Safe at home?

Shouldn't you feel the safest at home? Well, safe at home, I am not. Since moving into this house, I have had night terrors. Five years. I wake up in the middle of the night, thinking that someone other than my husband and kids are in my bedroom. I am always assured by my loving husband that everything is fine and I fall back to sleep. Since getting a dog, I have had less night terrors. The other night, my protective puppy awoke needing desperately to go outside. I let her out, lied on the couch until she was ready to come back inside. I was startled by her barking. This bark was different than any other bark we have heard. I went outside to bring her back in, with my heart in my throat. As I got around the corner, I stopped, there was a man standing in my backyard. At that moment, I did not stop to converse or ask questions but instead high tailed it back inside, locking the doors behind me. Questioning what I saw, I checked out the window, listening very carefully to the sound of someone jumping the fence or opening my gate to escape. Nothing. I retreated to bed. My dog joined me on my bed but would not settle for at least 30 minutes. Still unsure of what I saw, I refused to wake up my husband to check things out.

Today, after coming home from work, my husband has found empty soda cans in the backyard. The dog growls and barks at every passerby. I again am nervous.

I hate it. I am now a slave to someone intruding in what is supposed to be my safe spot.