Robbed

We got robbed Friday night. Worst. Feeling. Ever. Here's the story:

My mom and sister came into town on Thursday (great timing, eh?). Friday us three were out all day long shopping/site-seeing/etc. Russ came home from work at about 6 to drop off his stuff and change before meeting us for dinner. He left the house at about 6:45.

We arrive home after our long day at 9:45. The minute I walk inside I say out loud "it smells funny in here." My mom agreed. It wasn't a bad smell, just different. We go to the kitchen and start unpacking the various finds from our shopping excursions. At one point I go to the double doors in the kitchen/dining area and notice the back door is cracked open. I immediately rationalize and think "oh, mom must have gone outside for a second after we got home." I shut the door, lock it, and think nothing more. After about 15 minutes of being home, still no one has noticed anything. Next step: change into sweats immediately.

I walk back into our bedroom and see the blinds are completely drawn and the window is WIDE open. A lot of times when we are home we crack the window for some air (especially now that the weather is nice). But it was open as wide as it could go. Again, I rationalize and think "wow, Russ must have been really hot when he got home from work." And then I look at the dresser and most of the drawers are cracked open. The master bathroom drawers - cracked open. Our bedside table drawers - cracked open. I go to close the window and realize the screen is gone. It clicked. Someone was in here. Before freaking everyone out, I run back into the living/dining/kitchen area and look on the kitchen table to find my laptop, where I know we had left it that morning. Gone.

"Russell....." I say in a loud, kind of crazy voice. I tell him to come back with me into the bedroom. Again, I didn't want to freak my mom and sister out if I was just jumping to conclusions. I show him the window and say "I think someone broke into our house." He looks down by his side of the bed and says "yes, my work backpack is gone." This backpack had his work laptop and secure ID badge inside. Gone.

We start running around the house like crazy. After a thorough investigation, we notice the following are gone:

• My laptop
• Russ's work laptop/backpack
• My 16 GB ipod (from my bedside table drawer)
• Our camera

Our windows have ADT stickers on them. When you open any door or window the house beeps. We are not paying for the service, but apparently that wouldn't have mattered because he still broke in with the stickers on. He didn't know we weren't paying. And plus, the beep probably freaked him out, and he was undoubtedly in and out within 60 seconds. So ADT would have called the cops and they would have showed up 15 minutes later? So what? He would have been long gone. We go onto the back porch and notice the even more disturbing part. Before attempting to open and break into our bedroom window, he first tried to pry open our kitchen doors with a crowbar. This guy was going to get in no matter what. The doors will need to be replaced. We called the cops who were really nice and helpful, telling Russ he needs to get a gun to protect himself.

In the end, it's just things that he took. Luckily we have renters insurance, and we are working with the insurance to get everything replaced. Russ is vigilant about backing documents and pictures up, which I am grateful for. But that's not the point. It's the fact that our "home sweet home" was penetrated and invaded. We immediately changed all of our passwords to everything online, seeing as he has my laptop with saved passwords. We all do it. You think you are safe in your home. Until you're not. I hate the fact that he dug through my drawers. I hate the fact that there was a thief who ran through my house, saw pictures of us, and still had the gall to steal from innocent bystanders. Russ went around our cul de sac Saturday morning to tell the neighbors. Most people he talked to told him they haven't heard of a robbery in this neighborhood the whole time they have lived here. Guess that's just our luck. We move in and two months later get robbed. C'est la vie, right?

I look forward to the day when I will be able to sleep soundly again. These last few nights have been rather restless. I now know that feeling safe is not a feeling you should take for granted. It should be cherished.