Home Invasion Too Close To Home

I woke up this morning to the sound of someone trying to break into my house. After a quick check out the window, I heard my front door open.
Great!!!!! Someone was in my house.
Now what? What do you do when you know someone is downstairs, in your home?
My husband grabbed the bat and headed down the stairs, and I called the Police.
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I guess we scared them off. It seems they broke in at the back of the house. They broke the PVC window, cracked the window right out of it's frame, and entered the house. The noise I made scared them out the front door. But that does not change the fact that they were in our house.
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We spent half the night with the police. The helicopter had a look around. The K9 unit dropped by to check out the scene. And it doesn't change the fact that someone was in our house.
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How do you shake that feeling. You know the one. The feeling that you have been violated. The feeling that someone can just break a PVC window that was locked in place and enter your house. What do you have to do to ensure you are safe in your own home? Do you have to put bars on all the windows? Is locking the doors and windows not enough to keep these assholes out of your house? What gaul! They think they can just bust into any old house they feel like! I just fixed that window from the last incident. Now I have to lay out another couple hundred to fix the window again.
And now my husband and I both have bats beside the bed. Well, he has a bat and I have an axe handle. And they are right beside the bed. His within reach on his side of the bed, and mine within reach on my side.
We aren't sleeping tonight. Not after someone was in our house.
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Not after someone was in our house.

Anyone Got Marshmallows?

The siren stopped. That means something was happening pretty close by. I looked out the window and saw red lights flashing at the end of the street in the back lane. My first thought was that there was a fire again in the yard at the end of the street. There have been so many fires on my block and the surrounding area this summer, I can't even keep track anymore. I got my shoes on, and grabbed a jacket.
As I went to the side of the house I saw the lights of the fire truck directly behind my house. By the time I got to the back lane the fire was out. The fire men had extinguished a fire in the dumpster two doors down. That was the second time this summer that particular dumpster was in flames.
The neighbour who discovered the fire saw that the dumpster was up against a garage. He pushed it away from the garage with his truck and called 911.
The fire truck that arrived used a special hose, located at the front of the rig. It sprays foam and is used to extinguish dumpster fires. One of the firemen made a comment that he will be glad when the dumpsters are gone. He feels there will be less fires at that time. I am not so sure on that one. At least these fires are contained in metal dumpsters. I hate to think what the little fire bugs will light up once the dumpsters are gone. In Crescentwood they light recycle boxes, garages and misc items in peoples yards. At least we have self contained 'fire boxes' here for the little arsonists to play with.
After the fire was out, and the truck left, a utility van showed up in the lane. There was a worker in the bucket inspecting the lines in the area of the fire. The guy had a flashlight shined on the line as the driver slowly moved down the lane. I don't know if someone complained about their phone or tv being out, or if the utility company was just checking the new lines they had just strung in our lane.
We all seem to know what to do when we have a fire here. Push the dumpster out of the way, call the fire department, have them extinguish the fire, get the utility company out to check the lines. Reset, and wait for the next fire to start.