We rarely get to bed before midnight. Well, that’s not exactly true. I can’t recall the last time we went to bed before midnight. It’s more accurate to say that we rarely get to bed before 1 a.m. We’re both night owls and have a night owl toddler, so “going to bed early” doesn’t really happen around here.
(That’s really neither here nor there, but, you know, I like to be precise when I’m recounting an experience.)
So, anyway, it was late when we went to bed the other night. I had barely closed my when I thought I heard a noise. I laid there for a minute, trying to decide if I had heard something, or if my brain was playing tricks on me. After hearing it again a couple of times I decided that I definitely was hearing something, I just wasn’t sure what.
Now, I have a very vivid imagination. I come by it pretty naturally. My Mom was always sure that if my brothers or I were a few minutes late getting home, that it was because we had hit a moose with our car and were lying unconscious in a ditch somewhere. Fun, right?
Though this house isn’t that hold, the floors creak quite a bit throughout (something about improper subflooring? I don’t know, construction isn’t really in my wheel house) and I tried to determine if I could hear any creaks. Because, obviously, if there was a sound in the house it had to be a burglar. Or maybe a deranged killer. At the very least, it had to be an enormous snake backed up by a pack of large, hairy spiders.
(Clearly I’ve seen one too many horror movies.)
After lying there awhile, watching (with eyes barely open, lest whatever or whomever was out there catch me looking at them) for shadows to fall across the walls, I finally asked my husband if he could hear what I heard. He admitted he had heard something and got out of bed to investigate. Had I not asked, I’m sure he would have just gone to sleep, but he knew that if he didn’t check, I would lie awake all night with my eyes narrowed to slits and hand on my cell phone ready to dial 911.
I listened, straining to hear him move around the house. After what felt like too long, he came back to bed, shaking his head. The culprit?
Yep. I forgot that I had set the delayed start on the dishwasher and apparently it makes all sorts of ticking and other sounds as it counts down. So, note to self: run the dishwasher during the day if you want to get any sleep at night. And maybe watch a few less episodes of CSI and the Investigation Discovery shows.
When has your imagination gotten the better of you?
About Liza
Liza is a mom (5-year-old daughter, 20-year-old stepson, and 24-year-old stepdaughter) and wife living in Louisville. She loves spending time with her family, visiting the local zoo and parks, as well as planning travel adventures. Cooking and baking, DIY projects and crafts, and coffee - lots and lots of coffee - round out some of her other hobbies.
Oh, that is so funny! I think I tend to let my imagination run away with me sometimes, too. It’s mostly when my teens are late or not answering their cell phones…then I really panic. When it comes to sleeping, I pretty much fall asleep as soon as my head hits the pillow and I do not wake up until my alarm goes off. That worries me too because I’m afraid I won’t hear something that I need to.
Oh man, I wish I could do that now, Kari! When I was in college, people could have danced the tango on my bed while I slept, and I wouldn’t have woken up. Now I lay there and worry and listen for my daughter.
Oh yes, we had the experience CONSISTENTLY when we moved into our new house…one night it was the cable to the dish banging against the siding…another it was windy and the garage door moves a little in the track (sounds exactly like a car door shutting in our driveway or the front door shutting quietly-of course, because if someone is sneaking in they aren’t going to close the door loudly!)…now that we’ve been here a few months it isn’t so bad.
Dawn
I’m so glad it’s not just me!
We’ve lived here a year and a half or so, so I guess I should be use to it all by now – but apparently I’m not 😉
Been there, too. The little noises that just don’t belong will keep me up unless I go investigate. The imagination does run quite wild.
I could see why that would be completely freaky! I always do that in the middle of the night, the difference is we live near a train track and at least half the time it’s because a train is going past – especially the end of the train where the engine sounds are no longer there, just the rattling. You would think I’d be used to it after decades, but nope it still freaks me out from time to time. The mind is a powerful tool!
Rattling tracks after the train was already gone would likely freak me out, too – I’d wonder if something else was coming!
Laughing! That’s totally something I could have done. In 23 years of marriage, we’ve lived in seven houses and four apartments. Just when I think I’ve figured out the “natural” noises of the dwelling, we move on to a new one. I’ve startled myself with lots of foreign noises — squirrels in the attic, owls on the roof, paper in the air duct, countless low batteries on smoke detectors, and the snoring dog. Of course, I thought all of those noises were from serial killers. lol Love your post!
I may or may not have ripped some of those low battery smoke detectors out of the wall before 😉 So annoying! Glad, though, that my mind isn’t the only one that goes to serial killers!
My worst imaginings are not when I go to bed but if my husband is late getting home and somehow I can’t reach him on his cell. All of a sudden I’m worrying about him being in an accident somewhere. He has actually been in a few minor accidents so this (as I see it) is a legitimate worry. Of course, he doesn’t mind the big hug when he makes it home.
Oh man, actual accidents totally give you a legitimate reason to worry!
