I should have taken the day off

I didn't sleep well last night. On top of that, I woke up about 40 minutes late (and it's raining outside). There was no way I was going to make it to work on time. I was only about 25 minutes late.

The smoke detector in my bedroom must need a new battery. The constant chirping got on my nerves last night. It obviously bothered my dog too. Every time it chirped he would start whining. I ended up letting Diesel out of his crate and we both slept in the living room; him on the sofa, me on the loveseat. He almost gave me a heart attack in the wee hours of the morning. I'm guessing it was around 3 a.m. I woke up to him standing next to me growling (something he very rarely does). He started barking also. I called my kids names to see if maybe one of them had gotten up to go to the bathroom and I get no answer.

I'm starting to freak out a little wondering if there is someone in the hallway. I gather up enough nerve to turn on a light. I called my kids again and my daughter finally answered which let me know that she was o.k. (my son never stirred). I should have known that since the alarm DID NOT go off it was highly unlikely that there was an intruder in our home. I still had to check their bathroom and the laundry room after poking my head in both of their rooms (just to be sure).

My assumption is that the ceiling fan (which was on) caused a torn piece of the sheet that was draped over the sofa to brush up against my dog. It must have startled him and he possibly thought that someone had touched him. That's the best conclusion that I can come up with.