Vandals

My home has been vandalized. If you have ever seen my house, you would probably ask yourself "How can they tell?" I will be the first to admit that I am NOT one to keep a clean house. At this moment I am trying to divert my eyes away from the stacks and stacks of stuff that need to be gone through, thrown out, given away or just put away. But yes, we were vandalized.

Throughout my years, I've seen homes that were egged by reckless youth (not me, of course) or tp'd (that's toilet-papered, if you didn't know) after a big game. I've always felt compassion for the homeowners who had to clean the mess in the morning. Wet tp - yuck! I've seen mailboxes dented from baseball bats, lawns strewn with trash, and even recently a front yard covered in pink flamingos (come on, THAT has to be vandalism!). I feel fortunate that other than the occasional drive-by littering, we had never been vandalized. (PLEASE DON'T GET ANY IDEAS!) But my serene existence has come to an end.

We came home to discover two holes in our garage wall. They are not large holes, but still an obvious indication that someone was trying to get into our house. As you can see by one of the pictures, the culprit(s) made it all the way through the drywall and stopped when he/she reached the blue insulation. And the vandalism was not confined just to the wall. A ladder, shop vac, several items from the recycle bin, gardenhose, spray can, roller blades, golf club, football and something else we haven't been able to identify were among the other items damaged in the attack.


We are not sure what prompted the vandalism. It could have been done to get to our electronics (take note: most of which are broken), although going through a door makes more sense than through the wall. It certainly wasn't to get to some secret stash of cash (Note: there is none - secret or not) or a jewelry box filled with the queen's jewels (think cheaper than cz). Priceless works of art? Maybe - I do have a couple pieces hanging on the refrigerator (beautifully colored inside the lines!). Our guess to the more probable reason - boredom. Yes, this (or these) culprits were probably bored and looking for entertainment - at our expense.

It did not take us long in our investigation to find and apprehend the perps. Yes, there were two. Both are juveniles, what a shame. However, we have decided not to press charges.

Perp #1Perp #2

But their punishment will be severe! I'm thinking BATH!

Bren

The Procrastinator

It is October and I have not even begun to think about Halloween. It is not because I am anti-Halloween or refuse to let my children participate, I actually enjoy Halloween in its full chocolate glory. No, it is because in my mind it is still September and Halloween is a distant holiday not to be thought of for at least four more weeks. WHEN DID IT BECOME OCTOBER??

So here I am on October 28, no pumpkins, no decorations, my youngest child has no costume and she has a costume party to go to in one hour!! Yes, I did conveniently forget about the party, but that was partly due to the fact that she has been sick and I just assumed (ok, hoped) that she wouldn't be well enough to attend. I am now feeling like the bad mom watching my seven-year old dig through her dress-up box looking for something to wear. ANYTHING to wear. The problem is most everything is too small. (It has been a while since we've gone through her dress-up box). Everything else is "too itchy".

When my boys were little I actually made their costumes. And there were some good ones, too. Among the favorites were a Hershey kiss, a pencil and a robot. As they got older, they wanted store-bought scary costumes. And by the time my daughter came along, I was thrilled to buy the princess dresses. It was a nice change from goblins, vampires, monsters and other creepy creatures.

But now what am I going to do? Thirty minutes and no costume. Maybe an old sheet with a couple of eyes cut out? Better yet, ONE eye (shows more character and takes less time!).

Bren