I thought since so many of you were so sweet to leave a comment on my previous post that I would just publicly thank you all right here and right now. Thanks for the support and for telling me I did well. I needed to hear that! You are awesome. I ♥ you internet! :D

Okay, now on to the thoughts I’ve had since the incident. First of all, as the police told me, the best thing to do if there is an intruder in your home is GET. OUT. OF. THE. HOUSE. Seriously. In the circumstances I was in, I did the best I could do. When I heard the door open, my logical brain told me that only someone I know could be in that garage, so I walked into a confrontation. As Mike said, he was probably just some schmuck out looking for opportunity - knocking on doors and if no answer seeing if there was an easy way to get into the house (though why you would do that on a Saturday morning when most people are home is beyond me). He wasn’t expecting to be confronted and so I totally caught him off guard, didn’t panic, and took control of the situation. And it all worked out. Obviously, had any component of that been different, it could have been a different story, but in this case everything actually probably worked out the best it could have.

What’s funny is there are two major factors that could have totally changed the beginning scenario and the outcome. One is Mike having fixed the garage door two days before. Because, let me just tell you, that door has not been working right for weeks if not MONTHS. And I’ve been asking him to fix it for quite awhile. But for some reason, last week was the week I put my foot down and said FIX THE DAMN DOOR. IT’S DRIVING ME CRAZY. And so he did. And so when I shut the door, it CAUGHT instead of me having to shut it TEN TIMES before it caught. The timing of this really blows me away.

And the second factor? Well, normally on a Saturday when the weather is pleasant, I’d walk around the house opening all the windows (there are screens, but still), but for some reason yesterday, I thought about it, decided I was too lazy to do it, and just turned on the a/c. I never thought my laziness would actually come in handy, but there you go.

So yes, I do believe there is a God and he watches over us all - even the lazy ones who cuss at their husbands. Seriously though, when I was standing out by that police car, I was saying so many prayers of thanks…SO MANY.

Mike said that my training as a teacher has taught me to quickly take control of a situation, which I did. It’s also taught me how to be authoritative and I was. And as Mr. Syndromes said, I probably freaked him out more than he freaked me out. And you know what? I SURE AS HECK HOPE SO. I hope he crapped his pants and ran all the way home and is still sitting in the corner sucking his thumb and rocking back and forth saying “I will never trespass again. I will never trespass again.” Jerk.

The negative fallout is that now I don’t feel safe and secure in the house I have ALWAYS felt safe and secure in. And that sucks. But, I am telling you now, I WILL feel that way again. I’m not going to let some idiot trying to steal whatever he could fit in his backpack take away my joy and my security for long. No way. I have learned some things. One, I’ve learned that probably if someone is at the door that I don’t know - instead of not answering it at all, I should just yell through it. “What do you want? Who are you? I have a gun and I have dialed 911. NOW GO AWAY!” I think that’ll do the trick. :P The peephole Mike installed yesterday is the kind that you don’t have to be right up against to see through. In fact, I’m halfway across the room from it right now and I can see the yard through it. So, I don’t have to get all that near the door to be able to tell if it’s friend or foe. Also, Mike needs to be diligent about locking doors. And I need to be vigilant about checking that he has. It’s not paranoia. It’s keeping my daughter (and myself) safe from harm. Amen.

To answer Emily’s question from the comments - no I did not physically touch him or push him. I just walked toward him purposefully and he did what we all do instinctively when that happens - he backed up. I caught him off guard enough to give me an advantage and I took it. That’s the thing. Most of us women don’t have the physical strength to outfight a man, but we do have the mental accuity and wits to outthink them. Don’t take this wrong male readers, but a lot of men tend to be more apt to act first, think later, and women think first. Because we have no choice. That’s the only way we have a chance to get the upper hand. I went by instinct and thank God my instincts (in this situation) were perfect. I can only think that my guardian angel (Thanks Mom!) was totally watching out for me and that baby in the other room.

Now I’ll tell you the truth about how totally freaked out I was last night. Mike had to work (of course) and so before he left I made him go through the ENTIRE house and check every door, every window, the attic, the closets, the loft, EVERYTHING. And then I tried to stay up until he got home and listen to every noise that scared the heck out of me for SIX HOURS. I did finally doze off a time or two because I was just so tired, but I sure tried! And then? I made Mike leave a light on. We never sleep with lights on when he’s there. I TOTALLY sleep with lights on (and usually the television) when he’s not because I’m a dork, but when he’s there, it’s dark. Last night, though, I needed that extra little bit of security. And I only had one bad dream. I dreamed I heard a noise - like tapping on the door or the window or something. I’ve had those dreams before and actually woken up to noises like the alarm going off at our church down the street or the power thingy down the street blowing last summer in the middle of the night and the power going off and so on. So, it took me a few minutes to ascertain that nothing was going on. It was a dream. Everything is fine. I finally did get some real sleep with no more bad dreams and when I woke up this morning I felt a lot less scared. But, we’ll see how I do the first time Mike leaves me alone. That will be the true test.

In the meantime, thank you thank you again internet for caring. {{HUGS}}