[ocracoke]

I was sound asleep when the phone rang at 3:37am today. It has been such a long time since my phone has rung in the middle of the night. I use to have a job where that was a common occurance but I can safely say that it hasn't happened in about 2 years now. I was so sleep that I reached over and tried to hit the snooze button on my alarm -- at the same time I am swearing under my breath that it can not possibly be time to get up. And then the phone rang again and I realized that it was not my alarm but my phone. So I picked it up and looked at the caller ID. It was a 503 number. It was my agency. But who can trust their sleep fog induced eyes at this time of the morning. So I answered.

I had only been asleep for about 3 hours. I think I warned her that I have been known to have full conversations with people on the phone without waking up (lots of night time calls at my previous job) so I was scared I wouldn't remember that this was real. my case worker had said that she got off the phone with Ethiopia and dialed my number and after about a half a ring realized it wasn't just after midnight for me -- it was after 3am. But by that time she was too far into it and just let the phone ring. I would have been so upset to see that number on my caller id and have had a hang up.
After I got off the phone I turned off the light and crawled back in bed. Yeah right!! That so was not happening. So I got back up and putzed around the house until I saw my mom's light go on. I ran across the yard in my pajamas and walked into her house. This of course shocked her because the only person who hates mornings more then her is me. I tried to tell her that my daughter's birthday was December 9th but due to lack of sleep, sobbing, or the fact that neither of us is a morning person she just could not comprehend what I was telling her. And then watching us try to figure out how old she was was comical. "So that makes her 17 months?? No wait, 18 months? No I think it is 19 months," as we are counting on fingers and toes.

So I then got dressed and got ready for work. I decided to make calls on the way to work. I called my father's home and the phone just rang and rang and rang. Their answering machine didn't even pick up. My 16 year old sister must be on the computer and not paying attention to the call waiting. So I looked in my cell phone phonebook and found my stepmom's cell phone number. I called and my father answered (they work together so they commute together). I asked if he was driving and he said yes. I told him not to drive off of the road but that he was a grandfather. There was a bit of a pause and then he said, "Who is this?" I replied that is was Samantha. He said he didn't know a Samantha. And I said, "David??" And he said, "I think you have the wrong number." Are you kidding me?? When I got to work I finally found his work phone number and called him with the news. I swear the other person sounded just like my father. I may have been tired but I am not completely crazy.

Samantha