Bumps in the Night

So last night the household was minding its own business in the usual way for 3:30 am. Sleeping soundly. As the Christmas story goes, not a creature was stirring. All adults, all dogs, all passed out. And then the phone rang. The offending mobile phone was answered by its owner, which woke up half the household. (The half of the household that doesn't need assistive devices to hear or interpreters to determine dreams from reality.)

And then the noise happened. Seriously--sounded like a gunshot. Right below my window. Of course, things are louder at night than they are on TV and so the noise could have originated from a 50 yard radius. I've had crisis training. I know what to do in an institutional building if there's danger. You're supposed to lock the door, turn off the lights, and hide out of the sight of windows.

So I left the room, and sat in the foyer where there are lots of windows. I was out of sight of the windows though. I was. Because I was terrified. How often does the phone ring, someone answer it (at 3:30) and then you hear a gunshot right outside the house? Never in my life. So I had to do roll call.

Thankfully everyone was alive and the house was not being stormed by mobsters, or a gang interested in the last two pieces of birthday cake in the kitchen. But still, the noise? It wasn't normal. And I was terrified and not moving from my spot on the floor outside of my bedroom door outside of the sight of windows. So I made Dad call 911 to report whatever it was we heard. They promised to send a car by to cruise the street and take a look.

So at 3:45, it's time to move on and go back to sleep. No way am I going to sleep on the room over the street where the gunshot noise had happened and was VERY LOUD.

"Carolyn, you can sleep in here."
"Nope, that's okay." (I'm am an adult, after all, I think. Sometimes)

Then I hear:
"Honey, you should go get her."

Ummm...
"I can HEAR you!"

So I opened my door, scooped up Ry and made a run for it across the hall (in front of windows) to crawl into bed beside Mom. Ted followed. And then he had to sniff the strange room. And Ry had to lick all the people in the bed. And Ted had to scratch (he has a very jingly collar right now). And then we all pretended to sleep.

Until Dad must have decided that 4:30 is an acceptable time to get up and go to work because no one was really sleeping except Mom and I'm surprised at that because an extra person and a dog in the bed probably made her too hot.

When Dad, apparently, made it safely through breakfast and morning news and walking the dog outside without being gunned down by mobsters or people after the cake, I decided I could go back to sleep in my own room.

I am, after all, an adult.....sometimes.

Day Off

Today was my first non-weekend, non-school day in forever. I wasn't quite sure what I was going to do with myself, so I did what I always do. I made a list. It turned out to be a marathon errand day!

-Washed Car
-Vacuumed Car
-Oil change for the Car
-Gas for the Car
-Gas for the Lawn Mower
-Oil for the Lawn Mower

The Lawn actually got Mowed. My neighbor inspired me. I had been planning to wait until evening, but it's actually much cooler at noon in my yard than it ever is at 6 or 7. She was working on her yard so I figured I could take a few minutes and get mine done. My other neighbor had already done his ten feet of my yard so it wasn't even worth it to go over that section since he mows much shorter than I like.

-Library
-Recycling
-Bank
-Book Store
-Ollie's
-Bank (different bank)

When I got home I remembered that I forgot to go to PetsMart to get Ted a new Occupi gadget. I got him one this week, but Ry loves it and Ted doesn't get a chance. I knew as soon as I paid for the first one and walked out the door that I should have gotten two.

-WalMart
-PetsMart
-Target
-School Office

And then I spent 15 minutes trying to get the Busy Bone in the Occupi. It's still not there! I didn't realize how much those things were supposed to keep the adult busy while the dogs jump around at your feet excited about their new treat.

We're going to go for a walk to get some of our wiggles out and then I'm going to work on a project. I think it's been a very successful day! Tomorrow I get to do all the inside jobs to get ready for vacation.

Heat Challenge

It's the time of year when it starts to warm up just a tad. It seems like there's only 1-2 weeks in the spring when it's just cool enough that I don't need to shut the windows during the day. Not to cool for heat. Not to hot for dark rooms and fans.

We're past that...way past.

