring back finally! The detective on our case is really nice and very helpful. Moral of the story is keep your windows and doors locked and take pictures of all your stuff! Without those we never would have caught him or gotten anything back. We're of course paranoid and uncomfortable in our own home now, but it's slowly getting better. We couldn't eat or sleep at all for the first few days, we're trying to get back to normal now. I'm getting more and more irritated about my planner missing though, apparently I have two tests next week. Wasn't aware of that!

If you need to reach Simon he doesn't have a phone so you'll to call me!