Insane things you do when you are home alone...

[nikkiARNGwife]

So last night about 9 pm, the kids were in bed upstairs, I had settled in for the night with AI on TV and Move the Box on my iphone. My bedroom is downstairs and opens up onto the living room which was dark and quiet. From where I am in bed I can see through the door and into part of the living room. All of a sudden there's this light flashing..like strobe like kind of flashing and it lasted maybe 5 seconds in the living room. I had NO idea what it was and it scared me to death b/c the first thing I thought was that someone was on my front porch shining a light into the house. FREAKED OUT. So of course the first thing I do is freeze, mute the TV and sit in panicked silence for about a minute. I didn't hear anything so I bolted to our closet where we keep a pistol in a safe. Yeah.

So there I stand in my nightgown with a loaded pistol in the middle of the quiet dark house still FREAKING out b/c y'all..we live in the woods. Like picture those scary movies with the houses way out in the middle of nowhere and the scary psycho comes in and kills everyone..that's my house. So I start patrolling.. I check all the windows and doors upstairs and down. Make sure the alarm is still on and in the most panicked part of my panicking came very close to calling the Sheriff to come and check on me lol.

Eventually, when nothing else happened and I was pretty sure my dog who was snoring loudly from somewhere beneath my covers (great guard dog huh?) sensed nothing, I put the gun back in the safe in the top of our closet and climbed back into bed where I then sat for about 5 more hours imagining every worse case scenario I could before finally passing out.

Then (cue the chirping birds and happy music) morning came and we were all safe and sound. I walk into the living room and BAM...realize what the light was. When DH is gone I keep a lamp on in our living room all night. The light was out..the flashing light I saw was the light bulb blowing. Yeah. I felt REALLY stupid when I realized what it was..and can't believe I didn't even realize the light was out LAST night when I was fumbling around in the dark, with a loaded gun, in my nightgown.

Needless to say DH is going to get a really good laugh out of all of this.

[taracotta7]

Funny now but I can only imagine how much you were freaking out. I have a very over active imagination in those types of scenarios. LOL Well, just think of that as a drill. You responded the way you should have to protect your family so you passed with flying colors. Sorry you loss so much sleep though.

[ColleenSwerb]

And that is why I lock myself in the bedroom when I'm home alone at night. Literally. ESPECIALLY if Tiger isn't home with me for some reason.
I'm probably going to have to change that response once Swerbaby arrives, huh? LOL!

[ayaandjudah]

awwww you're overdue Coll. Hang in there.

Nikki, I'm so sorry, I was panicking just reading this. HUGS

[jessica31876]

Um yea pretty much the same thing here. Our yard is big and dark and has nothing but woods behind us. Luckily (or maybe not so much) our dog barks at every single solitary sound inside the house and out LOL. She is a good watchdog. Sometimes not so good when it is just say me getting up to go to the bathroom at 3 A.M. Sorry you lost so much sleep though but at least it was nothing to worry about and you have an alarm and protection for you and your family. Hope you get a good night's sleep tonight

[maryinaz]

I'm glad you have a gun Nikki!! I pictured you in your nightgown and gun, patrolling the house. Bad-A** Momma you are!

[lizzyfizzy]

you are seriously a great storyteller. this had me all in suspense, lady! so glad you are ok and it was just a light blowing. *snort*

[Amber Dixon]

That's funny, but seriously I would probably have done the same thing! I live in a very rural area and have a pretty over active imagination lol! I lock myself in the bathroom with the phone when I take showers home alone lol and I am constantly checking to make sure my windows are all still locked. I think I've seen too many movies! haha! Really sorry you lost so much sleep though!

[k23m]

LOL! Glad it turned out to be nothing...crazy how our imaginations can go nuts like that!! Its probably happened to all of us!

[HeatherKS]

I totally get you on the living in the middle of nowhere thing. Been there, done that. Oddly enough, I do much better when dh is gone now that we have kids. Before kids I was petrified, but now I do fine. I'm not sure if it's because I have something else to occupy my mind or what? You'd think it would be the other way around though, right?

Stupid light bulb anyway.

