Things that go 'bump' in the night...

I'm 25 years old. I'm a mom. I'm a grown, married, woman.  And I have a confession...I am scared shitless of the dark. The other evening, both of my boys we're asleep; one in his recliner, the other in his crib. I was taking a shower, winding down, and enjoying alone time. There may have been wine involved and that's perfectly ok. Then I heard "it." A sound. A loud thump. Like Santa Claus on the roof kind of thump. Was I crazy? Nope, Tucker was sitting up in his dog bed, ears perked, looking like he heard "it" too. I heard "it" several more times as the night continued to progress; sometimes directly overhead, sometimes down the hall, sometimes  at the opposite ends of the house. I legitimately thought there was something going on on our roof. 

I forced my mind to rational places initially; tree branch scraping against the roof, ice falling off a tree onto the roof, etc. However, the more I thought about it, the more these explanations explained nothing at all. It wasn't a windy night, there aren't that many tree branches  above our house, and (while we did get ice few day ago), temperatures haven't been warm enough to warrant any ice melting to fall on the roof. I eventually woke up the hubby to go to bed and just as he rejoined the land of the living..."thump," another one. Another "thump" minutes later definitely caught his attention.  We got ready for bed, got underneath the covers, and turned out the light.  It was then that my mind began to consider the irrational; we're talking poltergeist, ax murdering neighbors, blood thirsty mountain lion pouncing on the roof...it got ridiculous, let me tell ya. There's something about the dark that turns me into the largest chicken you've ever seen. 

After laying in bed for a few minutes, wide awake, straining to listen for the phantom thumps, hubby asked if I wanted him to go outside and take a look.  My response, "Hell no! I've seen the movies! I know what happens! Stay in here!" Irrational, yes. Ridiculous, yes. I didn't care, I wasn't losing my husband to Santa-poltergeist-lion-ax murderer.  I even went and got Little Man from his room and had him sleep with us, that's how freaked out I was.  

I don't know when or how, but eventually I fell asleep. After about 17 cups of coffee that next morning, I hauled myself into work. While talking with one of my co-workers, she casually mentioned, "Hey, was your house popping last night?  We kept hearing something that sounded like stuff falling on the roof." 

"WHAT?!? Yes!" 

After talking a few more minutes and comparing notes on our jacked up, popping, thumping, creepy-acting houses, we decided to do some research. Which means a Google search. Turns out, this is a legitimate thing! When warm air from inside the house meets frigid air from outside the house, thermal expansion and contraction can occur, causing the mysterious sounds we both were hearing at our respective homesteads!  Bam! Mystery solved!  Next time your house makes creepy noises, do some internet research before jumping to irrational conclusions...your sanity will thank you! 

2014!

Hello, my name is Jen, and I have a problem.  I severely suck at New Years resolutions.  Did you like how I ‘resolved’ to blog more in the New Year…of 2013?  Can anyone tell how many posts actually appeared on this blog in the year 2013?  Let’s not go there ;)  New year, new outlook.

However, I believe I can catch you up in a nutshell:

TaDa!  I’m a mom, hubby’s a dad, we’re a family, and I’ve discovered what I was supposed to have been doing with my life all along.  We love this little turkey more than words can say and can’t wait to see where life takes him!   

The National Western Stock Show

A couple of weeks ago, that devilishly handsome man I married, his partner-in-crime Danny, and myself loaded up a couple of bulls and hauled 'em out to the National Western Stock Show in Denver to be on display for a week before getting shipped up to Montana where they'll stand as stud, aka eat all day and get collected (yes, I'm talking about semen, sorry) aka live a cake life.  Our journey out west spanned over 12 hours....

included three states.....

(Guess which one this is.  I'll give you a hint, it's flat and people from Missouri enjoy making jokes about it...sorry Kansas friends! ;) )

-4 degrees.  No big deal.

and got a wee bit chilly a few hours after crossing the Kansas/Colorado border.  Cold weather is NOT my strong suit.  

We rolled into the stock yards after dark, and it only took about five minutes for me to realize that my warm, delightful, amazing, insulated boots were safely back home in Missouri.  Awesome.  I am NOT a Yuppie...promise!

Anyhow, once I'd invested in some cheapo Walmart snow boots and had relatively warmish feet, we settled in for the long haul, trying to stay warm, keeping the bulls fed, happy and clean, and answering questions about their genetics, disposition, etc.  Being from Missouri, the bulls and their  umm..male parts..were a bit offended by the Denver chill at first, but everyone adjusted after a few days!

Despite the long drive and colder than a well-digger's you-know-what temperatures, I always enjoy trips like this.  The abundance of top-notch livestock, both new and familiar faces, and all the different vendors selling their wares...

Like this cute, sassy, feminine pistol case!

make stock shows a source of endless entertainment.  (Not to mention the fact that it's perfectly acceptable and even encouraged to drink like a fish all day.  Hey, Crown is a major source of warmth out on the cold, frozen tundra!  We spent most of our time outside, and although I did not discover the temperature at which a margarita freezes, we did end up with several slushy beers and a frozen solid tube of lip gloss!

On the second day, I ventured up onto the cat walk to snap a few photos for the stockyards.  The historical significance of this area is pretty cool.  The yards are located right next to the train tracks as livestock were once shipped from the yards at a rate of hundreds of thousands of head per year!

Picture a sight like this, only in all four directions, as far as you can see.

 I took this photo while sprinting down the last portion of the cat walk.  It was a good 10 degrees colder up there, I swear!  I'm not entirely sure where this cattle operation was from, but they sure had their stuff together! 

The boys ended up staying with the bulls a solid week in Denver, but I sadly had to leave early to get back home to the daily 8-5 grind....

And this was my rental car on the way back from the airport :)

Check something off your bucket list this week!!