We were robbed today. I must say, that is not my favourite thing ever. It happened while we were at the Big E. We parked the car to go enjoy a day of fun at the fair, and, when we got back, someone had broken into it and stolen several things from us (whether or not that constitutes criminal negligence on the part of the lot attendants I'm forced to wonder, but don't really care). Amber's purse, birthday presents we got for her sister, and various foodstuffs we purchased for the drive.

The funny thing was, I'd had a bad feeling about that the whole time, but just dismissed it. You'd think that after nineteen years of being clairvoyant I'd know better. :-P When we got back to the car (it was dark), I unlocked my door, and it occurred to me that something was wrong. More specifically, I *tried* to unlock my door, and what struck me was that it didn't need any help from me. It was already unlocked, and not quite closed. Upon inspection, the back passenger-side door was also unlocked, and our glove compartment was open.

Amber was shocked a bit beyond rationality. I also was unsettled, but (barely) had the presence of mind to have her stop the car before we started on our way home so I could go find a police officer (thank God the cops directing traffic were still there). He gave us directions to the station, where we then went to file a report about the incident. Then we headed home.

Neither of us will be going to work tomorrow (though both of us are supposed to). Instead, we're spending the day trying to put things back the way they should be. We have to cancel our checking account - Amber's checkbook and debit card were in her purse. That leaves us with utility bills the checks for which may bounce, if they haven't already cleared. We just have to take that chance.

The thieves got little of monetary value (outside of the checkbook and card) - only about forty dollars worth of stuff, in all. But a lot of what was taken had a lot of sentimental value - pictures of Amber's high-school friends, a pen she received as a graduation present, a keychain I bought her for Christmas. And what is more puzzling is the value of the stuff that *wasn't* taken - we had a very large number of CDs in the car, all of which were left untouched.

We don't even feel safe in our own home - Amber's keys were in her purse, too. We take some solace in the fact that we live a remarkable distance from West Springfield - far enough that petty thieves likely will not find it worth their while to come all this way. But there's still that doubt. So we need to get all the locks changed on our doors.

What we didn't lose in material goods was more than made up for in piece of mind. We're both pretty badly shaken by the whole thing, and don't really have any idea what to do. It's as though our lives have been raped. Violated. I can't speak for Amber about this, but I know that I, for one, feel very alone. I'm not safe in my own home.

Well, it happened. All that's left to do is move on, and that's just what I intend to do. We're doing all the footwork that needs to be done tomorrow - closing accounts, changing locks, contacting our insurance company, trying to get things replaced. We'll just have to be strong, survive, and go on with our lives as before, I guess.

I hate having to be strong. God, I hate having to be strong.