Yeah, I do, but it seems like we've lucked out. The smell is already receding. So I think it must have just sprayed outside and missed us.

I'm glad the smell is not so bad, Liese.

Not sleeping right now=stoopid. Oh well.

Yup. I'm stupidly not sleeping now, too. But I'm all worked up about every single thing in the world and this evidently means no sleep.

Perkins the cat is lying on my feet, so I can't leave the sofa.

Ha. Seabiscuit is lying on my feet. On the sofa. Where he's not allowed to be. But I felt bad for him because of his traumatic night (he's claustrophobic; I had to lift him into the bathtub forcibly) and I'm letting him sleep there.

I don't have to be a good samaritan on less than five hours sleep, right? I finally get to sleep around midnight. At 4:30 A.M. my dogs are going apeshit by the front door. I jump up out of a sound sleep to see what's going on.

Some woman is standing on my porch knocking on my door. She looked sheepish and I just tell her she's going to wake up my kids. Her story, car broken down. I didn't let her get any further--I just pointed her down the street to the OPEN Dairy Mart. There is a phone down there and an AWAKE person who can help you.

WTF? I do not live on the end of a deserted, country road. This is a major metropolitan area. I'm half a block away from an open, around the clock convenience store with a functioning payphone outside. It's not raining or snowing.

Of course I'm torn now between worrying whether this woman really needed more help and how I'm going to make it through the day on so little fucking sleep.

Cash, if she'd been that desperate (i.e. needed *your* help), she would have stuck around and been more demanding.

Cash, if she'd been that desperate (i.e. needed *your* help), she would have stuck around and been more demanding.

She asked me where she was. Which may mean she was lost--we're a quiet, residential part of town and she may have gotten turned around. I didn't give her enough time to ask for anything (money?). I told her where she was and where the quickie mart was. I dunno. The more I think about it the more pissed off I get because really, what idiot does that? The adrenline rush that woke me up prevented me from going back to sleep.

Now I'm tired and the kids are awake and having breakfast and I'm looking at the long day ahead.

Cash, when help was so close by, I don't blame you. The woman may not have been thinking clearly... and it may sound really paranoid/suspicious of me, but also it sounds like the opening scenario of a scam where someone tries to invade your house.

(This is the third time in a few days when I've jumped to the worst possible scenario interpretation of a situation. I wonder if I'm going through a paranoid phase or something.)

In other news, the first workday of the new year is starting up here and I'd better get dressed and out the door before it's too late!

I'm just naturally more suspicious now for some reason. Maybe I'm just more protective of my kids. The dogs both got a half a can of cat food as a treat this morning. Things like this remind me why I love having them around. I do think they are great at warning people away and I know for certain, nobody could break into our house without us knowing about it. It's sort of comforting.