for future reference

We had a lovely weekend at my parents for Easter. I would post photos if the iPad let me. (Really annoying.) We had a nice, uneventful drive back and pulled into the driveway to unload. We walked around the back door and realized Blossom had run ahead of us..... Right into the house.... Through the back door that was wide open.

We looked at each other like, "Wait a minute. This isn't right." Larry made me go stand in the neighbors yard while he checked everything out. A few minuts later, I saw that he was done, so I went inside. Nothing was taken, moved, or messed up (and nobody was hiding in any of the closets,) so it appeared that our door had just blown wide open while we were away.

I know Larry locked it - I watched him go to the back door and twist the dead bolt, but he must have double twisted it or it didn't catch or something, because it sure didn't stay closed! Since there was no robbery and things appeared safe, we went ahead and proceeded to unload the car.

As we were doing that, the neighbor pulled out of her garage. She said, "I came by on Saturday to invite you guys over for Easter, but nobody was home." We told her that we had just arrived back in town. I asked if the door was open when she came over. She said, "yes. I was knocking and yelling your names, but when you didn't answer I just figured you were asleep or something and that you had the door open to air out the house." Now, I guess I can see that. But when you didn't see any evidence of us for 3 whole days, do you think you might have reassessed the situation?!? It isn't like we are home bodies. Larry sweeps/blows the leaves/ waters the plants/ etc. outside every single day. I mean, it isn't her fault, but in the future, if you ever encounter a situation where your neighbor's door is WIDE OPEN, nobody responds when you knock and yell their name, and even their dog appears missing, it would be nice if you:
1. Called the neighbor just to check if they wanted their door open
2. If you can't find their phone number, talk to one of the other neighbors who you regularly see us visiting with and mention it to them
3. Just close the door
4. Maybe even call the police for a welfare check... You know, to make sure we weren't lying in a puddle of blood in the back hallway.

Anyway,  spent a few hours sweeping and vacuuming about a kazillion bugs. I've never been so thankful for spiders... At least lots of bugs got caught in webs! But it was seriously disgusting. There were so. many. bugs. Fortunately, most of them were contained to the one room in which we left a light on. The new hand vac I got for Christmas works wonders. Some heavy duty spray (and a future visit with professional pest control) seem to have done the trick. I am so thankful that there was no crime and that there are no critters. (Skunk in the closet, deer in the bathtub, squirrels in the curtains, etc.) I'll never take living in a safe neighborhood for granted again!