It's funny when there are less people in the house, you always seem to hear more noises. Same is true for McCarthy (our trusty Yorkie-Poo).

Joel was gone last night... all night. He and some buddies are in Indy doing a marathon geocaching hunt. Their goal is to get 100 in a day. I had a google voice message from him at 4:27 a.m. saying they were up for the day. Yikes.

So anyway... I absolutely dread it when Joel tells me he's going to be gone overnight. I don't do well. I freak out quite easily. Thankfully, I kept my overactive mind occupied a lot of the evening/night. I took Luke downtown to the First Fridays celebration. We enjoyed fresh-off-the-grill burgers & hot dogs. Then we went to the nostalgic candy store and watched the cruisin' reunion. After we battled through the crowds to get home (seriously... I've never seen downtown so crowded in my life!), Luke says, "But what about the bubbles at the Courthouse?" DOH! I totally forgot they were having special fun for the kids on the courthouse lawn. And I was NOT about to rebattle the crowds. So, I told him we'd go see Toy Story 3 tonight. (Because, you see, it'd be good for both of us- he gets entertained and I don't have to be at home... alone... at night... *shiver*)

Then I realized that I told him we'd go during LIBINGO TIME! *GASP* So I did the only thing there was to do. I told him I had a meeting on the computer at 9:30 and we'd have to go to the movie tomorrow. (Bad mom award anyone?) He said, "What kind of meeting do you have?" And when I told him he gave me a look like, 'Are you serious? You are postponing our date for a BINGO GAME???" But, but, there are PRIZES!! Needless to say, we went to the movie. Popcorn and soda for lunch on Saturday didn't even get him to postpone it.

It all turned out okay though. We were home at 10:30-ish. I got him in bed. I closed all the blinds and locked all the doors. I turned on the fan to drown out all of the noises I could. And I got on chat at Sweet Shoppe. Let me tell you that these girls were lifesavers and they didn't even know it! They took my mind off of the fact that I was freaked out for a good three hours. Thanks, girls! Oh and I only missed one round of labingo, too.

I finally thought I should head to bed sometime in the wee hours of the morning. The longest walk is that between my computer desk and the bedroom. It's dark. It's quiet (except for those strange noises). And it's quite a bit freaky. I settled into our huge queen bed, which doesn't usually seem so huge. I pulled out my phone and played Bejeweled for a bit... to ease into sleep. I kept hearing weird noises, but pretended I didn't. (Note: We live in town. It's 4th of July weekend. It was First Friday. There are ALWAYS "strange noises" but they don't seem so strange when my husband is home.)

I finally turned off my phone and tried to encourage my mind to sleep. Then I heard a noise... I think. But then I knew I did... because McCarthy started barking. I got him settled down. Then, he started growling and acting really weird. Okay, I'm totally freaked out by this time. I go into Luke's room; carry him into our room. Shut my door and lock it tight. The windows in our room are locked. We were as safe as safe can be. I didn't care if they took everything in my house- just leave Luke, my dog, me, and my cell phone alone.

I think I finally drifted off to sleep around 4 a.m. And I was fortunate enough to have Luke sleep until almost 9 a.m. When he woke up, he tapped me on the shoulder and said, "Mom? How did I get in here?" So I told him the story.

But we're safe. And my husband comes home tonight. Thank goodness.