So just when you think you’re finding a way around all of the things that are weird in your world, something new comes along that makes you shake your head! This week has been one of those weeks!!

My mid-week mind cleanse saw me head down to my favourite beach (no sunburn this time) with my parents, their two small dogs and my German aunt and uncle. We had a spectacular day once we left rainy Brisbane behind. The sky was blue, the wind was blowing and the waves were rough! My very favourite kind of beach day (although I will say that about any beach day really!). We walked, we swam and we had yummy fish and chips for lunch – with the Germans choosing to use cutlery rather than their hands to eat. It was a fabulous day!

I had to stop on my way home to get groceries – fun times indeed, but also chose to treat myself to a massage. Turns out it was a lot more ‘deep tissue’ than relaxation, and I have ended up with all kinds of bruising on my derrière! I won’t include those photos for fear of causing offence! …. The knots that I had have been released tho, and I feel a whole lot better!

All of that sounds like a reasonable week doesn’t it!? … and it was, until we got to Thursday!! That was a whole lot of WTF??? What the Hell!! And how does this shit even happen!?

Thursday afternoon I came home from work at about 3.30. I was on the phone to a friend, unlocked the door and was met by one of the boys who wanted to talk dinner ideas. Before that could happen, he looked past me out to the street and said ‘the police are here’. I hung up on my friend, turned around and there they were, walking into my yard…. 5 of them, fully kitted out with guns, tasers and body cam!

My son and I were marched upstairs to the lounge room while they stuck their heads into every room checking if anyone else was home. My dogs thought this was great fun, lots of new people to sniff… me – not so much!! We were sat down on the couch and were presented with a search warrant, told why they were there and an explanation of how it would be executed. One of the boys was being investigated on the suspicion of Fraud and forgery!

Identity questions were asked and answered. Phones requested to be put on the coffee table – out of the reach of temptation, while every room in my house was investigated. In the middle of this, one of the other kids and his girlfriend came home and were informed of their rights and obligations, and not too much later another girlfriend came home, all of us detained while the son in question was still out and about doing what he does in a day. There were a lot of looks exchanged between all of us under the watchful eye of the sergeant put in charge of us. …. So watchful we’re the eyes in fact, that when I needed to go to the toilet, she stood outside the open door to make sure I was indeed doing what I said I needed to!!

Several electronic items were taken as evidence, which involved a stack of paper work. A bunch more questions asked and answered and finally they left. I immediately called my mum to come over (cue tears and snot from me) and then a phone call to the son in question who was completely shocked and flabbergasted. He travelled as quickly as possible from his work to the police station to have a chat. The rest of us, with my mum and sister went through the events of the afternoon with a million more questions than answers, and none of us believing that there was any kind of truth to the allegations.

Upon his return home – about an hour and a half later, the creature in question was kind of chuckling. All of the drama from the afternoon stemmed from an incident last year where his social media accounts were hacked, and subsequently his identity was used to commit the fraud and forgery mentioned in the warrant. The police were more than satisfied with the information provided to them, returned all confiscated items and are happy to close out our part in this drama.

That afternoon was one of the most surreal experiences in my life and absolutely not one I was expecting to have. It was insane!! I’m incredibly thankful that it is over and that we don’t have anything to worry about (although it has messed up my already erratic sleep pattern some more!). I guess the biggest lesson learned is that we all need to be super careful to protect our identities on social media – and in general – because clearly things can take unexpected turns very quickly!