My Life Has Been Stolen - Beaver Brook Reservation Theft

I have started posts about fans who should not be allowed in Fenway Park and a "Dear Manny" letter but all is on hold right now. My life has been stolen.

Let me back up...

Earlier today my husband surprised me by renting a Canon EF 70-200mm f/2.8L USM Telephoto Zoom Lens for me to try out with my camera.

I've been wanting a "hefty-duty" lens for a while (even though I have NO skills with my professional camera yet). Instead of dropping $1600, he rented one for me (only they didn't have a lens with IS in stock to rent, so we got the one without IS) to practice with....and to see if I like it.

We're going to Fenway Park tomorrow, where they will be honoring the Cape Cod Baseball League All-Stars before the game - including the players who live with my dad. It's the perfect time to try it out.

I was so excited and we decided to take Spike to one of the local dog parks around 7pm - Beaver Brook Reservation - to try and get used to the settings. On the way out of the house I noticed my purse on the table and thought self, you should bring your license if anything happens, you'll need identification....but since your license is only a huge temporary paper license and you have a big bulky wallet, just bring the whole purse so you don't have to carry it around in your pocket. Logical, right?

What's not logical is leaving said purse in an unlocked car. I thought hubby had locked it, he thought I had. I don't need any grief about that stupidity (especially once you read what was in the purse). The bag was placed under the seat...long story short...we get back to the car and it's gone.

So ok, that sucks...but let me tell you why it really sucks. We just got married and I'm in the process of a name change. Why is that bad you ask? Oh let me list what was in my purse (a gorgeous Coach Purse I just got 4th of July weekend and a George, Gina and Lucy wallet given to my by my friend Claudia when she was visiting from Germany, btw):

• The usual - money (about $60), license (although luckily only temporary as the permanent one has not been delivered yet), debit card, health insurance card, all of my stupid-ass rewards cards (grocery store, best buy, etc etc etc)
• My Passport
• My Checkbook (which I NEVER carry with me, but the damn RMV only takes checks or cash and I needed to write checks for the name change stuff)
• $1425 worth of checks - some wedding which have trickled in, some freelance
• Lord knows what else

The positive?

• My keys weren't there - I left them on the coffee table at home, which I NEVER do
• My Point and Click Cannon - I had taken it out before we went to the dog park to take a picture of something silly (if you want to consider me beating Nick's score in Guitar Hero silly - I needed a picture to prove it)
• My cell phone - It's ALWAYS in my purse, but alas it was next to my keys on the coffee table

We alerted the Belmont Police and had to wait 1/2 hour to speak to an officer (b/c they were all responding to a domestic abuse situation at a house that happened to be diagonal to ours...I swear we live in an nice area!!!) Come to find out -even though the park is in Belmont, the parking lot is in Waltham so we had to go to the Waltham Police.

Meanwhile after 5 phone calls, HORRID automatic menus, dropped transfers and more I FINALLY got through to Bank of America to report my debit card and checkbook stolen (on a side note, this was one of the more frustrating things I have EVER tried to do, I may not be a BOA customer long). Once I actually got a person on the line, I spoke with an extremely nice woman who let me know the thieves had tried to use my debit card four times (7:28, 7:28, 7:29 and 7:29) at an ATM and were unsuccessful due to not having the right PIN! EFF ME! They traveled 3 miles and three towns (Waltham through Belmont to Cambridge) within 15-20 minutes of stealing my purse.

Once in Waltham, the officer sloppily wrote down some info on a yellow pad and said he would file a prelim report, but we had to come back during 8am - 3:30pm the next day to file a police report (not like I have to work or anything, but thanks). Nothing would be done tonight. He didn't care any of the information we had, a description of my purse, or how to report a lost passport!!!! Come back tomorrow.

On the way home, hubby had me call the Belmont police and ask that they drive by our house to make sure everything was ok. Even though the thieves didn't have my keys, they had our address and who knows...they see all the wedding checks in my purse and maybe they go to the house to get more loot? So the police were already on alert to drive through our neighborhood overnight due to the domestic disturbance situation earlier but they are going to check our house too to make sure all is well.

We headed over to the ATM where the thieves tried to use the card (or thief, I'm not sure why I keep referring to "them" as plural) in hopes that some of my stuff was thrown out in the trash can (like my bag, or wallet even if they were empty). But this was just not my night. The trash cans were TOTALLY empty. There was a grocery store in the same parking lot so I asked if they knew who collected trash and when the last time was. We were about an hour or so too late..and the trash had already been compacted. Blah.

I've cancelled bank cards and credit cards and have info (thanks Internetz) on how to report a stolen passport. I've alerted most of the people who gave us checks they have been stolen (will do the rest tomorrow). I need to report the theft to the credit bureaus as well.

I'm tired and I'm upset with myself and my stupidity.

I feel like my life has been stolen.

Follow @SoxyLady