On Friday I got a call from my bank that mine and my husband's cards were compromised by the whole Target/data leak ordeal. Both cards were immediately cancelled by our bank without warning to help protect us...
We have NO credit cards, we mainly use our debit cards. I don't even have checks so my only option is to go to the bank before it closes and withdraw cash. I also realize all the bills which automatically come out Fridays are taken through our debit cards, which are cancelled. So I am most likely going to be getting returned payment charges added to the bills which already seem astronomical in this lovely time of year.
I then spent the remainder of the day calling all of the companies, driving all over town to the bank and to various places which will accept cash for my utility payments and overall, being super stressed out. Thankfully Target issued an apology and gave a whole day of 10% off prices. Because that totally makes up for the stress they have caused everyone. NOT.
Enter: Saturday. It is a new day with new possibilities. We planned to have a nice day mostly at home with the kids and then head over and see Santa. When we went to see Santa, we had a blast. My kids were about as good as can be expected, my son who is friendly and outgoing is now St. Nick's new best friend, and my introverted sassy pants daughter managed to not punch or growl at him, which in my family, counts as a good trip.
Here's a pic of our family with Santa:
We get home and I go to unlock the door and notice the knob is about half an inch lower than normal and it looks as though someone tried to pry it off. I obviously get kind of freaked and my big strong husband and our loyal four legged child, Leo search the house.
Its a bit hard to tell quite how bad it was, but here is what we came home to:
I just painted this door about a month ago so it looked nothing like this.
Thankfully no one got in and nothing was taken, but it still totally shook us up and we filed an informal report with the police just in case.
We carry on with our day and I load my kids up to go to the music store to get something for my violin. (i know, Im full of surprises, aren't I?) and receive a call from Jeremy (My husband) that our four legged child Leo had accidentally snatched up some mouse poison that had been behind the stove but gotten knocked out while Jeremy was sweeping. I generally don't even keep anything toxic in my house having 2 small children and a puppy child, but back in April we had a repair done and the guy left the door wide open for about an hour and some field mice sneaked in. I cannot tolerate mice. at all. I literally lose my mind. So we bought some poison and put it all in very safe places where kids and dogs could not get it. well we honestly should have gotten rid of it after so long without a mouse siting but I honestly forgot, and I feel terrible. He ate almost 3/4 of a brick of green D-Con mouse poison before Jeremy was able to get it away.
I sobbed the whole way home. Jeremy called the animal hospital and we were told to give him peroxide and make him puke as soon as possible. This is the dog that if we buy a different brand food he will puke all night. we gave him the 5 teaspoons of peroxide they recommended (Which we had to get from a neighbor because we don't even have that in my house!) Wait and....Nothing.
This is our boy:
We re administer as advised...wait...nothing.
I HAD to take him in. By this time its 8PM and there is only the animal hospitals open. Its $75 just to walk through the door and I have $78 in my wallet. They require you to pay for everything up front. I explain I have no plastic because of the Target situation and the bank is obviously closed. ATM is out of the question because again- no card. They explain (very rudely and coldly) my dog will die if he is not treated and I just stood there sobbing. Its 4 days before Christmas and not one has money right now. They refuse payment plans, etc. and tell me just to wait in the waiting room. There are a few others in the room and all were very nice and seemed concerned, but one lady stuck out to me because she was the only one in the room actually in possession of their pet. Everyone else (including me) had their pet immediately taken back. She very kindly told me she would pay for the shot that was needed to save Leo. I couldn't even speak, I just sobbed. All I could think about was how I was going to tell my 4 and 2 year old where their dog was tomorrow. I said that would be amazing I would appreciate that so much. I was taken to the first room in the hall next to the waiting room. I could see the counter but not the waiting room. I honestly think they put me back there (because I was by myself not with my dog) because my sobbing was making them look like complete douche bags. Which honestly, they were being. This was a $50 shot, not a surgery or huge procedure. They were letting $50 stand in the way of letting a beloved animal live or die. He is worth far more to me than this but I simply did not have it!
The woman went up to the counter and told the woman who brought me back not to let me pay for the shot, but to add it to her bill, she would happily pay and please hurry and save my dog. The nurse seemed so irritated by this but told her I would have to speak to the vet first.
I neither saw nor heard the woman again. I didn't see her or her pet go by. They gave him the shot and he brought up the poison and when they brought me my bill they told me I wasn't going to be charged for it and did not mention the woman at all. My total was $77, one dollar shy of what I had in my wallet. When I walked out with my sleepy puppy I fully intended to thank the woman for offering, and let her know they didn't end up charging me, and offering her a free picture session and my card for being such an amazing person. I was unable to do that however because when I walked out, the waiting room was completely empty. There wasn't a soul there and I have no idea what happened. The workers there didn't seem to even know who I was talking about when I asked about the woman with the dachshund who had just been there. This sounds surreal, and it was, because I am honestly not convinced she was ever there in the first place, but something compelled those people not to charge me to save my poor Leo.
Leo is doing well this morning and I am trying to be positive in light of the stress. Our cards were compromised, but they weren't used. Someone tried to break in, but they didn't get through. My dong almost died, but he will be fine. God's hand was definitely on us the last two days, even if it doesn't feel like it. I choose to focus on the ways he spared us and not the trials we had to face anyways.
Praying as trials come your way you are able to do the same and thereby lessen the stress such things could cause. Even in all our trials, there are people out there going through much worse. We are blessed.
(Sorry this is so long, hoping the pics make it less boring)
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