So I had an experience yesterday. Figured I should write it down if only to make sure I know what happened and keep my story straight.
My mom came over and so we had the kids upstairs watching tv. Ellie was napping and everything was fairly cool. I had opened the garage door so I could do some cleaning and have fairly easy access to the garbage cans. Our laundry/storage/cat room(kitty litter and food) flooded on Monday so I had put down rice and baking soda to help clean up the mess. Of course it left a mess too so I needed to get that cleaned up. So we had been down there for about an hour. Audrey started to come down and pester us so Mom was trying to get her out of my hair and suggested that they go outside for a treat or something like that. Next thing I know my mom is calling for me and things sound serious. I don't hear any crying so it isn't that someone is hurt. But my mom is calling for me and something in her voice told me she needed me now. So I went upstairs.
And standing in front of my kids and her at my front door is a guy. Something feels off, but I hear him out.
He was on a trip to go to a family reunion in Vegas. And on their way back to Idaho their car was impounded. They have been staying in the homeless shelter, and he has been trying to earn enough money for bus fair back to Idaho. He only needs 25 more dollars to get the tickets tonight. He was wondering if I had any work he could do around my house, like mowing my lawn, pulling weeds or anything like that.
Now keep in mind that my garage door had been open for a good hour previous to this. And at the moment it is half full with the stuff from our basement until we have it painted. And there were definitely things that could have been stolen had my mom not seen him out there before he had a chance.
But since he was willing to work for some money I said I would pay him to mow my front lawn. It was about 2 or so in the afternoon. So pretty hot out and I had been planning on getting the lawn mowed. I also had the feeling that I should give him the whole 25 dollars to do it. Then he wouldn't need to ask for any more and he could just go home.
Also, he couldn't start my lawn mower. I had to show him how to start it. Which was a little weird as well.
I realized that I don't have 25 dollars on me in cash and ask him if he can cash a check. Figuring that he wouldn't be able to. Come to find out that when his car was taken all of his luggage and all of their i.d.'s were locked in the car. And they can't get into the car with out i.d.'s. The impound lot will however let them in to the car if the Idaho driver's division will vouch for them. So his father in law is working with them to try to get them to let him into the car. But they still need to get to Idaho to get this all the way done. Okay. So I talk to my mom and she is okay with me going and getting the cash from the bank.
So I drive away. I am a little nervous. Some stranger is mowing my lawn and I just left my mom there with all the kids. So I pray that everything will be alright. And I pray and I pray the whole time I am driving and such. But I just keep getting a good feeling that everything will be alright. That I am doing the right thing and everything will be okay. That is the answer I get.
When I get home he is done and standing on the side of the driveway with a glass of water and the garage door is closed. Weird I had thought about closing the door when I left but I didn't. So I give him the money and we talk for a bit. He asks me what the fastest way to the college is. I ask him if he is talking about SLCC as that is the nearest college to our house. And he says uh, yeah. So I tell him that it is about 2 or 3 stop lights down the road from us on Redwood Rd. And he can get there pretty easily from the bus stop. And I try to direct him to the nearest bus stop. And I gave him 3 extra dollars for bus fair. Because there was no way on earth I was going to give him a ride.
Every time I tried to direct him east to the bus stops there he would insist on going west to redwood rd. And almost at the end of the conversation he mentioned that he had first gotten here by Trax. And he hinted that he had gotten to the college from trax as well. Well the only trax station near my house is on the other side of the freeway from my house to the east and past my husbands work. Weird. My mom came out in the meantime and she was also trying to direct him to the nearest bus stop but he continued to insist on going west. So we directed him towards redwood rd and watched him cross the street to leave the neighborhood. And this was a bit after 3 when this happened, I think.
Now I have to say that while I was standing outside talking to this man. I saw my neighbor across the street. And I knew that he was watching this guy. Our neighbor is a very good man. He watches out for us and generally helps us out when needed and so on. I also watched him leave. He drove away. Before the guy had left.
My mom and I stayed outside the house and worked a little out there and talked about what just happened. I cleaned my kitty litter outside. (Which I normally do because I can't have the dust of the kitty litter being kicked up inside the house because of the germs that could get Stu sick.) My mom pulled some weeds. I cleaned out some stuff from the garage that needed to be thrown away. We were out there for a good 30 mins. And we watched to make sure that guy didn't come back. Then we went inside and finished up downstairs. Went through some food downstairs to see what needed to be used up. And then I ate and cleaned up my kitchen and started to make some rice crispy treats.
Stu came home at 4:20 and I was surprised. I told him about the guy. And then finished up the treats. The kids ate them and then at about 4:30 the neighbor from across the street rings the doorbell. The first time I had checked the clock it was about 3:50. Time was passing in an odd way yesterday. I couldn't really figure out how I made it to dance only 3 mins late. Because I didn't get Audrey dressed until after we had talked to the neighbor. And my mom was still there, after that she left. But some how I was driving away from the house at 4:45. With both kids in the car and everything that we needed for dance class at 5.
He wanted to know if we had seen anyone suspicious around or if we had noticed anything suspicious. Because between 3 and 3:45 a car was stolen from their driveway. Not his car. But a Red Honda Accord. That his sis in law was driving around. (She had moved in over the weekend.) And this wasn't even her car to begin with. She had been in an accident and this was a friend's car. But there was no broken glass on the ground and she still had her keys. And he felt that the guy was scoping out his house when he was mowing my lawn. So he got a description of the guy and wanted to know what he said. So I told him basically what I just wrote down here.
The guy was about 6', brown hair, scruffy beard (looked like he hadn't shaved in like a week maybe 2), he was wearing a bright blue shirt with print on it, un-tucked, jeans that looked new-ish. He was overweight, (he had a potbelly), and out of shape, (like I think mowing just my front lawn about killed him). He was probably in his 30's. I wanna say he was older than me. I don't remember the color of his eyes but he seemed to have honest eyes.
But my neighbor could only think that he was a "shady character" and had the feeling that he was looking for easy targets in the neighborhood. Now if he was really just looking for "easy targets", my mom had left her windows rolled down in her car, her keys in the car, and her wallet. Out in front of my house. if you are looking for easy targets that is one of the easiest. And he had spent a good deal of time in front of my house that if he was looking for that he would have seen it. Also if he had just wanted to steal my garage was open for an hour before we had seen him. And nothing was missing.
Another odd thing, my neighbor, who isn't afraid to call the authorities, didn't call the police. I never once saw a police car over there. No one but the neighbor asked me about the guy. Which is part of the reason I am writing this down. So I can remember.
A few other odd things happened last night. However, I still feel that I did the right thing, in all that I did. Somehow we were kept safe, by my actions and the actions of my mom.
Just to let you know, if I had been alone at home I would have said no to the guy. But I wasn't the only adult here.
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