WOW! It amazing how time just slips away from me . . .

I can't believe it's already the beginning of September! I am SSSOOOO far behind!

Well to bring you up to speed, the rest of my trip in LA was FABULOUS!!!! I got home on Aug. 6th, and then Hubby left for his annual fishing trip. Unfortunately the morning he left I was hit with a bombshell . . . turns out my child-molesting neighbor was trolling my street this summer for kids.

Needless to say I was shocked and appalled . . . and part of the reason why I've taken a while to get back into blogging, even though the temptation to blog right after all this happened was tremendous!

Here's the deal . . . a year and a half a good, I took the advice of my local paper and checked out the DOJ (Dept. of Justice) website to check the sex offender list. Turns out I have one who lives within a 5 minute walk from my house. I was hoping this guy didn't really live there (I was in TOTAL denial) and then about 6 mos ago I saw his getting his mail and realized it was him.

I have been watching his house like a hawk ever since, but what I found out a month ago, made my blood run cold. Apparently the Friday before I got home, this person approached my neighbor's sister's car where her 16 mo old daughter was. The mother was in the car, but the guy didn't know it until she popped her head up. He made some excuse about wanting to tell her she had a beautiful child, and left. This same person was seen watching my next door neighbor's 2 yr old son, and actually watched my husband and Kid #3 playing catch in the front yard. All this happened in the same week.

Thankfully my neighbor with the 16 mo old niece called the police and they have visited him at least once. One of the detectives commented that they know about him and have him under observation.

This is one of the few times I'm actually glad that I live in a community where a very well known child abduction had taken place . . . because I know the police don't want that to EVER happen again.

So . . . what have I done about all this?

Well apart from leaving a bag of burning dog feces on this front porch, I've been watching his house even more. My kids know about him and to watch for him. Kid #3 knows about his white truck and watches for it whenever we go by his house. My neighbor and I both have logs to document if and when he comes down our street again.

I know they say knowledge is power, but why do I still feel so helpless?

The only thing that has kept me from going is the craziness of the beginning of the school year. And . . . IT HAS BEGUN!

YEAH!!!! I'll write more about that tomorrow . . .