Thankful Thursday

On Tuesday, for about 45 minutes I thought that I had been robbed while two adults and five kids were on the property. 

Somehow the fact that we were here makes it just so much worse in my head.

I am so thankful it turned out I was not.

We had had a good day.

My friend N (I'm very thankful that we reconnected last year, around 24 years after we last clapped eyes on each other at the end of year 10 Geez, we're OLD), was over with her three kids.  The kids were running feral in the back yard (just how we like them) and we were having a good catch up chat in between tears (theirs) or requests for food and drink.  Then the barracuda in the pool got stuck, so we headed out to the yard so I could work out what was going on with it and N went around to the side yard to check on the suddenly quiet boys.  They had discovered a mulberry tree.  We were all very excited.  N and I were reliving our childhoods and introducing the boys to the joy of the mulberry tree.  I must say I'm pretty thankful for that timely discovery.  The berries are just ripening. Nom Nom.

We all pottered about for a while and then headed back inside.  N, realising it was almost dinner time went to start to pack her car while I made food for the hungry hoard and discovered the front door was wide open.  Her bag was right next to it and nothing was missing.  The boys all denied opening it and so we wandered through the house looking for anything missing.  My wallet was on my bed where I left it this morning, credit cards and cash in tact.  It looked fine.

It took a while longer to get the kids moving and into the car (when doesn't it?) all the while I was puzzling over the front door.  Then it hit me, LAPTOP.  I rushed down to my bedroom and there was the power cord, but no laptop. Bugger. Bugger. Bugger.  Probably the only thing in the house I would be truly upset about losing.  I kept thinking of everything on it.  All of the photos I had uploaded from the camera but had not backed up or printed.  I was devastated.

Oh how I love thee...

We sat on the the front steps and puzzled over how it could have happened.  We just couldn't believe someone had been so brazen or that we had not noticed anything.  We remembered hearing a noise and regretted not investigating it more thoroughly.  Eventually I sucked it up and phoned the Workaholic and had a cry.  He was not very sympathetic.  You see since we moved into this house six weeks ago he has been constantly telling me to deadlock everything, at least until the alarm is installed and the security doors are on.  He reminded me that he had told me to back up at least 10 times in the last month Nah nahny nah nah....Also, he just didn't believe it had happened (Grrrrr).

I sent N home with her exhausted and unruly mob (thanks for the offer to stay, Why weren't we friends at school again?) as it was getting seriously late and came inside to get mine into the bath and bed, so I could sit and wallow in self pity mourn the loss of all those photos and phone the police to report it.  While the bath filled and they undressed I went through the house room by room looking for anything else that may have been taken and what did I find in the Munchkin's room?  My laptop.  Embarrassed and puzzled but soooo relieved I phoned the Workaholic and texted N that it was found. 

I have no idea how it got there.  I have no idea why the front door was open.  These are destined to remain mysteries and quite frankly, Who cares? I did not lose my laptop!!

I am so thankful that some thief do not really steal my laptop, that no stranger had been wandering around my house and so relieved that I now have a chance to back up my data.

Just after we moved in someone stole our much loved and very heavy concrete giraffe (Gerard is so sadly missed) garden ornament. The movers left him in a pretty inconspicuous spot at the top of our driveway rather than in the garden because he is very heavy and they had had a hard, long day.  He was not very obvious unless you came through the front gates and up the driveway.  We had planned to move into his new home in the side garden as soon as we had two men around to lift him, which is easier said than done here with the Workaholic working all the hours he possibly can of course.  It had made me a bit jumpy about security but our rushed and unexpected move has left us strapped for cash and extra security stuff was prioritised behind other important things like eating...

So very good things came out of the scary 45 minutes when I believed that someone had stolen my laptop.  It has increased the priority of the security measures for the house to the extent that the Workaholic has booked in the alarm installation and has agreed to close the gate when he goes out or comes in (something he has not bothered to do the entire time we have been here and has annoyed me no end).  But best of all it has given me the kick up the bum that I needed to get back into a backup routine for my data and photos and it has made me sort out some better password protection for the laptop and for the sites I use.



Nothing like an imaginary burglar to whip up some action at the House of O.

On this Thankful Thursday checkout what everyone else is thankful for by visiting Jess, from Diary of a SAHM  who is hosting for katesaysstuff this week while she is off having a family holiday (lucky her).