So I've explained to several people in the past week my procedures for coping without central air. It's not the most comfortable thing in the world, but it's cheap, and it's manageable.


And it's a challenge!

Yesterday morning the house was 72 when I got up. I always gain a degree as I get ready for the day. Between the shower, lights, and hair dryer it can't be helped. It was over ninety yesterday and about 8 the house finally reached 80. Each evening I have to wait until sticking my arm out the back porch indicates that the temperature outside is at least the same as it is in the house. That happened at 9:20. In the next 10 hours, the temperature in the house only dropped 3 degrees. Not great, but to be expected when it's so hot.

So today the house started at 77 and was 78 by the time I left for church. Since then it's reached 80 and remained stable. It started to rain at 4 and a cool breeze came through, so the windows were opened and the fan turned on. If the sun comes out then I'll have to close it all up again. But, maybe these few minutes have made a difference.

Regulating the temperature is just a puzzle. Which windows to open and when, how fast to put the ceiling fans on, which lights to use, how long to run the hair dryer.

Year of...

I decided at the end of December that it was going to be "Year of Carolyn's House, 2010." And that's just about as far as I got with that project. As far as New Year's Resolutions goes it's a fairly typical example. I did manage to get a new couch. And the next day my dog ate it.

So, "Year of Riley and Ted's House, 2010." So far they love the new purchase! It's squishy! It's fun to leap over. You can sit on the back cushions and just snuggle down deep for a nap. And it's in the perfect position to see out the front door. A good purchase I guess. Except I now need a new couch because the covering of this one is slowly being shredded.

The other thing I managed to do in the house makeover was add three bookshelves for storing things (not really for books), and two lamps.

And now it's summer time. And I'm realizing that I've lived in the same house for over 7 years and I haven't painted anything past the first six months. And I haven't cleaned out the inside of a closet in 7 years. Or mowed the backyard in 7 years, or taken out the window AC unit that I don't use....

It goes on and on, this list of things I haven't done in 7 years.

So, this week, I mowed part of the backyard. Got myself some boots to provide mental courage against snakes and I tried to think like LawnBoyDad who I decided would just mow and mow until something broke. So I mowed and mowed until I hit a tree. Well, until I knew I would hit the fallen limb if I kept mowing. I dragged the limb out to the street and then stopped mowing. I was getting a little too far away from 'shore' into snake territory to feel confident. Like to the point of no return. Maybe next week I'll get further.

Small steps I guess... because yesterday I emptied the bottom of a closet to sweep and mop.

Maybe I can still turn this plan into something that makes me more comfortable in my house than it makes the spiders...

Addicted to Sound

I think worse than eating the fundraiser cookie dough straight out of the cartoon is my addiction to noise.

Radio in the morning (weather, basic news, music to help me track time in the shower). Radio in the car (love love love NPR). Talking people at work. There's rarely five minutes where someone doesn't walk by and say hello. But even if there were a gap between visitors, I talk to myself enough to fill in the silent space. That's probably not a good thing. At home the ipod is play or the TV is blinking. And then I get in bed at night and wonder why my brain is buzzing.

Noise addiction is not a good thing. My to-read stack is taller than it has been for 18 months. At that time I had eight weeks of summer to read my way through it! I've become a big fan of my job and have started checking out more books from the library. An awesome thing, but they're piling up! And the bookstore. Oh the bookstore that I love. I have willpower, but not in great quantity.

I think I need to take back the quiet moments and find some hours to crash on the couch with a book instead of Project Runway (which ends soon--so see? An extra hour!).

If you need a book recommendation, I have many. I've read some truly fabulous books this fall, which is why I'm so bummed about my stack. So far I have a great reading record and I can't wait to see what else I picked out!

Here are some of the great ones I've read this fall. Most of them fall in the teen category, but a few are great for adults as well. Impossible by Nancy Werlin: amazing and a fairly fast read. Hunger Games and Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins are masterpieces and jaw-dropping books. Fire, and prequel Graceling, by Kristin Cashore are wonderful adventures if you like fantasy. Okay, all of these are fantasy, but Fire and Graceling are in kingdoms.

Less TV, less wasted noise. More books!