A Christmas Miracle? Not So Fast...

It happens without fail every time this year. Identity Theft. Let me give you all a glimpse of my hell.

It started almost 5 years ago. I was pregnant with Emily. I got a coupon booklet in the mail for 60 payments of almost $800 each. Hmmm... That's weird. It was actually more than my mortgage. I call them up. I was told so politely that's it was for my new 2004 Toyota Sequoia. Huh? After some research, I found out that a lady with a license with all my info and her picture got a top of the line, decked out, leather seats and all, SUV in my name. She just drove off the lot and sent me the payment booklet.

The nightmare begins...

I'll spare you all the details, but it's been a horrible, horrible experience. She has got me for over $100,000. Now, I'm not out a penny, but I'm out probably over 100 hours of my time making police reports, trying to prove who I am and clearing up my credit. She's walked into every store that I owned a credit card for(Victoria's Secret, Circuit City, Target, etc.) and maxed them out. You can do this with only a driver's license. She's also made checks in my name. She'd write checks to various stores and they'd all bounce. She even found out who I banked with and went in and took over $5,000. I switched banks. She did it again at the new one a year later.

I now have nothing in my name. My credit cards are piggy backed off of David's. I no longer have a bank account. I have a permanent 7 year fraud alert on my credit bureau which means I can't get credit anywhere without them calling my home number first.

This still doesn't stop this woman.

Here's what happened today.

I'm outside with the kids putting up Christmas lights and the UPS guy pulls up. Strange. I'm not expecting anything. He confirms my name and hands me an envelope. I open it and find a check to me in the amount of $5,450 from a very prestigious medical college in Texas. I knew right away it wasn't the Christmas miracle that I was hoping for.

I originally thought she applied for something in my name and maybe it's a payoff of on an account or loan or something. To be honest, I thought about cashing it. Why not, right? After all I've been through, $5,000 at Christmas would more than compensate for my endless headaches. I called my husband who insisted I call the college. Dammit. Why is he so good? I'm thinking take the money. If they ever ask, I give it back. Morals got the better of me and I made the call and even left a message when no one answered.

In the meantime, David called me. He figured it all out. It's a bad check. See, it has their fraudulent account number at the bottom. I deposit it. They can see my account number and who I bank with on the back of the check by tomorrow. Then, she can waltz into the bank and try to get the money out. True, the account isn't in my name, but they would probably do a few online bank transfers like they have in the past and eventually, she'd get the money. She always does.

The lady at the college confirmed it was fraud.

About a month ago, my Dad's checking account got hit for $2900. I had been on that account with him for 10 years and when all this started, I advised him to take my name off. It was a hassle, so he didn't bother. She found his account using my name and transfered the money out. In the end, the hassle found him.

These people are smart. Really smart. If they could use their brains for the greater good, they could probably figure out a way to end hunger, create world peace and fix this economy (without stealing). I'm not even kidding. They figure out everything else.

Of course, I've reported it to the police about a dozen times and I will again today. Nothing ever happens. She's in Texas living in an apartment probably in my name and working at a job in my name as well. According to Social Security I made $900 last year. Funny, I don't get paid and haven't made a penny since 2005.

I've tried to change my social security number, but did you know they are almost out of numbers? They won't switch it for me.

I tell you all of this just to bring awareness. I live each day praying that she will get caught. In the meantime, I sit and wait for the next time she will strike.

Didn't Last Long

This is our dog.

This was our gingerbread house.






No explanation needed.

Annual Gingerbread House

A few years ago, I started doing a gingerbread house with Emily. She was only 2 at the time, so I mainly decorated the house while she ate the candy. That's pretty much how it still works. I was at Costco on Friday and I saw the gingerbread house kits. I thought what a perfect thing for Emily and Grammie to do together. Grammie had never made a gingerbread house, but these kits are practically fool proof.

Here's Grammie assembling the walls. Notice the glob of frosting inside the house.


Grammie is still hard at work.


Emily enjoying a gum drop.


Ben getting ready to eat a Christmas tree.


What the pictures don't show is the earthquake/tornado that hit the house. Grammie couldn't get the walls to stay together. Frosting was everywhere and I had never heard Gwynne laugh so hard. She apologized for wasting our money, but I think it was worth every penny of that $9.99 just to hear her laugh like that. David and I finally stepped in. We took it apart and tried to reassemble it. We added some decorate touches and it turned out pretty well.


Just don't get too close or you will notice the gaping holes in the roof and the front wall is about to collapse. I think it's our best house yet!

