Mucinex, Out of Town Hubands, and Lack of Sleep Don't Mix

Gene is out of town right now for our nephew's wedding. Whenever Gene is out of town, that usually means I will have a organizing project of some sort. Right now I'm taking on a pretty big one, our office and craft supplies. With 5 daughters, we have LOTS of craft supplies. I'm known as an office supply junkie, so I have TONS of office supplies. In addition, I'm re-working all of my files, which is a very overwhelming task.

I have been struggling with my allergies this last week due to the ragweed, so late last night, while working, I took some Mucinex because my chest was feeling heavy and I wanted to fight off any illness. When I finally went to bed, I couldn't go to sleep even though I was exhausted. Ever have one of those nights when your brain just wouldn't be quiet? A lot of these allergy medicines have that effect on me after they accumulate in my system. So I'm lying in bed with all of these ministry ideas running through my head, not able to sleep. About 5am I get up and write them down hoping that will make my brain be quiet. It works and I get to sleep about 5:30. At a quarter to 7, Gene's alarm goes off...only he's not here to turn it off. I get out of bed, stumbling and bleary-eyed, to see what that obnoxious noise is, trying to figure out how to make it shut up! The clock had been knocked off the bedside table and was under the bed. I found it, turned it off, and went back to sleep.

About 10, Rachel came and told me what time it was. I rolled over halfway conscious and was trying to wake up. I must have dozed off again, and in the fogginess of my brain I begin to hear a man say, "Hello, hello?!" Alarm bells go off in my head! The only man I know that I should be able to hear from my bed is 6 hours away in North Louisiana. I hear the man again! Real confusion is setting in. I open my door and ask Rachel if there is a man saying, "Hello" on tv. She answers that there's not and becomes concerned about what I'm hearing. I look at my answering machine, it's not on, then at my cell phone. I'm trying to put this together in my head: can Gene somehow be talking to me through my phone when it's closed??? I hear the man again, still only saying, "Hello, Hello?!" I pick up my cell phone and call Gene. I don't know what I thought he could do from 6 hours away, but at least it was comforting that I could talk to him. When he answers, I whisper to him about the man. He says, "You're going to have to speak up. I can't hear you, you're whispering." I explain that I don't want to speak up because I don't know where this man I'm hearing is. Then the man speaks again. Rachel and I pinpoint that it's coming from my bathroom. Now, the only thing in my bathroom is a dove in a cage, and no person could have gotten into it without walking two feet away from me, so I "know" that he can't be in there. Rachel and I, with Gene on the phone, open the bathroom door. Just as I step in, the man speaks again! Adreneline is pumping pretty quickly now! Rachel and I both jump out of the bathroom...Gene just laughs(way too much in my opinion). I'm still whispering to him. I relay that it sounds like a walkie talkie. I wonder if the man is outside my bathroom window, but tell him it sounds like it's coming from near the dove. Gene says to go look, and I think he's insane. Reluctantly, I step into the bathroom and begin searching. Low and behold, on the side of the garden tub, behind the shower curtain is one of our long range walkie talkies that is still on. I quickly hand it to Rachel and tell her to turn that horrid thing off before the man talks to us again. Gene is hurting from laughing at me. He encouragingly says, "I can't even leave you for a day, can I??"

At first I think that somehow the walkie talkie was in my bathroom by mistake. Rachel had been using them the other day when her sisters were sick. They each had one, and she had one. That way they could let her know of their needs and she could minister to them. (I know...awwww isn't that sweet?) Later, after telling my story to Caroline, I find that Hannah had hidden it in my bathroom last night to pull a prank on me, but it never worked out and she forgot to get it back out. I haven't decided exactly which dungeon she'll visit...but there's one in her future, have no fear.