A Wake Up Call From S.W.A.T.

This is one of those posts I don't even know where to start or how to write it. It may seem all over the place, but I realy want to write down and try to remember how I was feeling. The events that have taken place over the past few days have been so intense words will not be able to describe it..... but I will try to tell the story.

It was early morning Thursday, April 22. Happy freaking birthday to me and one I will NEVER forget! When I say early I mean 2:30 am. Imagine being in a deep sleep. You are woken up by a blast so big you don't even remember jumping out of bed. You just find yourself on your feet, running to your child because you don't know what is going on. Andrew describes it as thinking it was lightning that hit our back patio. The light was so bright, the blast was so loud and it even shook our house a bit. We usually sleep with out window open, so the sound was even more intense.

By the time I got to Warren's room (only about 2 seconds after I was out of bed), the blasting was still going. I could see lights flashing at the front of the house too and I was getting more and more scared about what was going on. Then I heard over a loud speaker, "this is the police". Then I hear Andrew yelling at me "GET DOWN." I had pulled Warren out of his bed by one arm and was crawling to the middle of the house then laid on him thinking we were under attack. Bless that little angel of mine. With eyes half way open and still 90 percent asleep he mumbled. "Mommy, I need a baba" (bottle). Trying to stay clam for him I just said, "ok buddy, in just a minute."

That was the longest 2 minutes of my life. We had no idea what was going on. We didn't have time to figure out what was going on. We kicked into survival mode and waited to see what was happening. Once the blasting stopped, Andrew went to the window to look out to see what appeared to be a scene from the TV show 24. There were around 20 men dressed in full SWAT gear. The full shabang. The helmets, black clothing, chest protector vests and FULL assault rifles drawn. K9 units were swarming around us along with multiple police and a handful of official looking people only wearing badges. I have only seen something like it on TV.

Once we realized it really was the police and not a random war or gang fight, and that it wasn't OUR house under attack we felt a little more at ease. I stress a little because it was still so incredibly scary. There were still armed men outside our home with large guns pointing everywhere and flashlights shining in our windows. We were told to stay in our house, but that didn't stop our curiosity from staring out the window to try to find out what the !*&% was going on.

A good hour went by. Andrew was on the phone with our backdoor neighbor Chris who had a much better view inside the house. He could see people handcuffed and SWAT was still guarding the house and we were still at a loss as to what had just happened. Once the massive amounts of guns had been holstered, I told Andrew to go outside and talk to someone to see what in the world was going on. The officer on the scene who talked to Andrew was VERY nice about letting us know we were safe. There was nothing to worry about. They had just done an intense drug bust. WHAT???? A drug bust in our little quite, calm suburban neighborhood? How could that be? There were actually never any shots fired, although it sounded like there were. The blasts we heard/felt/saw were what they call flash bangs. There were about 5-6 that went off. They are made to deafen and blind people. Although we were next door, it even scrambled our heads so I can't imagine how it would feel if you were right next to one.

At this point, we weren't getting the whole story. Just the basics like there were never any drugs made in the house which was a HUGE relief. Can you imagine your next door neighbor cooking meth? It surely would have caused damage to our home not to mention health issues with all of us, especially the kids. There were also never any drugs sold at the house, just stored. Thus the reason we never really suspected anything to bad going on next door like a drug ring because there weren't a lot of different cars coming and going.

As you can imagine, we were pretty shaken up. Not a chance were we going back to sleep after that. We did try, but ended up watching TV and trying to calm down. It was made even more difficult to sleep when it sounds like a full construction project was going on next door. It turns out they were ripping walls down looking for all of the drugs. So by the time 7:30am rolled around and Warren woke up, we had had ZERO sleep, but had a 2 year old to look after so no choice but to get out of bed.

My mom had made an appointment at the salon for my birthday so I could go get pampered. What a special treat. Even more so because it was one of the only good, special, me time I had that day. She took Warren so I could go. I showed up and my sister Meredith had put a balloon on the pedi chair and had a nummy chocolate donut waiting for me! Poor Andrew had to try to work on no sleep. It wasn't only a night without sleep, but an intense and emotional night. Luckily he wasn't working on a massive project with a hot deadline. We were both home by around 3:00pm that afternoon, hoping we could get a titch of sleep while Warren was napping. We were still so rattled that we couldn't sleep though. We decided to work on our own little construction project we had been plugging away at for weeks. So we were on no sleep and dirty from working on the laundry room. Perfect.

