"You Loot, We Shoot"

Looting has got to be one of the saddest things in the aftermath of a natural disaster. As if people weren't suffering enough, you have to go and kick 'em while they're down. I know most people were just disgusted after Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans with the amount of looting, etc. That's why when Jim and I were watching the news the first days after "Ike" and saw a sign as you entered a neighborhood that said "You Loot, We Shoot" written on a big piece of plywood, we thought, "Go Texas!" But your feelings tend to change a little when it's your own husband going to the gun safe and pulling out his shotgun and shells to keep on the ready. And it's even MORE scary when it's for the following reason:
Last night, Jim went over to our neighbors house to just sit and chat with them for a bit (no power= everyone sits outside in the evening to enjoy the cooler weather) and while he was there, our neighbor, Mark, mentioned to him that a truck had pulled up into our driveway last night (which would have been Tuesday night). Jim didn't think much of it because cars are always pulling up into our driveway and backing out to turn around on the street. So Jim wasn't quite sure why Mark was bringing it up, so he asked if it had looked suspicious or something. Mark said "Oh yeah!" And the story goes as follows... It was right at midnight and the truck was driving down the street super slow, which is what caught Mark's attention. The truck pulled up into our driveway and then someone got out and started walking toward our front door. Mark said at that point he came out of his house and just stared at the guy. When the guy saw Mark, he stopped, walked back to his truck, got in and drove away.
Um... did anyone else just get goosebumps?? Holy cow!
It's additionally freaky that even though we had our doors locked, all the windows in our house were open to let the cool air in... so all someone would have to do is pull the screen off and come right on in our house. We're not sure if they were wanting to steal our generator or were wanting to see if someone was home and break into the house, but apparently a lot of people that still don't have power have gone somewhere else to check into a hotel or something, so looters are targeting areas without power. Well, needless to say we closed and double locked all our windows and doors last night and just kept the fans (which are running on the generator) on full blast to keep cool. We also parked the truck in a way that would make it hard to get the generator out, so once they turned it off (and we would definitely know because it would shut our fans off), Jim would have time to get out there with his gun. I hate to even think about him having to use that on a person. It makes me sick. But at the same time, I would be even MORE sick if anything were to happen to any of us... especially Dixie.
Anyway, the night has come and gone and we are still safe. I woke up half a dozen times and kept checking on Dixie and the street to make sure there was no one out there. I will forever be grateful that Heavenly Father kept our neighbor awake and alert that night to keep us safe and protected. What a testimony that prayers really are answered and we are being watched out for. Loves to all!
P.S. I'll give more updates on everything when we get power restored. We're now on Day #6 of no power and I'm using generator power to write this, so that's all you get for now. :) I love you all!