what's the opposite of a break-in?

A lock-in??

As if this week couldn't get any weirder, today's highlight was getting locked out of the house and getting to crawl through our sun room window to get back inside. But, the actual story of how this happened is more bizarre than the finale...

Around 2pm I left the house for a quick run to the grocery store and left the front door unlocked. 40 minutes later, I returned home with two heavy armfuls of groceries only to discover that I couldn't get in the front door. After trying it several times, I was sure that the door was not just stuck... the deadbolt was definitely fully engaged and the door was locked. Now, as a 9-month pregnant woman, alone in the middle of the day, this scared me.

My first reaction was to call Keith to see if maybe he came by the house after work and before his baseball game. He hadn't been here, so I was a little more alarmed and we stayed on the phone as I checked things out. Sampras and Bentley (my cats) were both sitting in the entryway and seemed to be acting normal, which was a good sign. I walked around to the side of the house and could see through the window that the tv and computer were still there and nothing seemed to be out of order. So, basically everything seemed normal except for the mysteriously locked door.

Feeling like the house was safe, the next issue became how to get back inside. Both the back door and the garage door were locked, so my only choice was to climb through the sun room window that I knew was open. I was at least able to get a chair from the garage to help with this event and I made it in unharmed, but the entrance was anything but graceful.

As I was walking through the kitchen to check out the problem with the door, I noticed a business card on the countertop:

City of Roswell
Police Department
S.A. Bryant
Police Officer II

And scribbled on the back "I found your front door unlocked. Nothing appears to be missing."

?!?!?!?!?!?!

Questions that come to mind:

1. Is it legal for a police officer to enter an unlocked home?


2. Why would he check to see if my front door was unlocked to begin with?


3. Was there suspicious activity around the house to cause concern?


4. What if I had been in the home when he entered? (just bc there is no car in the driveway doesn't mean I couldn't have been there)


5. Would the City of Roswell have reimbursed me if I would have had to call a locksmith or break a window to get in?

I'm assuming that the officer's intentions were good and I'm happy to live in a neighborhood that takes safety seriously....but this seems a little invasive and Big Brother-ish to me. Wouldn't you agree??

P.S. I tried to call Officer Bryant to get the story (and tell him mine), but it was after his work hours. I will try him again tomorrow.

P.P.S. I will be locking my doors and carrying a key with me from now on. If for no other reason than to keep the police out!!

P.P.P.S. Here is a cute picture of Tate for those of you who have had to endure three non-child-related posts in a row.