Long time, no post!

Been a busy two weeks, lots of stuff on my mind and on my plate as we prepare for Audrey's due date. Just two weeks from tomorrow....and things are already happening! Woo hoo!

Last night something peculiar happened, and I can laugh about it now. At the time though, I was not happy at all.

At 1:10 in the morning Nat and I were awakened by a loud banging noise that was coming from our living room. I heard it once, and just thought the cat had knocked something over (he likes to do that.) But I heard it again, and then a few seconds later, again.

We thought someone was in our house.

I don't have a gun in the house- no real ethical reason, I just don't have one. I only own a shotgun that I keep at my dad's house because the only time it gets fired is when I go out with him. But I do have a kukuri- a Nepalese assassin's blade that was crafted by the Royal bladesmith of Nepal- and it is huge.

I don't know how to actually use the thing- but it sure as heck would scare anyone I ran into with it- very Crocodile Dundee-ish.

I told Natalie to stay in bed- she didn't- and I opened our bedroom door and flipped on the hall light. What was odd is that the noises stopped when I turned on the light. I moved down the hallway and Sydney came running out like he was scared to death. I held my breath, and heard another set of crashing. Things started going through my mind- was the thief trying to rip out my cabling system from all my home theater electronic stuff? Was he trying to get to the projector mounted high on the wall?

I shouted "Whoever's in here has three seconds to get out of my house!" (I actually said some non-school appropriate things here.)

It was silent. And then, wham, the sounds happened again, this time for like five seconds.

Suddenly, my brain awoke from its slumber and put two and two together.

A large mylar-metallic helium-filled baloon had gotten loose and been drawn into the ceiling fan and was getting beaten all about.

Whew.

Scared the tar out of me. Seriously scared me. Bad.

So there went my sleep for the rest of the night- my mind began racing with scenarios of what would happen if it were a real intruder? I have a wife and a child on the way- what will I do then? I know one thing I'll do- keep my freaking cell phone in the bed room, because we had no way of calling for help at that moment had the situation been real.

But here is what got me the most- at the moment that I honestly felt someone was in the house- my ONLY concern was to get them out because Natalie was in danger. The ONLY thing. I've never felt that complete sense of a lack of self-concern- I was perfectly willing to lay down my life at that moment, to let everything go to protect someone else.

It wasn't real, and I pray to God that nothing like that ever really does happen. I also hope that if that situation ever does arise for real, I'll have the courage to protect my loved ones.

"No greater deed does a man do than to lay down his life for a friend."