[marlathrall]

One good thing about not having kids, I have no kids to guard. I have a plan if I hear something and the hubby is gone. I will grab the pistol and wait, in my bed, for them to walk in. I then plan on shooting whoever walks in my bedroom. And that's the reason why my husband always calls when he comes home late. lol.

[kresta]

How funny! Sorry you lost a lot of sleep. I would have done every.single.thing you did right down to the loaded pistol!!

[Nettio]

For some reason when I picture this, I imagine you walking around in one of those old-timey nightgowns. Like this.

[*Celeste*]

i don't like being home alone at night at all. i would have been creeping around just like you as well!

[julifish]

Originally Posted by Nettio

For some reason when I picture this, I imagine you walking around in one of those old-timey nightgowns. Like this.

Ha, ha Lynette - I was picturing that too.

Glad you are okay and hope you can get some sleep tonight or maybe even a nap today.

[jessica31876]

My husband told me a story about his dad coming in one night and his mother shot at him because she thought he was a burglar. Yea I think I would be calling too.

Originally Posted by marlathrall

One good thing about not having kids, I have no kids to guard. I have a plan if I hear something and the hubby is gone. I will grab the pistol and wait, in my bed, for them to walk in. I then plan on shooting whoever walks in my bedroom. And that's the reason why my husband always calls when he comes home late. lol.

[Sherri Tierney]

Originally Posted by HeatherKS

I totally get you on the living in the middle of nowhere thing. Been there, done that. Oddly enough, I do much better when dh is gone now that we have kids. Before kids I was petrified, but now I do fine. I'm not sure if it's because I have something else to occupy my mind or what? You'd think it would be the other way around though, right?

Stupid light bulb anyway.

I never worried when I was home alone BEFORE kids. Now I hate it. My husband works midnights and he has since before our oldest was born. It never bothered me before she came along (I'd walk up and down the neighborhood in the dark, answer the door at 2am without trying to figure out who it was first, etc... I had no fear). The kids came along and I worried and obsessed and freaked out and stopped sleeping. When my oldest was little we'd stay up really late every night and sleep in really late the next day with my husband. I felt safer after around 4am. I guess I felt like it was morning at that point and everything would be okay. That obviously doesn't work when kids hit school age so I started just not sleeping at all. I'd sit up almost all night and catch maybe 3 hours before I was back at it for the day. I was a wreck.

Thankfully, DH hooked me up. He had the house set up with a great alarm system that will not only call the proper authorities (it has smoke detectors too) but will call my cell and DH's so if I'm sleeping and don't hear the alarm going off downstairs I will hear my phone ringing beside the bed. Having that alarm gives me such a great peace of mind. I've been sleeping so much better since we got it. We don't live in the woods or out in the country, etc. but we are a little isolated here. The only direct neighbor is behind us.

I still can't sleep when its storming though. Dh bought me a weather radio that will beep and wake me up during bad weather but I still have trouble sleeping if there is ANY chance of a storm. We're looking in to buying a storm shelter and having it installed. That will help!

[sczos911]

Originally Posted by Nettio

For some reason when I picture this, I imagine you walking around in one of those old-timey nightgowns. Like this.

I DID TOO!!!

[Nettio]

Originally Posted by sczos911

I DID TOO!!!

LOL, I'm glad I wasn't the only one.

[Amy Carey]

my husband delivers pizzas at night on the weekends and many times it's 1-2 a.m. before he is home and for some reason everything always sounds louder and weirder when he's not there. We moved in November and I am STILL trying to get used to the strange sounds this new house makes. I had my heart in my throat reading your post! lol

[Tracie Stroud]

Oh my gosh Nikki! I can totally relate. My house makes terrifying noises when Michael isn't here, and I hate hate HATE the dark. My stupid brain always goes on overdrive and imagines the very worst and I just sit there petrified. So glad you're ok and it was just the lamp! lol

[nikkiARNGwife]

Originally Posted by Nettio

For some reason when I picture this, I imagine you walking around in one of those old-timey nightgowns. Like this.

lol! not quite..mine's short and sleeveless

[YepBrook]

LOL. That sounds like something I would do. Minus the gun... although I would like to get one.

