Some conversations I prefer to have in public – like on the train going to and from work – because I’d really rather not have them at all:

“I don’t have time to talk right now. Some of the girls are picking me up to go to the Hard Rock Casino.”

“That’s okay, Mom. I won’t keep you long.”

“What made you remember to call? I made up my mind that I wasn’t going to call you until you called.”

“Well, honestly? I didn’t want to call you. I had a really lousy week. I didn’t want to tell you that my house was robbed, last week.”

“What? Did you leave a door open? Did you leave the windows open? You like to leave the windows open when it’s cold outside. You always tell me it’s a safe neighborhood. So, it’s not so safe?”

“No, I didn’t leave anything open. It’s freaking 90 degrees outside – why would I open a window?!?”

“Well, you like to leave everything open. It’s safe, you said.”

“They broke a window to get in, Mom.”

“They took everything, didn’t they? The jewelry? Mike’s grandma’s jewelry? Your diamond necklace? The bracelet I gave you?”

“Almost everything, Mom.”

“MJ wanted to put in an alarm and you said it’s safe, so you didn’t need it, you said.”

“That was seven years ago.”

“What about the insurance?”

“They want proof of value on those things that I can’t give them, because most of it was gifts, and what wasn’t a gift, well, who keeps receipts from 15 and 20 years ago. We’re screwed.”

“It’s like when they broke into my car. I wanted to have the locks on the car changed, but didn’t. The insurance sent me a letter that they closed the file, but I went to the dealer to get another key with a clicker, and do you know how much they wanted? $430.00! So I gave it to your brother and he said he would try to get the insurance to cover it.”

“No, it’s not like that, at all.”

“So. Are you on the train, yet? I have to go. Have a nice day.”

“Thanks. You, too. Bye.”

Click.

Recipe Monday will be delayed this week, until the delivery of the replacement download cable for my digital camera. Yes, the rat-bastards who robbed my house last week, also took the download cable for my camera. I guess it was white, and therefore looked like it might belong to my laptop, so they took it. Idiots.

In the meantime, please check out this post on this week’s edition of Of Cats. It’s all about an awesome no-kill rescue sanctuary for wildcats (and wild cats) in Minnesota, called (what else?) The Wildcat Sanctuary. They’re doing great work out there, and I’m thrilled to bring them to your attention.

But before you go check that out, I’ve gotta ask: So, what do you think of my new blog template? I finally found a three-column template – and in my existing style! Thanks to Dobeweb for giving these out for free, and even the instructions on how to install them!

So, really – what do you think? Too busy? Too something else? Gimme some feedback, people! Then you can go read.

Literally. MJ called me at work at noon yesterday to tell me that our house was robbed. Shit! He was gone for 2 hours, and when he returned, a back window had been broken out.

The SOB’s got our flat screen TV, my freakin’ brand new laptop, my iPod, and most of my jewelry – including MJ’s grandmother’s wedding set (that I only wear for special occasions), his great-aunt’s deco diamond ring, and I think the old gold Star of David that my father gave my mother before they got married. engraved with her maiden name initials. That’s just the short list.

I think we’re going to live with the hurricane shutters closed until we can figure out what to do. Probably replace all the windows on the back half of the house with hurricane/impact glass, like we did on the front half, several years ago. And mow the lawn. Again.

The detectives pointed to the bag of dried herbage sitting out on the counter and told us that under the circumstances, they would ignore it, since it was obviously for personal use and we could probably use it right about then. “It’s catnip.” “Uh huh.” “No, really.” “Ha ha ha!”

JJ is fine and never left the house. I’d seriously like to know what she was doing during this little episode. Considering the scars she’s left on us, our friends and family, I’ll bet the assholes left without a scratch. She only hurts the ones she loves.

**P.S. Yes, we have insurance. Ironically, it is State Farm, who will be dropping us in a few months anyway, because we live in Florida and therefore might have to make a hurricane claim, someday. But that’s not the point. For one thing, my mother’s gonna kill me – just on general principle.