Burglarized

We left the house today at 10am.  At around noon, we got a call from the police informing us that our house had been burglarized.  It's one of those things that you think will never happen to you.  We came home to find our bedroom ransacked, dresser drawers opened with its contents strewn on the floor.  Every other room was relatively unscathed, but some valuable items were definitely missing:

- Two HP laptops - one mine, the other J's:  $2,000

- One laptop backpack:  $100

- One Canon SD900 Camera (which was bought around this time last year when we left our other camera at the nursery at our hospital):  $400

- One Nikon D40x Digital SLR Camera (My Christmas present from J a few months ago):  $800

- One Sony Digital Camcorder:  $1300

- J's watch:  $300

- Cash (including 4 Ziploc bags-full of change):  $300

So... over $5000 worth of stuff.  Ugh... But the most devastating thing they took is worthless to them but priceless to us - All of the pictures and videos on my laptop and cameras that we hadn't backed up yet... about 3 months worth.  I was planning to share a bunch today for Cameron's 16th month update of him...

- laying down flat on his back and "reading" his grandpa's Chinese newspaper
- bending over at the waist and looking at me upside-down through his legs
- intensely walking across the room
- scribbling on paper with markers
- wearing his cute green argyle sweater vest yesterday on Easter Sunday

I was beyond mad when we first discovered we were victims of a crime... Mad at the thieves for invading our space and taking our stuff (and breaking one of the drawers in my nightstand), mad that I had to pick up after them, mad at the situation that led them to steal in the first place (Yes, the empathetic side of me actually kicked in and I actually blamed society for a bit there), mad at myself for not being more proactive about protecting our home, and mad for not backing up all those photos and videos.  But yes, I realize that the important thing is that we're safe and that in the grand scheme of things, this is just a rough patch.  It just sucks really bad for now.

Well, hopefully they catch the felons.  I directed the CSI Unit to some blood I spotted on my bathroom door after they said there was no evidence for them to collect (I felt so cool! :P), so maybe that will lead to an arrest.  There are some good leads - Our neighbor said there were 3 young African Americans in a white Lexus.  The police said that this group has been canvassing the neighborhood for some time, so they've already been looking for them. 

The really cool thing about this experience was that I got to meet so many of my neighbors.  They all saw the police lights in front of the house and came over to say they were sorry about what happened.  I always wanted to get to know my neighbors better (Love thy neighbors, right?) and I never imagined it would happen under these circumstances, but I'm glad I finally got to.