Monday, July 14, 2014

Thwarted Burglary ... added content


I was awake and out of bed by 6am on what otherwise was a rather gloomy start to the day. Complete cloud cover but warm – a sultry 73 degrees. After calisthenics I checked the radar. Big rain wasn’t too far off to our west – perhaps an hour or less, I figured. Meditation, stretch and run were next. I was out the door by 715am.

Ran the usual 4.1 miles, and by the run’s end there were several rumbles of thunder moving ever closer. However, aside from a spit or two, still no rain. I warmed Sunday’s breakfast leftovers: a spinach & cheese omelet and home fries. Off to the shower by 815am. I took Mindy coffee but she didn’t wake or budge. But that changed while I was in the shower. It must’ve been the sound of pounding water. By the time I was out and dressed, she was awake.

She asked if I had a few minutes to enjoy coffee. It was near 830am. I figured I could stick around another 5-10 minutes. Downstairs I poured another cup of coffee while chatting with Mindy. She and Bella planned to visit a school friend who recently had a baby and then afterwards head over to niece Lindey’s condo and possibly even a swim at her condo pool, though the forecast wasn’t conducive to swimming. In fact, by the time I left the house it had already started to rain.

I wisely took my umbrella from the trunk for my walk into the office. It wasn’t raining that hard at the time, but just in case in rained all day and harder when I came out later. Was settled at my desk by 910am. There’s weren’t too many folks in the office early on, but I soon learned that was because most were off to a facilities meeting. By 930am most were back at their desks, including my boss. He and I chatted for a few.

Also chatted remotely with the peer I covered for the last 10 days. And while I had his ear, I asked if he would cover me this coming Friday in addition to the following week that we had already agreed to. Sure thing! Sweet. I walked over to chat with another local peer who spent the last week in NYC with his wife and daughter. Said they had a great time.

I had two big rocks needing addressed during the work day. One, updating my mid-year performance plan, and two, finishing up my June monthly report for Wednesday/s presentation. Around 1130am a few peers were headed off for lunch and invited me to join them for pizza. Thanked them for the invite but declined. Not only had I packed a healthy lunch, but I didn’t want to disrupt the day’s momentum.

As a result, I worked straight through the lunch hour, and before I knew it, it was time for our 3pm team call. It was supposed to be an abbreviated call but lasted nearly the full hour. I didn’t mind. I multitasked the entire time. Throughout the day, there were a couple strong storms that swept through the area but by the end of the work day the skies were brightening.

I left for home near 435pm and called Mindy soon out of the lot. She had just arrived home after picking up the boys from base as a favor to Lindsey who was required to work overtime. She shared how the visit with her friend went, and then the visit with niece Lindey. Given the poor weather, they didn’t swim. They did, however, go to lunch at Phillips Coney Island. I asked if she’d heard from Jacob, who was still at Cedar Point with friends. She did. Said he was having a good time.

Arrived home just before 5pm. Out of habit, I stuffed my face with a couple handfuls of nuts soon after making my way into the kitchen. I greeted the grandkids who were quickly out the back door to fish while waiting on Mindy to put the finishing touches on our dinner – chicken tortellini tossed in Italian dressing.
Mindy said she invited dad but hadn’t heard back from him. I helped Rocky free his fishing line from a tree not even five minutes after he began fishing. And by the time I got out to help him out he said he was done fishing. His brutally short attention span drives me batty.

Inside again, I asked Mindy how long until dinner. She offered that I had plenty of time to slip in a nap. Great! I took my Kindle to my recliner where I read and snoozed. I might’ve been there for about 20 minutes but of that, I slept for no more than 5 minutes. Even still, I felt refreshed once I was back on my feet. Minutes later Mindy called all of us to dinner.

It’s safe to say that neither of the boys cared much for the tortellini, though Rocky ate most of his minus the tomatoes. Landon only ate a few bites after dousing his entire plate in parmesan cheese. Both ate the rotisserie chicken that Mindy shredded and mixed with it. I liked it but after a few handfuls of nuts I wasn’t too hungry.

Free for the first time in a week after a grounding, Bella was quickly off to play with Makayla after dinner. They boys soon dashed off to play, too. Rocky soon returned sharing that Evan invited him to spend the night. Those two seem to get along just fine. We knew that Landon might feel left out, but not much we could do about that.

During dinner clean-up dad popped in. Mindy seemed to be expecting him, but I had no idea. Dad apparently got back with Mindy via text sharing that he’d already eaten dinner but accepted an invite for an after dinner visit. Hung out at the kitchen table for an hour or so. Somehow or another our conversation drifted to the lack of a healthy relationship with Sheila’s family after her death. Dad expressed a lot of anguish and pain from the apparent falling out. Still not sure what it was/is grounded in.

