Getting to Know My House

Hello all! Well, we had a little excitement last night, around the 1:30 A.M. hour. So you know what that means - a dramatic blog story! It all started 7 years ago, when my sweet husband, Cline, chose a profession that would require him to work night shifts for the rest of his life. Last night was such a night, and Christa and I were warm in our home with the alarm system on, preparing for an uneventful night of slumber.
After putting Christa to bed, I fell asleep on the couch in the den, watching TV, at around 10 p.m. As many of my college friends can recall, I tend to do that often, fully clothed in whatever the day's outfit happens to be, complete with drying contacts in my eyes and unbrushed teeth. People, I haven't changed! I awoke around 1:30 a.m., and decided I should drag myself to my bathroom to at least remove the aching contacts and change into some more comfortable sleeping attire - also a frequent occurrence in our house. For those of you who have never been to our house, it is laid out in such a way that I have to walk through the living and dining rooms, and past the basement door, to get to our bedroom and bathroom. All of these rooms are on the main floor, with the basement underneath us.
As I stumbled around in an "I'm tired and can't see through my blurry lenses and why oh why didn't I just get ready and go to bed three hours ago like a normal person" fashion, I noticed a strange noise. The noise was a variety of thuds and clicks, and seemed to be coming from the basement. I stopped, and continued to listen, trying to wake myself up enough to think clearly without freaking out. As I moved toward the heating vents, the noise was clearly there, with no regular pattern to it at all. It just sounded like someone moving around - walking here and there, and occasionally moving something.
"Hmmm," I thought to myself. "It's 1:30 in the morning, and the alarm has been on all night, so I don't know how a person would have gotten in the house to begin with. Plus, why would anyone possibly be roaming around my basement?? I sure don't want to wake Christa up over nothing, and hate to call and wake up anyone else." So, I did what any brave and considerate housewife would do... I opened the door to the basement and turned on the light. I continued to hear the intermittent noise every few seconds or so and could not explain what it was from the top of the stairs. I closed the door back, and proceeded to ready myself for bed, thinking that a burglar would have surely run for the door or at least been quiet once I made my presence known.
I returned to the basement door a few moments later, and still noticed the unsettling noises. None of the heaters in the house were on at that moment, which was my first thought, since we have recently started using our furnaces, and that would explain why I'm just now noticing these sounds. I pondered what to do for a few more moments and then called Cline. After explaining the situation to him, he, being reasonably convinced that we were in no danger, suggested that I walk down to the basement with him on the phone so that I could confirm that Christa and I were the only ones in the house. As visions of dead bodies swaying to and fro, thumping the walls like something out of a horror movie, or perhaps distracted intruders, getting in a workout on Cline's home gym, flashed through my head, I replied, "um, not just no, but heck no, to the idea of me going down there by myself."
Since it was an unacceptable hour to run to my neighbor's house and round up the bamboo sticks (a reference to a similar light fixture incident this summer), I did the only thing I could do. I called my Dad (who lives 2 blocks from my house) and made him go check out the situation.
My sweet father was happy to oblige, and told me never to hesitate to call him if I had any concerns whatsoever. He marched right down to the basement, and reported that everything seemed to be in place. He returned to the main floor, and we listened together for the noise. It had become less frequent by this point, but he did hear it a couple of times, and also seemed perplexed. I remained on the main floor, and he went back down to the basement to see if the two of us could figure out the source of this sleepless night. After a few minutes, we both heard the thuds and clicks at the same time, and he confirmed that they were, in fact, coming from the heating vents. So, with both of us satisfied with this explanation, he returned to his house. I promptly re-set the alarm, and made myself comfortable on the couch in the den, with the TV blaring, so that I would be blissfully unaware of any future mysterious thumps in the night.
I think it's time to get a TV in our bedroom. Or perhaps Christa and I should find alternative sleeping arrangements on the nights that Cline has to work (which, fortunately is not terribly often). Or maybe Cline should just tell his boss that his scared, wimp of a wife can't handle nights by herself, so he has to switch to all day shifts. Yeah, I like that third idea!