So, I see the man walk by and, I'm not sure how he could have missed me, but he appeared to not see me. He just kept walking and disappeared around the side of the house. He was wearing a yellow reflector vest, as if he were a worker of some sort, over a black hoodie, and the hood was up (it was raining). I grabbed my phone to call Michael and ask if we were having any services done to the house, and when I turned back around, the man walked by again and then he was gone! I quickly put Zoey in her activity seat, ran and got a coat, and then went outside to see where the man went. When I got to the side gate (which I still can't believe he just let himself in and out of, as if he owned the place!) he was up the street a ways, getting back into his jeep. I whipped out my phone and took a picture of him, just in case I needed to identify him later. I went back into the house and watched him drive off. The fence blocked my view of his truck, so I couldn't make out the logo/words that were on the side.
I called Michael and asked him if the septic people had called to schedule their visit to our property. He said they hadn't and that he wasn't aware of anyone who should have been at the house. After hanging up with him, I called the septic company to see if the man was one of their inspectors. After looking up our file, the lady informed me that our inspection had been done in September (Ha! News to me...jeez people!). She then suggested that I call the Building Department and see if the man belonged to them.
When I described the man to the lady from the Building Department, she said it wouldn't have been them. At this point, I was feeling pretty confused and really just wanted to know why someone was in my yard, without my permission.
The lady from the Building Department suggested I call the City of Edgewood, so I did. A woman answered the phone and I explained that there was a man in a worker's vest in my backyard and that I was trying to figure out what company he was from. She immediately told me that he wouldn't have been from the city because they only have two people that make house visits, and neither of them had reported to work yet. Out of desperation, and with a shaky voice, I asked the woman if there was anyone else she thought I should call, and what she said next, really threw me for a loop!
"Well, if I were you and there was a strange man in my backyard, and I didn't know where he was from, I would have called the police! You never know what kinds of disguises people will wear these days, to get what they want!"
Wow, thanks for putting that though in my head, lady! At that point, not only was I scared, but I felt like a huge idiot; thinking that I could have possibly just let a criminal traipse freely through my yard! I called Michael again and asked him if he thought calling the police was a good idea, or if it was taking things a bit overboard. He told me to go ahead and call.
After giving my report, one of the last things the operator asked me was "And how long ago did this happen?" I cringed as I nervously answered "I don't know...about 30 minutes ago...". There was a sharp moment of silence and then I could hear the loss of interest in her voice. She said "Ok, I'll go ahead and put this report through...But next time, try to call us right after it happens. Think about how far someone in a car can get in 30 minutes; that can make it pretty hard to locate them". Tired of what felt like guilt trips and condescension, I agreed to have follow up police contact, and quickly hung up the phone.
Thinking that the whole ordeal was pretty much over with, I called Michael to tell him about the police phone call and then planned to give Zoey my undivided attention; just wanted things back to normal. Well, so much for that. Apparently, when you agree to "follow up contact" with the police, that means they're sending an officer to your door! (I thought I was agreeing to being contacted if they had any further questions. Or, better yet, if it turned out there really was a string of burglaries by a man impersonating an inspector, they might have needed to contact me regarding my citizen's medal of honor and upcoming TV appearance on the 5 o'clock news. Ha! If only.)
After telling my story to the officer (who was super cute, making me wish I'd changed out of my bathrobe and sweat pants!) and showing him the grainy cell phone picture of the mystery man, he told me he'd keep an eye out for anything suspicious. As I shut the door, I was pretty mortified. I didn't think the situation was going to get this out of hand! A visit by a cute man in uniform was not enough to overshadow the fact that I still didn't have any answers as to who was in my yard, and why?
I called Michael back (I'm usually not this "needy", I swear!), to let him know about the officer's visit, and to see if there was any other company/agency he could think of, that I should call. After thinking for a moment, and going over the facts again, he suddenly remember (**eye roll**) that we may have received a notice in the mail from Puget Sound Energy a while back. He couldn't remember what the notice was about, but it sounded like the mystery man could have been checking out the meters, which are located in the backyard, on the side of the house.
OH.EM.GEE!
I hung up, immediately called PSE and after making it clear to the receptionist that I was not messing around, the police had been contacted and I needed information, I was transferred to someone who could better answer my questions. Almost immediately, the lady confidently said that the guy sounded like one of theirs. Yellow vest: check. Random inspection: Check. White vehicle and cones: Check. Hallelujah! Mystery solved! Man, my husband is so lucky he wasn't standing in front of me right then! The police may have had to come back and pull me off of him! (I wouldn't have killed him, just a bruise or two! ;)
The moral of the story: Husbands, communicate with your wives...and PSE, call to warn customers that someone is going to just let themselves onto their property!
Fortunately, the day turned around as we ventured to Walmart, painted/carved pumpkins and put the finishing touches on our Halloween decorations.
**Oh Walmart! The employee who chased me down just to tell me that Zoey was the most beautiful baby girl she had ever seen, was very sweet. I can even live with the fact that the store didn't have a few major items from my list. But, if I never seen another pair of ill-fitting Spandex/stretchy pants again, it'll be too soon!! My eyes were burning!**
Michael's favorite Fall mix: peanuts, candy corn and caramel candy corn!
Eaten together, it tastes like a Payday candy bar :)
Ready to paint her pumpkin!
Goin' in with both hands!
Way to go, Baby Girl!
Pumpkin's done, now let's paint the plate!
I think she enjoyed the experience
The garbage bag dress kept her clothes nice and clean! :)
Finished product!
Our festive front window.
We also had more decorations outside.
One of the things I look forward to most when it comes to home ownership, is decorating for the holidays! I've always loved it, and now I get to go all out if I want!! (The window looked better from the outside, obviously) Can't wait for the kiddos to come by tomorrow!
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