It was a bad, bad day....

That reminds me of that song that starts out, "I've been a bad, bad girl...." At least, I think there's a song that sounds like that and that line is stuck in my head now. Anyway, I'm being humorous because there isn't much humor in the situation.

I left my wallet in the shopping cart at Wal-Mart after trying to be a good mommy and get my kids quickly in the car and put my car away in the little cart receptacle thing. Even pushing it across the aisle to the receptacle my 20/20 eyes didn't notice I was leaving my wallet.

I get to McDonald's because the kids were starving and I was going to treat them to McDonald's because they hadn't had it yet here in Oklahoma and I was going to just make dinner for me and the DH to eat a little late.

I order the kids food, get to the window, and OH NO!!!!!!!!

I call Wal-Mart enroute back to it to see if it had been turned in. Of course, it's not the perfect world I try to assume it is, and no one had turned it in.

I hit EVERY SINGLE stop light on the way back. I get to Wal-Mart and get stopped at the light where I can see the parking lot for about a minute (I said every light, didn't I?). I can see the cart guys go to my cart receptacle and get the three carts in there. I know mine was the 2nd one. I know they haven't already gotten my cart because I've only been gone a little under 10 minutes and when we were leaving they had JUST gotten the carts - that's why mine was only the 2nd one in the receptacle when they put it there.

I watched from the stop light as they grabbed the 3 carts and I could see that they didn't discover anything in any of them, or reach in and take anything, so I sure the wallet was not in the cart anymore.

Just in case, I drive up to the cart guy like a crazy woman and ask if he found a wallet. He says no. He says I can check the carts at the front of the store. My kids are whining now - "Mommy, we're really hungry!" I ask them to please let mommy be.

I go to the front of the store to the hundreds of carts, hear my kids crying in the car - I didn't turn it off, I just kind of pulled it up to the sidewalk where all the carts were. I realize that my wallet wouldn't have let the cart guys push the next cart in because it would have stopped the basket from opening all the way for the next cart to be shoved inside. All of the carts look perfectly pushed inside one another.

I scan them as quickly and as best as I can and get back in the car and pull into a parking spot to call my bank to close my debit card with them. That was the most important card and I didn't want anyone to go on a Wal-Mart shopping spree.

The good news is that by the time I got home (I only called the bank before going home to give the girls cereal for dinner since we had no left-overs, I hadn't gotten to cook, and that was easiest) and called all of the other cards in there, none had been used. I didn't have any cash in there, just an endorsed check for $35 (I know, dumb me - I was going to take it on the base and cash it but hadn't).

The BAD news is that between my Air Force Reserve ID and my dependant one, and my AND EACH OF MY KIDS social security cards, EVERY SINGLE MEMBER OF MY FAMILY has their social security numbers compromised!!!!!!!! How stupid could I be, you ask? Pretty stupid. Most of you probably hardly ever use your SS numbers much anymore. Well, in the military, you use them ALL THE TIME. I can't tell you how many times at random places I've had to supply my kids SSN's and I don't know them, so I've started carrying the cards around. Now I know how stupid that is!!!

Anyway, lesson learned - don't be like Marie and carry stuff like that. I've never lost a wallet before and this is what happens when I do, because of what I carried in the wallet.

I don't even really know what to do about it, other than to get replacement cards. I sure hope because it's a small town and whoever took the wallet out of the cart obviously took it to steal from it since they didn't take it into the customer service desk, that they won't go through the effort to "steal" our SSNs or anything. They can have the check, I don't care, but I just wish I could have everything else in there that isn't a credit/debit card or that check. Those things are easy to replace. All of the other little cards and things I shove in there, my military IDs and SSN cards aren't. Oh well....now you know what I've got going on the next few days.

I called the police like USAA (my bank) said to do. Hopefully they'll review the security camera footage today. MAYBE something will come of it. I'd rather just see my wallet get stuck in the garbage then see it drive off with someone!

I'm going to go get a new driver's license today, and get new military IDs. We may have to get SS cards today too. So, no stamping for me in the near future!

Please learn from my mistakes!! People aren't all nice and won't just turn in a wallet they find, so make sure if they find yours it's all things you can cancel quickly and won't compromise your credit/identity future.

Have a great day!

PS - now I have to get a license and military IDs before I've lost the weight I want to from the baby I had TEN MONTHS AGO (I know, I'm pathetic at weight loss), so that's STINKY in and of itself. I have to be FAT on my cards!!!!!! ;) Again - trying to be humorous since I feel so angry.