I win!

For worst week, that is.

Go ahead, try to compete. You don't want to, you won't win.

It started going downhill Weds night when my mom started having chest pains. They were getting really bad and so of course we all thought "heart attack" and took her straight to the ER. They actually did a pretty good job of taking care of her, and she was admitted. They did a ton of tests, and while I'm still not convinced at the results, she's okay now.

I got NO SLEEP that night and called off work on Thurs (obviously) to be at the hospital with her. It was a long night and day, and it was pretty much the scariest thing I've ever witnessed. It was awful, I had to call my sister in Delaware and let her know what was going on, and that was a horrible phone call to have to make. I've decided there are going to be some changes made, some big, some small, because this isn't happening again. And, thinking of my own children, I don't want to put them thru something like that.

After Jaben got out of school on Thurs, I picked him up and went ahead with the plans for the boys Christmas pictures, since mom was okay. My younger sister was with her so it was all good. We went up to the mall (I had a great coupon!), and the pictures came out beautifully! Kyan was awesome, and I think my kids are the most beautiful boys I've ever seen. They still take my breath away. I should have them back in about 10 days or so and will probably post some to share. So that was good, but when we walked out to the parking lot, the car was gone.

It had been stolen.

My car had been stolen while I was inside Sears getting my kids' Christmas pictures taken.

My sister called me while I was standing there trying to decide what to do (in my confusion I wondered if maybe I hadn't parked it where I thought I did) and she came right up. In the meantime, I flagged down a passing police car and told them what had happened. Turned out that they knew there was a stolen SUV in the area. The people who stole it used it as a getaway car in robbing another store in the mall.

This could only happen to me.

They tell me this is done by professionals. They steal a car from one side of the mall and park it in front of a store on the other side, rob the other store and use the stolen car to get away. They then dump the stolen car nearby and get into their own car. They can now drive right past the police without drawing attention. And that is what happened. My car was found in a restaurant parking lot nearby. The back window was smashed out, the steering column was destroyed (hotwired), and it was still running. The officers told me they had to turn it off with a screw driver. (insert giant sigh here)

So I spent today getting all this worked out. I had to meet the detective at the impound lot to identify what belonged to me in the car, and what didn't. They left the rock they used to smash out the window and break the steering column in the cup holder, pieces of my steering column were all over, and they went thru the entire car. My MP3 player was taken, but as far as I could tell just by looking, everything else was still there. They had left a nasty cigarette butt on the center console and tore thru all of my stuff.

My stuff. My car. Our things.

I am so creeped out and feel so violated. Jaben is the same. He's doing a lot better now than he did last night, but it's still just an awful feeling.

The car can't be towed to where it's being fixed until Monday, I need some sort of proof or reciept on the MP3 in order to get it replaced, and I have no idea when I'll have my car back, but there's no deductible on this, so that's good. I also will have a rental car Monday morning. That was a nice surprise since I neglected to get rental coverage. They said my coverage on this is comprehensive, which means anything I need, in this situation, is covered. So that's good - one less thing. And it won't cost me anything. Except some time, peace of mind, and a feeling of security. Pretty expensive, if you ask me.

Of course I was a wreck Thurs night and couldn't sleep, but that was okay because Kyan spent that whole night vomiting on me. About once an hour. Poor baby, and poor me. He's doing a lot better now and we're going to try some mashed potatoes in a little bit. I have my reservations on that one, but we'll see how it goes.

So all in all, I haven't slept in 2 days and, at least for the next 2 days I have no car. I will still have to be late to work on Monday so that I can do the paperwork on my car and get my rental. BUT -- other than Kyan's tummy, everyone is safe and well. It could've been worse... we could've been in the car when they wanted to take it. That's not something I want to think about.

So... I win, right?