That is too funny. Not long after we moved into our house, I heard a noise and when I got up, the front door was standing wide open. Or so I thought. I ran back to the bedroom and got hubby up because I was sure someone had come into the house. When he walked out to check the door, he pointed out that the street light and shadows only made it look like it was open. Still seems weird how just the right angle made the door look open.
That totally sounds like something I would do, too!
LOL! Ours clicks a lot too, but thankfully, it’s downstairs and I don’t have to hear it! Our dryer, however is upstairs (with the bedrooms) and one evening I forgot I had the finish drying signal on and that thing scared me to death! It is an awful siren sounding noise! It’s disabled now!
I can just see myself pretty much having a heart attack in that situation!
I thought I had an overactive imagination, however I now see it is just normal. That was quite humorous.
It’s good to know we’re all in it together, isn’t it? 😉
I can be the same way when it comes to hearing noises. I’ll usually investigate, too, but many times I’ll just thankfully fall asleep! 😀
OMG, this is soooo something I would do!!
Laughing with you! Same things has happened to me. Love that delay setting, but why does it have to scare me half to death when it kicks in?
thanks for sharing and letting me know I’m not the only one.
I’m the one who hears noises at night. Unfortunately, it’s like that story about the boy who cried wolf. Hubby is usually right, ‘it’s probably nothing’ to which I invariably answer – “but what if it IS something”. And he gets up to protect his family.
Thanks for the chuckle today
LOL!! You are not alone! I am a 911 dispatcher. I have had too many 911 calls to count from someone freaked out by a noise or someone “breaking into their house” only to discover it was a raccoon, a busted pipe or an adult child come home a day early from college. We treat every call as if it was real until proven otherwise and i would rather answer 100 calls that have a funny ending than one that’s a real problem. Thanks for the chuckle!
Okay, that actually makes me feel 100 times better. I’ve totally never called 911 on my dishwasher before 😀
That is so something I would do! The worst for me is when the dogs bark and growl, at….well, nothing. Obviously they’ll see something that I can’t and there’s nothing worse than thinking someone is breaking into your house when the dogs are waking up the neighborhood.
Ha! That’s funny. I have definitely had similar experiences. The funniest one was during a thunderstorm once when a tree limb fell and hit our window, on my husband’s side of the bed. It actually broke the glass! He woke up in a flash, saying, “WHO’S THERE!?” – it was pretty scary at the time, but after we figured out it was a tree limb, we both had a good laugh about it!
I hate to admit it, but I’ve done this before. Several times. The dang coffee pot gets me each morning, too. Not even going to mention the cat’s midnight antics…
That is just one of the reasons we don’t have a cat. Dogs lie down and go to sleep at night. Cats seem to stalk the house 😀
OK, so the other night I bolted up in bed wondering why my kids were running up and down the stairs…only to realize a raccoon and a raccoon friend were trying to eat into my bedroom. Yes, there was the start of a gaping hole and my husband has bandaged it up as best we can until we get a carpenter here. That said…I know when we were completely hooked on the show “24”…I started seeing “unmarked vans” and suspicious characters kinda often…until my brother suggested I watch less “24”.
Um, I grew up in the country and have seen my fair share of raccoons up close and personal. But THAT would have had me running for a hotel!!
Ha! I do that all the time! So funny!
lol! We also have a night owl toddler. He has his morning nap, his late afternoon/ evening nap and then stays up to party with us because …duh… dad is home!
I’m sure I scare myself too many times for nothing, but not generally at night. That is when I sleep!
I think I’d be in better sleep-shape if she took naps like your son does! She *usually* takes a nap in the afternoon, but even that isn’t always a given. She’s too afraid she’s going to miss playtime!
Girl I am so with you! Every night I hear and see the creepiest things because I let my imagination run a mok.
I really work at keeping myself calm. Living in New York City, it’s easy to get rattled. The other day I saw a man in a Hazmat suit in front of my building and wished him a safe day. It’ was only when I was a few blocks away I realized there was a big problem.
Cutest title ever, Liza!
Our washer has a somewhat noisy start as well.
The creaks that usually get me are as I am falling asleep….gently breathing….then “WHAT WAS THAT???” Yep, usually nothing!
I love those haunting shows!! Have you ever considered going to the records of your house to see if anything happened there besides a new dishwasher?
I don’t need validation of my crazy, Amy 😉 The college I attended was full of ghost stories and I managed to freak myself out there a time or five, too. I’ll just keep telling myself it’s the dishwasher!
LOL!
My imagination ALWAYS gets the better of me, especially at night!
We’ve been in out home 33 years and I still hear weird noises. The worse are the ones that are in the basement. I’ve learned to let most of them go unless I have the nerve to go downstairs and investigate. The Mr. doesn’t hear them and unless I told him Jason or Freddie Krueger were on the porch he wouldn’t get up.