I kept telling Andrew "no one is ever going to believe this. They are going to think we are exaggerating." I didn't really even want to post the story on my blog. It isn't exactly something you want to brag about that a full drug cartel was running a major operation next door. Actually at this point, we still had no idea how big of a deal it was. We were a little taken back by the intensity of the bust for some drugs and thought there was more to it, but didn't know until the door bell rang. It was reporter number one. This is where it really started. Up to this point I wasn't even going to post this, but since the news did such a great job of advertising it to the world anyway, what the heck I guess.

Andrew answered the door, when I heard someone talking to him about the events from the night before I decided to go see what was going on. If you have ever seen Notting Hill, the scene where Anna Scott goes outside the apartment she was hiding to a swarm of media.... It was kind of like that. I was mortified. I didn't want the world to know that there was a little drug bust next door. I asked the reporter if she really had to report on it.... she said "do you have any idea what really happened here?" We were apparently oblivious to the level of the situation. It wasn't some little local drug bust, but a massive break in a major supplier out of Mexico.

Between the reporters, detectives and the investigator, we were filled in on the severity of it. After a very LONG chat with the detective on the case, I learned even more. I learned a lot about drugs that I never knew and probably would be better not knowing, but whatever. I learned a lot about drug trafficking, again.... better off not knowing. I kind of wish I was still living in my bubble, but I feel like it's been busted. My sensitivity to loud sounds, police sirens, flashing lights and loud speakers has been heightened. I have felt super jumpy the last few days. Hopefully that will wear off in time. They asked if we ever saw anything really suspicious. There were times I thought things were odd, but nothing to freak out about or even report. Then the detective asked if I ever saw any middle aged people. I told her I did see a mother and father figure and a bunch of 20-30 year old kids. She asked if I thought that was weird. I told her I was trying REALLY hard not to racially profile my neighbors. I was giving them the benefit of the doubt thinking maybe they were living there and going to school...... her reply with a little chuckle "that's sweet." I tried to be neighborly multiple times with no success (thank goodness). I tried to take cookies a few times but never actually met them. We saw them come and go, but kind of gave up trying to get to know them. We were actually told if we did see something funny and tried to report it, they wouldn't have done anything. They had been watching them for months and knew exactly what was going on. The only thing that would have made them move in earlier is if they thought anyone was in danger.

The days right after the incident I didn't think much more about anything then WHAT happened. I didn't put a lot of thought into what could have happened. I couldn't sleep last night just going over possible scenarios. The fact that actual gun shots were not fired, especially that night was a huge blessing. I just keep thinking about my innocent little baby Warren that could have been caught in the line of fire. Or what if something would have happened to Andrew or I and left Warren without us? We were super fortunate drugs were not made or sold there, just stored. Extremely lucky a group of druggies didn't know where they were being stored which would have lead to a major battle that could have been deadly. As it turns out, the Unified Police Department had been watching the cartel for a very long time and have been keeping an eye on the house for the 6 months they lived there. We were assured if anything violent were to happen, they would have stopped it. She assures us that all drugs have been removed from the home and no one will be coming back. They wouldn't be dumb enough to set foot in that neighborhood or probably even the city again.

We have been very pleased with the UPD. They have been very helpful and informative. They completely understand our concerns and have done everything in their power to make us feel at ease. They even sent a friendly officer to our house to bring Warren stickers and make sure he wasn't afraid of police. I thought that was a very nice gesture. I do feel grateful that they are still watching the neighborhood constantly to reconfirm all is well. That helps me sleep a little better.

I can't believe how many people we have in our lives that were concerned. We have had non stop visitors, phone calls and texts. I have loved seeing people, I just wish it was under different circumstances! We are so blessed to have incredible family, friends and neighbors. The drive bys and pointing with people saying "it's that one" is getting a little old. I am starting to feel like a freak show! Hopefully that will start to dwindle.

So, there you have it. Well, not all of it. Just the parts I am willing to share. I wouldn't wish that experience on my worst enemy.