Nasty Surprise

Yesterday was the first day I had been out of the house since my treatment. I was feeling good and decided to swing buy SuperTarget with the boys. School's only a couple of weeks away and we have done hardly any shopping. They each needed a new backpack, and I had to pick up something I could make for dinner that night.

We were gone for one hour.

When we got home, I wrestled several grocery bags to the front door and got my keys out while the boys checked the mail. Once the door was opened, I was busy keeping the dog from running out the door, moving the bags inside the house, and asking the boys for help. I was multi-tasking and not being very observant.

The Rationalist spoke out,"Hey, who put all those toys on the floor?"

"Toys on the floor? I'm sure those were from you guys playing earlier."

"No," said Monkey. "We didn't use those. And why are all the plugs on the stereo speaker?"

In the few seconds that had passed, I hadn't really put anything together in my mind. The Rationalist walked into the living room and shouted,"Our Wii is gone! WE'VE BEEN ROBBED!"

I dropped everything, rushed into the living room and looked at the bare space on the shelf of our entertainment center. I looked into my bedroom, noticing the mattress had been flipped over, a few drawers dumped out, and my jewelry box was gone.

We HAD been robbed.

I was in shock.

I immediately grabbed the phone and told the boys to leave the house. We stood in the front yard while I called DH and the police, all the while looking at everyone in the neighborhood with veiled suspicion. Was it that guy working on his car? What about the cable guy across the street? Oh, look here, our next-door neighbor's thug son is visiting today.

A deputy came, fingerprinted our sliding glass doors and made a report. She was here for about 25 minutes and then left.

I'm not sure what to think about all of it. I feel horribly for the kids. They saved all of their money for a year and half to buy their Wii and some jerk took it in five minutes. I lost all of my jewelry, which I don't care too much about, other than my engagement ring; the only piece that meant anything to me.

I was grateful that the dog was unharmed and still here. The thief could have left the door open and she could have wandered off, or they could have hurt her. Doubtless, she posed no threat to them. She probably tried to lick them to death, or barked at them to play fetch with her.

Sigh.

I had a hard time sleeping last night as I pondered the fact that either it was an amazing coincidence that the only time the house has been empty in over a week, we were robbed, or someone in our neighborhood actively watched us leave, and got into our house soon afterward. The latter option is more uncomfortable. It's unpleasant to be victimized by someone who lives near you, can watch your house, and take a chance to do it again.

We think that the thief was in and out very quickly. They didn't get much and missed several things, like our digital camera, that were in plain sight. The dog gets very excited by visitors, barking and jumping. They probably didn't want to prolong her loudness.

I have to go out again today, and I already feel anxiety about who might be watching us leave.