Before dad left for home we asked if he would take care of our home during our coming absence. Seemed agreeable to the plan. Cool! Lindsey came by to pick-up Landon after work. She agreed to let Rocky stay the night with Evan, but by doing so left Landon predictably upset. But unlike the last time, this time he didn’t cry or pitch a fit. Guessing it was near 730-8pm when dad left for home.

While Mindy ventured out back, I headed to the livingroom to snuggle up with my Kindle reading my newest book – The Honeymoon Effect – Bruce Lipton. I might’ve read 5 pages when Mindy came back inside and joined me in the livingroom. I stopped to check the radar as yet another rain storm was quickly moving our direction. Looked like the most likely path home from Cedar Point was already getting pounded. Mindy was much looking forward to Jacob’s return. She’d been sending texts repeatedly.

Bella was told to be home by 845pm. Mindy went to the back door to holler for her. She was apparently already on her way home. Once inside, she was promptly dispatched to the shower. I’m thinking it was close to 930pm when Jacob arrived home. Said he had a great time at Cedar Point and the friends lake house. Rode several roller coasters and didn’t get sick. His favorites were the Dragster and Millennium Force.

To a fault, Jacob badgered Mindy about our vacation agenda. Said he was in no way interested in visiting The Newport Aquarium. I chose not to chime in, though wasn’t too pleased with his seemingly ungrateful tone, especially after we just handed him $120 cash to play at Cedar Point for two days. As 10pm neared, I declared it bedtime. I took a few minutes to put my phones on charge and top off my water glass. While I was ready to head up to bed, Bella was sitting at my PC reading a Yahoo story about the cancelation of one of her favorite kiddie shows. I gave her a couple minutes before I locked down my PC. No way I was leaving her on it and heading to bed. Sorry!

Once I locked my PC I was off to bed. Against my better judgment I left Bella downstairs getting a last minute snack. I asked Mindy if that was messaging we wanted to send after her recent discipline. Before we vetted out the issue, Bella was already upstairs. She came in our room for a few while we watched the tail end of a 10pm Big Bang episode. Once it over, Mindy told Bella to turn off all screen by midnight and sent her off to her room.

The TV couldn’t have been off for 5 minutes and I was just starting to fall asleep when Bella came rushing into our bedroom freaking out that someone was downstairs. Mindy insisted that it must be Jacob, but after Bella checked and found him sleeping in his room she returned only this time hysterical and insisting that someone was breaking into our house. Her fear rustled me from bed in a jiffy. I couldn’t hear a darn thing, but then again, Mindy always has a fan or two running in our room, which effectively drowns out any stray sounds. To put her fears to rest, I headed downstairs to check, but no before grabbing the ball bat I keep under our bed. We keep a large, sharp butcher knife handy too, but I opted to leave it lie.

I heard nothing and the livingroom looked fine. Moving next into the kitchen all seemed clear there too. The windows and door locked and normal. But just as I was moving closer to peer out the deck door I spotted a guy creeping up onto our deck and reaching for the door. I startled him and he startled me. I raised the ball bat into position and at the same time he bolted like lightning, leaping off the deck and running off into the dark. I slammed my hand against the door glass and shouted for Mindy to call the cops. It all happened so fast.

The cops were there in less than two minutes. Frankly I was surprised. I still had the ball bat in my hands when they came to the door. These two cops weren’t messing around, guns were drawn. I could tell they meant business. After confirming that we were OK they immediately asked that we remain in the house while they scoured the property. I sensed that this might be bigger than just us, or just our house.

We watched from the windows as they scoured the yard leaving no stone unturned. They were looking in the brush along the pond, under the shed and deck, and even in the tree house. I knew the fool wasn’t still around. One of the cops came to the back door and shared that they found nothing amiss or obvious and that we weren’t the only ones to call with a similar situation that night. He asked for details of my encounter with the would-be burglar and then a detailed description. But sadly, it all happened so fast that even with the deck light on I couldn’t detect or recall much detail other than a button up shirt and cap on his head. Think he had blonde hair. Leaped like a horse off the deck to run away. That’s it!

Before the cop left he said we handled it perfectly and made sure to share that we should do what we have to do to protect our house should he be brazen enough to return. Mindy and the kids hugged and thanked me for protecting them. But honestly, I did everything on instinct alone. Nothing heroic about it. Bella was most shaken as she’s the one that actually heard the commotion which must’ve been him trying to open the locked windows and/or door. And based on how I came upon him, him creeping back up on the deck, he had to have been up there minutes earlier but must’ve gotten spooked, and maybe by Bella turning on a light upstairs.

Needless to say, no one was falling asleep anytime soon. Bella wasn’t leaving Mindy’s side. And given the circumstances, we let her sleep with us. Extended the offer to Jacob too but he declined. While I tried falling asleep, Mindy and Bella sent texts and FB updates sharing our ordeal. Maybe an hour later I heard the CPD helicopter out flying around but didn’t see a spotlight. I got up and checked the house again. Needless to say, sleep was loose and light that point forward.

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