Raleigh's finest.

Liam & Officer Mick.
Originally uploaded by Luna Soledad

It's almost never a good sign when you arrive at your home to find a policeman waiting...

A little over a week ago, we pulled up our cliff of a driveway to find one of Raleigh's finest. Kevin and I immediately thought, "oh no, what now?!!" while Liam of course shrieked with joy, "A policeman daddy/mommie!" (Curiously, he often addresses us as one entity.)

Kevin steps out from the car and greets the young officer who informs us that he is investigating neighborhood property damage caused by a BB or pellet gun... "Interesting you should say that," Kevin replies, "someone shot out our attic window recently with a BB gun." And of course, the officer asks to take a look.

Loaded down with perishables, we head into the house through the incredibly messy garage herding the kids, Liam who is excitedly chatting up the policeman and complimenting him on his shoes while his sister mischievously grabs a beer from a garage shelf and pretends to drink it. My arms are full and thus am unable to wrestle the alcohol away from the minor so I resort to shouting to my other half, "Kevin, grab the beer from Isabel," before I even think what that must have sounded like.

Inside, we maneuver through the kitchen which OMG had been smeared from pantry door to refrigerator to counter top to sink with Nutella, though that's not at all what it looked like. How did we miss that???

We all go outside, look at the window and then upstairs for a look within the attic -- which is connected to Liam's room (the room he doesn't sleep in). Liam is simply beside himself to have the policeman in his house and in his room (which has no bed because again, he doesn't there; he sleeps in our room).

At this point, all I can think about is getting a phone call from Social Services: children drinking, unsanitary kitchen, and where do these poor kids sleep??

After taking some photographs of the window damage for the officer's report, I asked the officer if he would be kind enough to oblige me with a photo of himself and his new biggest fan.

That, needless to say, made Liam's day...
(and miraculously, still no call from Social Services).

"I'm not against the police; I'm just afraid of them."

...Alfred Hitchcock