Hide ya kids, hide ya wife

Today was supposed to be a very exciting day, because I was starting my new job. I was so anxious I couldn't sleep last night. My morning went downhill rather fast though. All dressed up for my first day, I walk out of the garage to our adjacent driveway and saw a towel over my passenger window. I thought, "Hmm...this is strange. Maybe I somehow left my window down and Andy covered it for me in case it rained." As I got closer, I realized this was NOT the case. My car had been broken in to.

Since I was starting a new job right away I left all of my old office supplies and decorations in my car. That, on top of my normal load, made my car looked semi-packed.  Anyone that knows me knows that I live out of my car. I keep my yoga supplies in there, my non-profit documents and whatever items didn't get unpacked from my last trip.

Luckily, they didn't take much; just a new backpack ($30), a new notebook ($7), a new binder ($3)  and possibly some other random items. The binder and notebook were purchased last night and the backpack was less than 2 months old. I'm just so glad that they didn't steal my social security card. I know it's dumb to keep it in your car, but I had my car packed for my first day on the new job. I'm also so glad that I had taken my Michael Kors purse out the night before and my Bose noise canceling headphones a few days prior. All in all the entire event cost me two hours, $200 (known stolen items plus repair cost) and a new window tint (cost TBD).

Long story short, keep your car clean. Keep items (no matter how valuable!) out of sight. If this happens to you, I recommend doing the following steps:

1. Don't touch anything. Call the cops first and foremost. They might (doubtful ) want to dust for fingerprints.
2. Call your insurance agent to determine your deductive and receive a quote from their recommended service provider.
3. Don't go with the first price quoted. Call around! I saved over $100 by making one more phone call. 
4. Schedule a mobile appointment so that you can go about your day and not let those thieves steal any more of your time!

At the end of the day (and beginning!), I'm at peace. I'm just hoping the stolen "school supplies" were given to a child who had none. I'm also lucky that only my car was damaged. Two others cars in our gated community were also broken into. And, even worse, a house was broken into too! The thief was smart and wore gloves so no finger prints were found. It's so sad when someone uses their intelligence for evil. Tonight, I'm praying for him. ( Not being sexist-the cops said a witness spotted a five foot male escaping). 

Do good and be good, friends.