Yesterday turned out to be a fun day, even if we spent more money than we should have. I didn’t meet my daily chapter goal because we were just too busy. First we went to pick up the check and then cash it. Then we went to CVS and Save Mart.

At one point I saw a woman who was around 21 years old with 3 little kids. Unless they were little brothers, sisters or cousins, which I doubt, I couldn’t help but feel sorry for her having so many kids so young. Waste of youth, waste of life. Why some women would want to end their lives before they even have a chance to begin is beyond me, but what do we know at 21? Had guys been my regular thing at that age I just may’ve made the same mistake.

Ended up getting a new straightening iron for just $20 that is way high-tech compared to the one I’ve had since Phoenix. It says you can use it on wet hair, but they should change that to damp. If the hair is too wet it will curl back up. But now I don’t have to wait half a day while my hair takes forever to dry to straighten it with a flat iron that only lets you do a few strands of hair at a time and on one setting. With this one, I can straighten my hair in just 4 swipes, plus my bangs which I already have to trim again even though I just trimmed them a week or so ago. This one gets hotter too, and heats up in just 30 seconds. It has a light that stops blinking when it’s fully heated. I had to wait 10 minutes for my other one to heat up.

I also got some other odds and ends like bath gloves, a back brush and a new tongue scraper so I don’t get that oral yeast infection again that I had a while ago.

Lastly, I got some black socks I’ve been needing, and new earbuds that allow me to insert them into my artificial ear canal because of how they’re shaped.

Now here’s where things get a little strange. I’m almost positive we don’t have anything to worry about, but nonetheless, it’s – well – weird. It was until Tom pointed out some things anyway. As we were winding our way down the driveway, we were almost to the bottom of it when it first appeared like someone was coming up the drive. Instead, they entered the driveway to the very left of it, stopped, waved to us and rolled down their windows.

A seemingly nice couple in their late 40s to early 50s introduced themselves as Dick and Marie who have been living for 12 years in this cute little house alongside the drive about halfway up it. I always used to feel bad for them, assuming Jesse’s motorcycle, which practically rides along their roof what with the way the land slopes downward at that side of the drive and upward on the other side, had to be a real annoyance.

They asked us if we had a dog. When we said no, they mentioned barking that was driving them crazy. My first thought was yay, someone’s finally fed up with Jesse letting his dogs go crazy when he’s not home (and that they must originally be from the East)! But then they said it kept them up all night and that they know Jesse has dogs, but it isn’t his dogs they’ve been hearing. Or the hound dogs that go off when the train goes by, wherever they are.

As much as I empathized with them, I was bummed to realize they were referring to someone else’s dogs after all. “Oh well, we’ll find it,” said the woman, and I thought to myself, Yeah, and it won’t do you any good when you do. People wouldn’t let their dogs bark all night in the first place if they gave a damn about their neighbors.

They said they’ve seen us coming and going before when I mentioned being here for two years. They probably met Jesse during one of his many driveway adventures.

So then we go to take off and Tom’s looking in the rearview mirror. “Why are they heading up to our place?” he asks.

“I don’t know,” I say, “to see if Jesse’s home so they can ask him who might own the dog?”

I noticed Tom looked worried 10 minutes later when we were on Grass Valley Highway, and I said, “You’re not worried they’re going to break in, are you?”

“Yeah, I’m worried,” he said.

Shit, it’s not even 9:30 and Jesse’s already out and about on the ATV doing God knows what. I figured he would be since we didn’t hear from him yesterday. I think he did go to work after all but just left later than usual. And let me guess…he’s going to motorcycle on out of here within the next few hours till around 5:00 and leave us with the barking. Then he’ll return for 5 minutes and then take off till the evening or maybe even midnight, leaving us with even more barking, right?

And my wonderful yet always-home husband is going to distract me when I try to do today’s chapter, correct? Maybe I should just wait till I’m on nights again.

Anyway, to try to get through this entry, I told Tom I hadn’t had any bad vibes or dreams and that the couple didn’t seem like the type to break into people’s houses, even though they did say something like, “Oh yeah, you’re the people in the trailer.” So they’ve probably seen it before, even though you’d have to almost drive right up to it to see it because of all the steep hills. Once it comes into view you’re looking down on its roof, then you drive down into the clearing to pull up to it if that makes any sense. Jesse could’ve mentioned he has a trailer on his land that he rents out, but I got the impression they’d actually seen it at one point. Still, I wasn’t worried.

Then as we were coming back I said I hoped I was right about not believing or sensing that they broke into the place, even though I’d go for Jesse’s nice house before a dumpy old trailer. Who would believe the people who lived in this place had thousands of dollars worth of high-tech electronics and about 10K worth of dolls?

“Didn’t they say they’ve been here 12 years?” Tom asked as we were entering the driveway.

“Yeah, why?” I said.

“Because I could swear they had Arizona plates.”

Oh, shit!

Yeah, that was my first thought. That the sickos we had for neighbors in Arizona were still obsessed with me, they had found me, and maybe their little pig pal was helping them to get at me again, too! What happened to me wasn’t just about a hate crime. It was about obsession.

And there they were again, Dick and Marie, tending to their land.

Could it be? Could it really be some kind of a stakeout on us? The Arizona plates. The fact that they were there when we left and there again when we returned. Jesse hanging out in the drive so often. The fact that they’re barely half a mile away yet the only dogs we can hear inside the trailer are Jesse’s unless they come onto the land like the ones in back used to do.

But then Tom assured me that he’d seen Marie around before, the sound of the barking couldn’t wrap around the curvy hillside, and that the nut jobs down in Arizona would never have their way with me again.

That’s true. They won’t have their way with me again. Not legally. Not illegally. But I wonder just how many more years my first thoughts are going to be of them when something seems a bit odd until I understand all there is to know about it.