Possums, Police and STRESS!

It's been a VERY wild and stressful 15 1/2 hours!!! Definitely a blog-able time frame for sure. So here's the story...
Last night about 11:30ish Baxter went RACING out his doggy door into the back yard barking like a maniac. This isn't unusual as he still thinks he's the neighborhood bully. However, as he got to the far side of the yard (just outside my scrappy room window) I realized something was really different this time. His bark was more intense and he was obviously chasing something across the yard. Steve jumped up and was on his way out as I was arriving in the living room. Something was DEFINITELY wrong! So Steve turned on the lights and grabbed a long curtain rod and a flashlight and off we went into the back yard. Bax had cornered a possum under some beach chairs in a corner of the patio and was about to get himself attacked! Well, he's so ballistic by this time that he's not listening and believe you me possums are NOT something you wanna mess with! So I got Baxter back in the house and he's freaking out. Meanwhile Steve's trying to make this possum leave by poking it with the rod. Should've grabbed the camera I tell ya! It was pretty funny! A video would've been better I guess. Anyway, Steve's yelling "SHOO! Get outta here!" Baxter's in the kitchen trying to figure out how to jump up on the counter and get out the window over the sink and I'm trying to make sure Steve and Bax don't get hurt. Sheez! Eventually the possum ran under the boat. Steve tried to get him to leave, but he wasn't having any part of it and finally Steve came in. But Baxter still won't calm down. He's pacing and growling and whining and crying cuz he wants to go out again and we won't let him. Poor little guy! Finally he laid down in the scrappy room next to me and moaned and groaned and dreamt about chasing the possum. It was pretty funny. A couple of hours later he finally settled down for the night and all was well this morning when we got up. YAY!
Well, all WAS well until suddenly there was a knock on my front door. I hadn't even opened the blinds yet! I was getting ready to go to the bank and run a couple of errands so I hadn't even washed my face yet either. So I peeked out the blinds next to the front door and there's some strange man there. I had the window cracked already for air, so I opened the blind and talked through the window to the man. Bax of course is totally ballistic and I'm having to hold his mouth shut to keep him quiet. (rolling eyes here!) This man starts asking who I am. I said "Who are you and why are you here?" Well, he didn't give me a proper response and what he was saying didn't jive with me at all. Something wasn't quite right. I said "I don't believe you. You need to leave the property right now." And I grabbed my phone and dialed 911. Thankfully he went to his car but he wasn't leaving. The car was old and kinda banged up and he was wearing a collared shirt and jeans with a clipboard and a door hanger. (Which he did not leave on my door!) While I was on the phone with the 911 operator the man left and I got his license plate and a description of the car. Not an emergency but definitely stressful and something that needed to be reported. The operator told me to wait for an officer to come and take a report. That took an hour! Meanwhile I WAS gonna have a busy day but now it's really messed up and I'm shaking like a leaf!
The officer was very nice and he informed me that a lot of mortgage companies are hiring people to come do assessments or inspections and that people think they're being robbed when they're not. And that because of this many con artists now have that information and are trying to steal identities, etc. So it's a good thing I called! Dunno what the real reason the man was there for but I don't really care. I'm NOT opening my door to anyone I don't know or have an appointment with ESPECIALLY when my husband's not here!
Anyway, it took me several hours to stop shaking. I'm still a bit unsettled and so's Baxter. But we're safe thank God and for now it's a beautiful South Florida day and I'm enjoying having all my windows opened with the breeze flowing through my house. I think it's time to RELAX AND SCRAP! But I'm definitely keeping my phone and my dog close by!