What keeps you up at night?

I know, I know, it's the bills and the job, it's the kids and the braces, and the commute and the gas prices, and the government and the health plan, and the Thanksgiving and Christmas plans (family or no family). I know about all that, but what about that crazy stuff that no one else thinks of, and maybe I'm the only one, who knows....

When the wind's a howlin' and the trees are shaking I wish my first thought was how blessed I am to be in a warm home next to a loving husband with children tucked all snug in their beds. But, I confess that is not my first thought. My first thought is What if the tree falls on the house, followed by and if it falls on the house will it fall on our room or the kids' room. And it just keeps going from there. What if all the trees (we really don't have any trees in that close proximity to the house mind you) fall on the house at once, trapping us all in. Will Patrick or I be able to get to the children? And what if power lines have fallen outside the house, so now there's no electricity to the house and yet live power lines dancing on the sidewalk. How will the firefighters get to us. And will I be one of those super-hero moms who lift the giant tree off my children's bunk bed with one hand while single handedly wrapping an ace bandage around Patrick's fracture leg or will I stand frozen in the midst of the disaster unable to move to comfort my crying children let alone move the trees.

And then there's the scenario where Patrick comes home later then expected from a meeting and so of course he's been in a car accident and one of the children has once again accidently unplugged the house phone and my cellphone battery will probably be dead so no-one will be able to reach me. And if they do it will be to ask me if he is an organ donor which, oh I'm sure he is, but what will his parents want, and how do I get to the hospital to sign the papers with two sleepy children in tow and do I call the in-laws to meet me at the hospital or do I let them have their last quiet night's sleep? Do I try and find a neighbor to watch the kids or take them so they can see Daddy.... and how much was that damned life insurance policy for anyway, and I'm not in any way shape or form ready to be a single parent and oh my.....

oh, there's the keys in the door. He's home.

So, what keeps you awake at night?

Did I mention that little teeny rash on N, that no one else can see....