[breakingbrie]

lol, I'm glad it was just the bulb! I always feel silly after realizing it was nothing to be afraid of, but, at least you were prepared!!

I hate being home alone at night, I'm glad it doesn't happen often!

[iScrap]

Originally Posted by lizzyfizzy

you are seriously a great storyteller. this had me all in suspense, lady! so glad you are ok and it was just a light blowing. *snort*

lolol this! Now you need someone to take a photo of you while you reinact the scenario and scrap it

[thompsonc2007]

I have done this more times than I would like to admit! My husband calls me Barney Fife..affectionately of course. My Mama lives 2 miles down the road so I have received frantic 911-esque calls from her too. So needless to say the .45 and I have made frantic trips to her house for a little patrol duty in my night gown and flip flops (before husband...now we are the Dream Team...9mm and .45).

There is no other feeling like that unknown of what was that, being alone and knowing how crazy people are. Thankfully, you are OK and you can laugh about it now. My scares have been everything from cats fighting on the deck, to a skunk on the porch (yeah I am in the boonies too), to a shelf collapsing in the closet (almost gave me a coronary on that one). Thus far all have been false alarms...but you can never be too careful! Sorry you had to loose sleep but I can totally relate

I agree that you tell a great story...so when are you gonna scrap this...your kids would get a kick out it when they are older.

[Freckles]

Wow, Nikki, I can imagine how scared you must have been! I am never afraid when hubby is home but when he isn't, any unusual noise can paralize me. Then I just spend the night sitting still in bed and listening (and holding my breath!). I wouldn't want a gun in my house but I do have a very detailed plan on what I'm going to do when someone would break in!

and LOL Lynette about the gown I realized I was picturing her like that too!

[nikkiARNGwife]

I have laughed til I cried telling this story to my friends and family today. My sister was hilarious b/c she said she pictured me holding my gun like Jack Bauer slipping in and out of rooms lol.

All I can say is this Mama don't play when her babies may not be safe. I was even planning where I was going to shoot someone if they came in the house

[LJSDesigns]

Good for you Nikki to be so well prepared! Even if I had a gun, I would probably just shoot myself in the foot.

[thompsonc2007]

Originally Posted by nikkiARNGwife

I have laughed til I cried telling this story to my friends and family today. My sister was hilarious b/c she said she pictured me holding my gun like Jack Bauer slipping in and out of rooms lol.

All I can say is this Mama don't play when her babies may not be safe. I was even planning where I was going to shoot someone if they came in the house

I feel the same way. My husband laughed at me when I told his my plan. He even said that he felt sorry for the intruder. But this day and time it is better to have a plan than to be blindsided. At least it makes me feel safer and in a way more empowered. But who knows if adrenaline would be so high that I might forget the plan altogether When you have babies...your entire focus shifts from you to them and nothing means more than their safety...so Here Here to Mama Power

[Milmomma]

Oh my gosh this is so me! I check the windows/doors every night before bed. And its horrible when he's in the field for the week as I will be up the whole time! I sleep on the couch parniod of any movement and all lights. And sleep with a K-bar under the cushion. Yes I am that parnoid. SK men will walk in your home when ever and just start going through your house for food/money. I lock the door but still! Guns are illegal here. I so pictured you in the old lady night gown too. But some of us city folk are the same way.
One time, when we were in texas we had a horrible scare. We had just moved in and had empty boxes lining an empty wall in our empty kitchen. It was totally echo room. There was a bunch of bolts and nails on top of the boxes along with a hammer. I guess we didn't know about the Brown recluses then. Well, one jumped on the boxes about 1am and the boxes all tumbled over with the bolts flying and hammer slamming the ground. DH and I both shot out of bed so fast, he ran out dazed. I ran out with my K-bar up. We thought someone had broken in. Turned out to be a big brown hair spider! Which was worse in my book! I will run up and stab an intruder, but I jump and scream at spiders! (maybe my story will help you feel a little better.)

ETA- Incase anyone is wondering- Kbar looks like this-

[lovely1m]

Its funny now, but I can see why you freaked out last night.