So I decided to take advantage of some mild and dry weather yesterday to do a little work outdoors. My two and-a-half year old twin boys had just gone down for a nap and I thought it would be a good time to take down the outdoor Christmas lights that had been on the roof since November. I grabbed my extension ladder, climbed up and began to collect those holiday bulbs. The process was going quite smoothly until I decided to climb back down to check on the twins. Much to my chagrin, the ladder was no longer leaning up against the roof!

You see, my ladder is made of rather lightweight aluminum and it was kind of a breezy day. The wind blew the ladder right down to the ground. I sat on the roof for several seconds wondering what I was going to do next. I finally decided that I was going to hang from the eave at the front of the house and try to plant my feet on the deck railing. Just as I was about to take on that precarious process, my neighbor across the street, Julie, drove up and into her garage. As soon as I heard her van door open I yelled out for help and she was kind enough to come over and lift the ladder back up for me. The first words out of her mouth were "How long have you been up there?" Thankfully, it had been only about ten minutes from the time I realized I was in trouble to the time that Julie came home.

The moral of the story? Either make sure your ladder is secure, or leave your Christmas lights up all year!