Why I have not written in forever....

So I was going to write story after story on here over Fall Break but then my Fall Break did not go as planned. My mother explains it well in her weekly update that she sends to the grandmothers.....

Lara's RA meeting for Wednesday night was cancelled, so she was able to leave NC State for her fall break around 2 p.m. Wednesday, meet her Grandmother and C.P. in Hickory at J & S Cafeteria for dinner around 5 p.m., and arrive home around 6:30. Lara went out to eat and dancing with friends Wednesday night. On Thursday morning, Lara took Ellie the dog to run on the Parkway trails. She parked just off the entrance ramp up onto the Parkway where four other cars were parked. When she returned to her car, the front passenger window had been completely broken out (Brent and I returned to clean up all the glass yesterday) and her purse had been stolen. It contained her cell phone, camera, driver's license, Visa card, SECU debit card, $25 cash, school RA keys, Social Security card that she was returning to me to put back in the safe deposit box after filling out papers for her job, Geico car insurance card, Cigna health insurance card, AAA card, and as Lara reminded me, a brand new pack of chewing gum I had just given her. She was in tears as she and Brent called the police and Park Rangers and returned to the scene to file a report and check to see if her purse might have been thrown out somewhere nearby. I began calling to cancel the credit card, debit card, and cell phone service.

To make a long story short, Lara got a new driver's license Thursday afternoon, and went to the Social Security Administration to order a new card on Friday afternoon. I called Geico, Cigna, and AAA to replace the cards. Brent immediately called to order a new window for Lara's car, which won't arrive until next Thursday. Lara has been driving my car and will get a ride back to school tomorrow. She then plans to ride back to Asheville with Zach and Amy next weekend to pick up her car, which hopefully will be repaired in time for her to take it back next Saturday or Sunday.

Lara has borrowed Brent's digital camera for a project in her education class that is due on Monday. Of course, she lost all the pictures she had on her camera and all the photos she had in her wallet. Her purse was a gift from her friend Caroline from Indonesia. Her wallet was a gift from a missionary friend in the Philippines. I had an extra cell phone because I had just renewed my contract, so Lara is re-programmed on a new phone with the same cell number. One of the hardest things for Lara is she will have to pay about $168 for NC State to re-key the master keys for her dorm and all the other RAs. The residence hall staff waved her room key fee (~$80 I think) and the emergency lock core change fee ($150) because she e-mailed them the police report. Even though there was nothing in her purse that identified her dorm name, the information could be gotten off the internet because all Lara's other personal info was stolen. Lara was very upset about having to pay the $168 on top of everything else, but we are just thankful that no one was hurt and that all this is just "sad stuff" that happens in this world. We encouraged her to learn important life lessons and move on.

AKA: NO PICTURES FOR A WHILE.