Stupid Kansas Drama

I swear to God there must be a big black ugly cloud over that horrible place we used to call home in Kansas. And apparently it doesn't have anything to do with us because it continues even after we've left. (Thank God at least it doesn't seem it has followed us here. Please please please stay away black cloud!!!!)

Anyway, here's the story as much as we know. When we left, we left a lot behind. We packed up as much as we could, but knew we couldn't take it all, nor did we need to. So we walked away from the rest & we were okay with that. HOWEVER, everything we left behind had value. Tons of building materials & nice things we planned to put back into our would-be beautiful house that never was. So before we left we did three things:

1. We tried to sell as much as we could putting a ton of things on craigslist. Lots & lots of people came & we did sell quite a few things.
2. We did several favors for a friend we'll call "Joe." Joe felt he owed us, so we allowed him to help us sell a few more things for us at the house after we left & he'd also be able to keep an eye out on the house for us. Joe is also a police officer, so we felt comfortable with that.
3. We contacted an auction company to sell off everything else we had stored in the house. We were hoping to get a few of the dollars we hemorrhaged out into that house back by doing this.

As it turns out, all three of these things were a big mistake. Time & time again we trust people, and time & time again we get bit in the ass. I'm not really sure what it's going to take to learn our lesson.

So what exactly happened? One guess...

Of course we got robbed again!!!!

#1, the people we sold things to saw us moving out & therefore knew the house was unoccupied & soon to be unattended. #2, Joe was really helpful at first, but then we come to find out he sold some of our stuff & pocketed the money. We called him on it & he owned up to it, but I doubt we'll see that money ever. #3, Auction guy is probably very good at what he does, but overestimated the integrity of the people he marketed our auction to. He posted the ad for our auction in the paper & posted our address.

According to both of our neighbors (who called long after we could do anything about it) said it was like Grand Central Station at our house all day Saturday. Problem is, the auction was supposed to be Monday. People were driving around the locked gate & into the corn field to get through to our driveway. The first couple of people, neighbor A actually stopped and asked what the hell they were doing. They apparently had been before because they both knew to say, "It's okay! Joe told me it was okay to come." After so many, neighbor A gave up.

So then Monday comes around & we get a call from the auction guy not long before auction time. He informs us that over half of our stuff is gone. We're talking like multiple thousands of dollars worth of stuff. I don't even know what all was taken. We have to review some photos to get an idea. But now we have no way in hell to know who was there & when & what they took. And let's face it, when we filed reports for the first THREE robberies & gave the police a list of a concise 3-5 possible suspects, even then no one was ever arrested. Rural cops are awesome.

So now we have some really weird mixed feelings about the whole thing. I mean, really, it's not like that was our belongings from inside our living room that we used everyday. It was stuff we never planned to see again. We walked away from Kansas & didn't look back. BUT, that was money we were counting on to fix our house here. That's gone, unless for some bizarre reason our insurance actually will cover us again. And then, even 1500 miles away, there's just this feeling of being violated. AGAIN! People came into our property & unlocked our storage, & took our stuff. Repeatedly. Regardless of the circumstance, that just sucks.

So instead of typing my happy-go-lucky, "look what cute kids I have on Halloween" post I had hoped to make, I posted this. Stupid bad guys. Well, I won't let them ruin it for me entirely. I covered my ears & did my best impression of a stubborn four-year-old (la la la! I can't hear you!!!!) and ignored what all was going on in Kansas long enough to enjoy Halloween with my adorable kids. Meet Avatar, Blueberry Muffin (the Strawberry Shortcake character), and GI Joe!

Hope you all had a Happy Halloween too! :)