Guest post from: Kent Lara

Sometimes I feel like our neighbors are our little home security family. Everyone is so nosy, that no one would ever be able to get away with crime here. This would probably bother most people, but I know that everyone means well, and that it helps us stay safe. Over the years my husband and I have gotten used to their meddling, and just ignore them. There is Mrs. Peters next door, who looks out her living room window all day to see who is coming and going. She always knows when we have guests over, and likes to hear all about it the next day. She’ll sometimes even come over and knock on the door, and ask me point blank why I had people over. Then there is Mr. Gray across the street. He is retired and is always outside gardening and walking his dog. He always lets us know the good gossip around the neighborhood since he is so friendly with everyone. We may eventually decide to get a real home alarm system, but we feel like our two nosy neighbors are enough of a theft deterrent. Who would be stupid enough to go up against those two busy bodies?

More importantly for me, is for them to be able to continue with their sports. The Rec Center is great, but they stop offering sports for middle and high schoolers, so I have to find a way for the girls to be allowed to participate in the school sports. I’m hoping that our nearby town will allow it, but I guess we’ll have to wait and see for sure.

I’ve heard that Martins are an excellent brand, but again, please realize that I don’t have a clue whether that is true or not.

Guest written by our friend Gladys Fuentes

I logged onto homesecurity101.com/ and did some research on getting a home security system installed. I have always been interested in getting one, but I never really thought that we needed one. Recently, a neighbor was broken into. It was the strangest break-in tough. We haven’t had crime in our quaint little neighborhood since I can remember, and I have lived in the neighborhood for the last thirty years. The neighbors who were broken into, the Johnsons, were broken into over the holidays. They usually visit their children over Christmas and were doing so this year. When they returned, they found that their home had been broken into through the kitchen door. The kitchen door window was smashed and the door had simply been unlocked. They didn’t have any security system. The thief didn’t still anything that was terribly valuable, but made off with the pots and pans! It was a kitchen thief… so strange! I’m not sure who would break into a house to just steal the pots and pans, but maybe they could catch the thief by just seeing who has been cooking up a storm recently!

I found it rather difficult to find the right things for my girls this year. It took a lot of thought and window shopping before I was satisfied with what I found. It seems that I did good though, as they were both happy with everything they got this year. Of course I can’t take all the credit, as they had some wonderful gifts from some dear friends.