Welcome to Crazy Town!

After a bazillion hours of labor (I have every right to complain-I was waiting to find out the sex of the baby) my most perfect little niece has finally arrived. I'd like to welcome Sadie Lynn to crazy town...first stop Gramma's house.

On Sunday at 4:30 I received a text from my daughter saying she was ready to be picked up at Gramma's house. I didn't actually see the text until about 5:30 when I randomly woke up from a 3 hour Sunday afternoon nap (this is what happens when you haven't slept for more than 4 hours in the last 3 days). Of course I'm not making dinner (when there are so many options for take out, really what's the point?) so I ask her what kind of Chinese food she wants via text (does anyone besides David prefer to pick up the phone and talk instead of stealthily sending cryptic messages??). It's not like I couldn't figure it out by process of elimination..she's recently gotten pretty daring by going from chicken & broccoli to chicken & string beans...BIG step. I don't hear from her, but I'm not really concerned. It's the beauty of texts...they're a little easier to ignore. Let's face it...as perfect as my daughter is...I'm sure she ignores my texts some of the time.

I head over to my Mom's house by around 6pm. Both cars are out in front of the house so I pull in behind them and beep the horn. No Kaleigh. No surprise. She's usually in the TV room where she can't hear me over the blaring sound of some Turner Classic Movie. I actually make the effort and initiate a voice call only to get shut down by the machine (another reason I hate voice calls!). This is odd. I don't panic. I call my Mom's house. Then her cell phone. My Dad's cell phone. Kaleigh's phone again. Nothing. Now I'm worried.

I get out of the car and physically start banging on doors & windows like a mad woman. No one comes to the door and no one raises an eyebrow...this is the Southside of Easton. I make an attempt to break into the patio room to no avail. (Sleep well Mom! The sliding glass doors are on super secret lock down.) There can only be one logical explanation to all of these circumstances. It's simple. They're being held hostage.

Somehow (it must be all the time I've spent away from my mother) I convince myself that the hostage theory is probably more of a blockbuster movie plot than a reality in my Mom's house in the Lehigh Valley (even on the Southside of Easton). I begin to reationalize why all the cars would be there and no one would be answering the door. They must have gone for a walk (yes, all three of them!) and left their cell phones in the house (yes, all three of them!).

I busy myself following up on emails, returning phone calls and cleaning out my console (it's really gross again already by the way!). I call all of my siblings to see if they know where everyone is and why they are hiding in the house. No one is answering so I continue to stew. Now it's been an hour...and it's starting to rain. Surely, if they were going for a walk they would not be walking in the rain (no one in my family is that dedicated...except maybe my Dad, but it's like a torrential downpour now).

I'm just about to call the police and let them know that I'm certain my family is being held hostage in their own home for no particular reason when I think better of it and call my sister Melody to make sure I'm not crazy. The second I call Melody, my other blackberry rings (yes, it's pathetic...I know) and it's Kaleigh. They were sleeping. Guess I wasn't the only one who needed that Sunday afternoon slumber...

You might think it was crazy that I was about to call the police...but that's because Reenie Tibbetts isn't your Mom. When I called my sister Melody to let her know everything was okay and explain to her what I was about to do, she confirmed that she would have told me it was time to call the police too. Not long ago, she nearly did call the police because some crazy lawn service left their tools unattended on my Mom's lawn (God forbid). My Mom nearly called the National Guard the day my daughter and I got massages for an hour and were unavailable at the same time when she called. So welcome Sadie. Welcome to Crazy Town...we've been waiting for you...