We Survived

I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving.

It's officially over. We'll not the day yet. But, family has left. The house is cleaned up. Leftovers are in the fridge and the dishwasher is running. We had a great day and we are thoroughly exhausted. I took a few minutes tonight to switch my blog theme to Christmas.

I love this time of year.

I don't want Thanksgiving to take a back seat to Christmas, so here are some highlights from our day.

Emily got dressed up.

We watched the parade.


We ate pumpkin pie.


God even graced us with a beautiful rainbow.


Then, we got out some more of the Christmas decorations and Emily tried on the tree skirt as a cape.


I think she's ready to spin her way onto the next holiday...

Pre-Thanksgiving

We had a big family gathering at my Dad's this past Saturday. They usually host Thanksgiving, but since Suzy's Mom passed away this year, they are spending the holiday with Suzy's side of the family. Instead, they decided to have us all over for a pre-Thanksgiving feast.

We packed up the car, the kids and the dog and headed to Phoenix. We also picked up David's Mom (Gwynne) on the way. We had an awesome time.

Ben pretended to be a monster.

Emily colored with Rocco (my sister's son).

Emily cuddled with Grammie Gwynne.


My Dad took the kids on a mile long wheelbarrow ride.


Rocco played some pool...


with my brother Joe.


The girls watched. Tiffany (my sister's daughter)on the left and Auna (Joe's daughter)on the right. And you know the beauty in the middle!


Emily stripped off her dress and went in the 57 degree pool.


Ben had to join her. You know a day is not complete without a picture of my kids in their underwear.


Then came the ride home which was the best ever (see post on My Sweetest Ride below). We all had a great time.

Now, we are hosting Thanksgiving for this crazy bunch at our house in a few days. Wish us luck!

Slumber Party

Getting Emily to sleep in her room all night is a challenge. She always comes out at some point. She wants David to sleep with her every night. It's kind of cute and kind of annoying especially at 2 AM.

We've tried everything positive and negative. Nothing works. I decided to give her what she wants. If she sleeps in her room all week and does not come out, we will have a slumber party in the living room on Friday night. This is actually working! Last Friday night was our first slumber party. We blew up the air mattress which we found out later has a hole in it. We all got cozy and watched A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving.

David was asleep in 3 minutes.

I took Ben to my bed as the air mattress was hitting the floor.

Emily didn't care. She still thought it was a blast. We have continued promising her a slumber party. If all goes well, we will just have to sleep on the sofa. In the spring, I want to get a tent and we can all sleep outside. We don't have any street lights on our block and the stars are amazing at night. Hopefully, I can bribe her for that long!

My Sweetest Ride

We went to my Dad's on Saturday in Phoenix for an early Thanksgiving celebration. David's Mom came into town, so we picked her up at the airport and headed to my Dad's. This was our first trip down since we got the mini-van. Previous trips were in my Pathfinder. Gwynne (David's Mom) would sit in the front with David. I'd get sandwiched between the 2 carseats in the backseat while the dog in the trunk area panted on my head. It was never a pleasant ride. For the first time, I knew what it meant to have my knees and back hurt after sitting for 2 hours.

We go to my Dad's for Easter, Thanksgiving and Christmas Eve. The ride home has always been listening to the over tired kids scream louder than the movie that is playing. David and I can't talk or listen to music. I actually brought pajamas one time thinking they would fall asleep and I could just scoop up their sleeping angel bodies from the car and lay them peacefully in bed. What was I smoking? Their screaming, I'm screaming. The only thing I bring now is a bottle of Excedrin.

We all load up for our trek home. The kids want to watch a movie. Fine, maybe they will zone out and be quiet. Emily wants anything with a princess and Ben wants anything with an action hero. This is always the problem with one boy and one girl. We watched The Incredibles on the way to Phoenix and the trip home they agreed upon Monsters Inc. David and Gwynne are in the front. Emily and Ben are in the next row. I'm in the third row of seats way in the back with the dog. Roxie does not settle down in the car and pants the entire way. She probably fears she is headed back to the pound. In any case, David asked if I wanted the Ipod and headphones as listening to panting for 2 hours makes me anxious.

We left my Dad's. I'm prepared for the worst. It never came. The kids didn't make a peep. Emily was asleep in 10 minutes and Ben shortly after that. David unplugged the movie. I reclined my seat, put my feet up on the igloo, listened to music and played vortex and solitaire on my Ipod. We have finally gotten to that happy place with our kids. It was the best 2 hours of my life.

But next time, I'm bringing their pajamas...and mine!