Living on your own is entertaining at times. You get to do what you want, when you want, with or without who you want. You get to buy groceries that remain in the pantry and fridge where you left them. Sleep is uninterrupted. If you want to work on a project and leave it on the table no one cares. The bank account stays above zero and if it bounces it's a math error not a "I wanted to send something to my girlfriend in Venezuela" situation.

Because you live alone, you are aware of every noise in your house. You know what is normal and what is not.

As I was working a week or so ago, I heard footsteps above my head. At first, I thought, "Oh, it's just the landlord checking the roof." I looked out the window, no car. I looked out the back of the house, no car. Is it just a very large animal? I looked out a side window to try to see the backyard. No car. I heard the sound again, definitely steps of a human and it sounded like they were in the attic.

I checked the calendar, and it's not Santa season, so it shouldn't be reindeer landing on the roof and Santa looking for the chimney...

Now in my house, there is a small space between my ceiling and the roof. There's not an actual "attic" per se, but it is large enough for a human.

Every once in a while, you hear random stories of people living in an attic or basement and the owner is unaware. I didn't think anyone could pull that off here, but hey, one never knows.

Since I live alone, my next go to was to block the drop down door from the attic and make sure my gun was loaded. Check and check. I grabbed my phone and called the landlord.

"Hey, I assume you're in the attic or on the roof?" I asked.

Silence. "Noooo..."

Now I really am freaked out. I check yet more of my 15 windows and finally spot a ladder. It identified it as the city's. As my eyes follow the ladder up to its destination, I see men on the roof working on the wiring. I give a sigh of relief and flip the safety back on my gun, and return it to its safe place.

Now I file the noise in the "weird noises" and "what the weird noises could be..."

I did go outside and talk to the nice men walking on the roof, which by the way, were NOT dressed like elves. I suggested that next time maybe a note on the door or a knock would be good, letting people inside know that it's just the friendly city guys walking on the roof. I mean, otherwise you might have ladies with guns taking the safety off, while expecting someone to fall through the ceiling.

Yes, I did chuckle after I found out what was going on. Bless their hearts, these guys have to do all of the grunt work to keep the lights on, literally in this case. I just use the service they provide to tell you about their work and sometimes it's a bit entertaining.

So here's the moral of the story. If you see city trucks working in your area, parked in the alley for days and one morning it sounds like Santa and the reindeer are on the roof, there's a 99% chance it's just our city workers fixing the lines and they need to hook up your house. However, there's a .01% chance that someone uninvited is living in the attic.

As I still smile over this now, I ponder if I'd still do what I did. I probably would...unless it's Christmas Eve.