So I have a lot to write about and not much time in which to do it, so I may split it into two posts since there are two distinct topics to talk about.  You probably didn’t need to know that but whatever.

Last Tuesday night was probably one of the two worst nights in my life.  It was the night before our anniversary and Dice was going to a conference the next day so we decided to go to dinner in the EAV.  While we were walking back, just as we turned the corner onto our street, two young males held us up at gunpoint.  They put a gun right in my face and told us both to lay on the ground.  The guy with the gun took everything from Dice (wallet, cell, keys, watch and wedding ring) while the other guy felt my jeans pockets (which were empty).  Getting nothing from there he decided to take my wedding and engagement rings which, while expensive, mean more to me sentimentally than pretty much anything else I own.  I’ve said many times that if I ever were to lose those rings I would be devastated.  I tried to say, “please, not my rings!” and hide my hand but the thug said to “give him the rings, bitch!”  After they got what they could they told us both to lay there with our heads down and not to look up or they would kill us.  Then they ran down the street and got into a car about 30 feet away.  Dice looked up in time to see what kind of car it was, although it was too far to read the license plate.  Thankfully, the asshole who was stealing from me missed my inner blazer pocket which held my credit card and cell phone, so as soon as they took off I called 911.  I held it together until I got through calling 911 and then I freaked out.  What I hadn’t told you before (because we hadn’t wanted to make a big deal about it) was that Dice was mugged the week beforehand as he was on his way to meet Ray and me for dinner.  So he was mugged at gunpoint TWICE IN 6 DAYS.  We had JUST gotten him a new license THAT MORNING.  The insanity of it was overwhelming for both of us.

Since the thugs took our house keys we banged on the Canadians’ door to get our spare.  They were understandably upset and offered us fantastic support.  The police showed up within less than 10 minutes and the Canadians stood with us while we told the police officer the whole story.  Dice had an investigator working on his other incident already so he was called.  We went inside while we waited for him to show up, meanwhile the police officer sat outside our house.  The investigator showed up about a half an hour later and we told him the story again, then he gave us advice on what to do to keep ourselves safer since the thugs had our address as well as the keys to Dice’s car.  We moved my car to the outside of the driveway so there would be no way to get Dice’s car out without major off-roading, then went inside and called all the credit card companies (again) as well as a locksmith.  They hadn’t taken Dice’s keys last time so that hadn’t been necessary before.  The locksmith showed up around 1:00 am was very fast and professional, thank goodness.

We were so wired up that we didn’t go to bed until around 2:00 am, and of course I didn’t sleep at all.  I got up again at 7:00 and started researching getting the car new locks as well as the myriad other things you have to do to protect yourself and/or replace stolen items.  The Canadians both stayed home from work as well and they sat with us for part of the day, which was incredibly helpful since human interaction was pretty necessary at the time, and then took us to lunch along with T.  Well, actually, T took the rest of us to lunch if you want to be precise.  T&R also showed up at our house at 7:30 that morning because they thought both our cells had been stolen and they wanted to offer their help!  Good friends make ALL the difference.  That day was also our anniversary, but there was no way in hell we were going to leave the house, so we ordered Chinese for our romantic anniversary dinner and then went to bed, exhausted from not having slept at all the night before.

Since that happened Dice got most of his credit cards back (in fact, two of his credit card replacements hadn’t even arrived from the first mugging so we didn’t have to replace those again) and gotten his third license within one week.  But honestly, the most significant legacy the event left is the effect that it had intellectually as well as emotionally on both of us.  For several nights and days every time I closed my eyes all I could do was re-live it over and over, see the gun and hear their voices telling me they’re going to kill me.  It’s getting better, but it doesn’t make for an atmosphere conducive to sleeping at all.  Plus we’re now incredibly paranoid, and are convinced that anyone walking past us is about to mug us, or we won’t walk past any kind of alley or closed off road.  And we DEFINITELY won’t be walking around at night ever again.  Which sucks because the number one reason why we bought our house is because it’s within walking distance to so many restaurants.  But the most damaging aspect to me is the loss of my wedding rings.  I don’t care how much or how little money we paid for them, their significant value is in my sentiment for them.  It’s nice that they didn’t get my cell phone, but I would have a thousand times preferred they took the cell and left me my rings.  Not only did I lose rings of high sentimental value, but once we replace them every time I look at the new rings I will think about those FUCKERS who mugged us.  For the rest of my life.  How does that compare to whatever paltry amount of money they got from us?