The surreal life...

This is so strange, but I had to get it down before I forgot the details...Read on:

You know if you are reading this that my kids both left for school last week, and I am living alone for the first time in 20+ years. My only change in routine has been to make sure the doors are locked before going to bed- when the kids were home, the last one to bed was in charge of locking the doors.

This morning at about 3:30, I heard an interior door open and a young womans' voice speaking to someone. Since I have always told my daughter that if she finds herself in a situation where she and/or her friends are drinking, to be smart- don't drive, don't get into a car with someone who has been drinking, just come home and be safe. I called Jamies' name and rolled out of bed and walked into the living room.

A young woman was lying on the floor next to my leather chair, naked except for a bra, apparently intoxicated. An older man was standing a few feet away, fully dressed. I shouted at the man to "get out, get out!" and pointed to the door. He protested, "she said this was her house!" She mumbled something to the effect that it "was too, her house!" I reinterated that it definitely WAS NOT her house, and ran and opened and unlocked the front door so that they could leave or I could run for help. The man dashed out, but the girl was apparently too intoxicated to follow. She proceeded to wander around the house, looking for her clothes (which were not there).

At this point I grabbed my cell phone that was charging in the living room, and dialed 911. When the girl realized that I was calling the police, she took off out the open door, naked. I could see the man still lurking outside, and they headed down the street as I stayed on the line with Flagstaff PD dispatch.

Police arrived about 5 minutes later with the pair in custody, and asked me to identify them, which I did. They asked if I wanted to press charges against them. The officer proceeded to explain that the man (who was from Italy, go figure) and the woman had met in a bar and she invited him back to her house, which is apparently somewhere in Southside. He said that she would be charged with underage drinking no matter what, as she was just 19. The man was 32 (I had thought him more about 45). I replied that HE was certainly old enough to know better- they came in through a window that was painted shut, knocked over a shelf with paint and crafts stuff, knocked over several of my bikes, and he dropped an (apparently) used condom on the floor (ick!!!)

In the meantime, I had called my daughter Jamie to come home since I was pretty shook up. By the time she showed up, the girl was saying that "someone" who lived in the house said it was ok for them to be there. Jamie and I both denied knowing this girl, and stated that presently, no one but me lived in the house and Jamie never, ever told anyone that it was ok to break into her Moms' house!

The girl (who had produced an ID that said she was a 36 year old woman, and found some pants, btw) kept protesting her arrest to the police, saying that she hadn't threatened or hurt me (as if that makes breaking into my house in the middle of the night ok!) and should not be arrested. I told the police that if she was 36, I wanted some of what she was taking, because she looked great! And if she was 36, she DEFINITELY knew better, so maybe this would be a wake-up call for her.

In the meantime, another police officer arrived (bringing the total to 3 cops, 2 cop-cars. A Flagstaff crime-wave!) He then proceeded to take photos of everything- this is the funny part- after they left, and I was cleaning up the mess in the workroom, he called and asked if I had touched anything yet. Jamie said that I was in mid-cleanup, and he replied that there was no film in the camera (Flagstaffs' finest in action!). So no photos, just the police written accounts.

By now it was after 5, so Jamie and I laid down to try to sleep (no good). So after she left to go back to school, I got up and came to work. This experience gets more surreal, the more I think about it. Some observations:

1. If I had had a gun, I wouldn't have used it. Ditto for the baseball bat.

2. My dog is worthless- Pecos did not even wake up until the police came into the house, THEN he barked his head off!

3. People make some really bad choices sometimes. This was one of those times that these two probably will not forget.

4. I am a very sound sleeper.

5. That God is good, and he held me and got me through something that had the potential to be very bad.

6. That I can pray with compassion for those who have done me wrong.

7. That I have an awesome daughter, who will jump out of bed at 4 in the morning to come be with me when I need her (she rode her bike from campus)

8. That my chance of having another breakin while I am asleep have gone down tremendously.

9. That I need a better cell-phone, with longer battery life.

10. That can deal with fear, but not let it dictate how I live my life.

11. That I am definitely getting another Boxer... and maybe a roomate.