Was I dreaming that?

Last night I had a dream that my neighbor was sleepwalking in my house. In the dream, I "woke up" and saw my neighbor in the doorway to the master bath. My right arm was very heavy and I couldn't get up. When I finally did, she looked like someone from a cartoon. Arms straight out, eyes closed and mumbling and snoring. I directed her to the couch on the first floor. When I turned my back to her, she "jumped" outside and her mother was walking her home. That's when I noticed she had trashed the house and it made sense to me at that time that she must have been looking for the pillows.


I then returned to bed (in my dream) and realized the front door had been left open. I kept hearing the door squeeking in the wind every 30 seconds or so. I then woke up to a chirping smoke dectector. Then Ryan woke up. I hate my smoke dectectors.

Alas, poor Yoric Yuletide, I knew him well...

It was a pretty warm day and we have been out enjoying it. We had breakfast at the flamingo place and Connor had a half-sponge-bob-robot, half-bunny French toast thing that he gleefully ate, and Ryan, being 4 going on 15 ate his grilled muffin while griping but without incident. I still love sending the boys to the front to pay the bill. Today as to break up the week, we didn't go as superheros. It's fun no matter what happens, but when batman and robin show up to pay the bill, it's a special treat for the entire restaurant.

Like any other day, when we got home, the firemen arrived. :) Seems that dispatch heard the number wrong or assumed that problems with fireplaces on our street should be routed through us... After a little confusion, they left and checked out a CO alarm a few doors down. My neighbor just couldn't stand it anymore and had to call me and see what the heck was going on. I told her one of my girlfriends and Lise were fighting over me again... It's only neighborly to give the folks on the street a good story to whisper about at parties.

When we failed at naps, Lise and I packed the kids off to torture them at IKEA for an hour or two. Off to our second meal out (gotta stop that) and then home for lots of overtired playing (stop touching me, no you're touching me... MOM!!!) while Lise and I cleaned up and took out the Christmas tree. Yuletide and his dancing penguin friends were my first victim of the night, and although I did decapitate him, I still love love him and will revive him and his dancing Arctic friends early in the Christmas season next year. Now it's truly the end of Christmas (day 12) and tomorrow is Epiphany and I wonder what profound thing I can come to tomorrow so I can make a proper celebration of it. :) Who knows, maybe it will come to me when the fire department visits again. We do love it when they pop by.
-Mike

FIRE!!! SMOKE!! Drama...

Last night was a just a ripper. First my parents arrived around 9pm, and Ryan popped down from his bed to say "Hi". (I swear, I'm never telling him again about anyone coming after he's asleep.) Then, we stayed up late to watch the fiesta bowl and decided at 11:00, that we really weren't all night partiers anymore. So after stoking the fire a bit, we went to bed. (this is where the interesting part happens) At 4:30am, the smoke detectors go off. BEEP BEEP BEEP... Adults run amuck to find the source of the fire, and the children actually stay asleep. (NOTE: If I opened a frozen yogurt at 4:30am , in a soundproof room, in the basement, Connor would at least stir and mumble "yo-get", but a blaring fire alarm... nothing but snores.) I look... No smoke, no fire... no sign of fire or smoke anywhere(no hot walls, basement, attic, garage are all cold but smoke free), outside of the house looks nice... no real appreciable smoke from the chimney! I'm relieved but frustrated, and go back to bed..... until.... yes... at 5:30am BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP. *sigh

So we decide to call the local authorities to check on my home in the morning. They arrive at 9 -- Nothing. Checked the house with heat detectors, smoke detectors, CO detectors, and thermal imaging. Nada.

Conclusion: "replace your batteries and blow out the smoke detectors, if that doesn't work... replace them all."

Anyone know where I can get good fire insurance?

-M