protected function loadObject()
    {
        $this->xPDOSimpleObject = $this->modx->getObject($this->xpdo_simple_object_class, $this->getUniqueCriteria());

        if (is_object($this->xPDOSimpleObject)) {
            $this->exists = true;
            $this->current_xpdo_simple_object_data = $this->xPDOSimpleObject->toArray();
            $this->loadFromArray($this->current_xpdo_simple_object_data);
            // load related data:
            $this->loadRelatedData();
        }

        return $this;
    }