Love it! And this is precisely why I suffer from extreme insomnia…
This happens to me all the time! Usually, it’s the ice maker making the noise;)
I’ve been freaked out by my dishwasher before too – especially if something is a little too close to the spinning arm. I’m also guilty of the crazy thoughts – my husband rides his push bike to work and if he’s a little late than expected, I’m always panicking that something’s happened. I try not to express it in front of my kids though.
I can’t stand noises either!! I live near an air force base so we constantly have planes going overhead…and I’ve grown used to that. Last month my husband was gone on a business trip, and if that wasn’t hard enough; one night trying to fall asleep and I kept hearing this growling type noise…I swear it was under my bed(crazy, I know), so I went and slept on the couch in the living room. then, we discovered my 100 lb dog had been digging a hole to sleep in next to our bedroom wall….oh bad dog.
Oh my gosh, this is hysterical! This sounds exactly like something I would do. Usually it’s our cat playing with something in another room.
That would have totally gotten me too. I have half asleep dreams where I think someone is standing next to the bed…freaks me out! I used to jump out of bed because things were falling on me from the ceiling fan (not really). Doesn’t really make for a restful night.
Totally understand. The dishwasher and the ice maker and my husband’s coffee pot have all gotten me and then there’s the neighbor who takes out his trash at 5 am. lol!
LOL! That’s hilarious. And it sounds exactly like something I would do. I’m something of a catastrophizer myself, and whenever I worry about something the worse case scenario is usually what fills my brain first. Thanks for sharing! ~ Bobbi
Hi Liza. Great post. I know my imagination runs away with me when I am in the house alone. Not as much when my husband is here. I have gotten up many nights to check out noises that I hear. And there is never anything there. Thank goodness.
For me, it’s the ice maker! I swear that we have the loudest one on the planet and it makes me jump every single time. We also have a door that will slam close if we leave the windows open. Its so loud, it sounds like a gun shot!
I do this all the time! My husband used to work 3rd shift, so I had nobody to check the house…It was scary.
The scariest thing ever was the sounds that I recognized that should not be happening when nobody is moving about. One night, a toy went off unexpectedly. It was on the floor at the foot of my bed! I knew it was right there because I almost killed myself walking to the closet before I went to bed when I stepped on it. Rather than move it, I decided to be lazy and leave it there.
It was about 3 am when this toy started talking. I freaked out! I thought there was someone in my room on the floor. I reached for the phone, but realized that if there was someone there that they would hear me pushing the buttons and probably kill me right then.. I felt around the floor for other toys that I was too lazy to pick up before I’d gone to bed and found a heavy plastic toy. I jumped up with the toy to find absolutely nothing.
What set the toy off? I have no idea. Must’ve been a ghost.
LOL…that’s too funny. I love the ID Channel. I totally understand where you’re coming from things like that happen to me all time…And when I find out what the culprit is, I just shake my head.
Thanks for the cute story, a little bit of laughter on a Monday morning!
I too freak myself out. It seems like there is a loud noise every Wednesday as my head hits the pillow. Why it only happens on Wednesdays, I don’t know. Glad it was nothing serious!
Nothing like night time to make even the most benign sounds become scary intruders. Funny!
Love this post, my mind often gets the better of me especially late at night in a dark house!
I too have an overactive imagination. For me, I cannot watch anything suspenseful before bed or I will get nightmares! The dishwasher seeming to turn itself on would have totally spooked me out too!
LOVE IT! I freak out all the time, and my family thinks I’m crazy! LOL!
I can laugh with you now but can also feel the terror you must have felt. Yep, too much CSI, NCIS, Criminal Minds and the others will definitely have an effect after midnight.
Glad things turned out well.
Haahaahaa…. that’s really funny!!!! I once heard noise from the washing machine and when I decide to check it out a rat jumped out of it!
That made me laugh. It sounds like something I would do. And it’s probably because of the same reason too! Investigation Discovery is my favorite channel! Thanks for sharing!
haha…When I am alone and hear weird noises I often investigate wondering what it is and hoping it isn’t something scary. My fridge makes strange noises a lot too.
My imagination almost ALWAYS gets the better of me. If I hear a weird noise, I am convinced someone is trying to break into my house to murder me in my sleep. Never mind the fact that if that we’re true, my dogs would bark at the sound, yet they lay there like lumps in those instances.
Having a vivid imagination is both a blessing and a curse. So I feel for you.
Haha this makes me laugh. Every time I get up in the middle of the night to use the restroom my imagination and mind always plays tricks on me. I always see shadows of people or faces and I get so freaked out. Needless to say I use the restroom quickly and hurry back to bed!
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Oh, this made my morning! I’ve done that sort of thing before; though, generally it’s one of my animals running around. I’ve made myself so paranoid before that I had forgotten to lock the door that just went I’m about to fall asleep, I have to get up and make sure I actually locked it. Haha, gotta love how freaked out we make ourselves with our own imaginations.