Restless Night

From about 1-2 a.m. we were awoken every few minutes by what sounded like ricocheting gunshots... since that's not really the norm on the back roads of West Chester, we quickly ruled that out. The house wasn't shaking, so we were pretty sure it wasn't the usual limbs falling from our gargantuan Poplar trees that have been swaying ominously above our little house. After a few scary rounds, we realized it sounded like sheets of ice, either falling from limbs in the rain, or sliding down our roof as the rain loosened them... It was pouring like crazy.
Suddenly at 2:30 we were wakened by dripping sounds. Dave jumped out of bed and turned on the light, revealing a foot-long crack in our ceiling (fortunately to the right of our bed, and not directly above our bed!).
It was one of those "Oh my goodness, what do we do?" moments, where you can't think clearly b/c it's 2:30 in the morning and your ceiling's dripping.
For those of you who read about our fountaining chandelier, you're probably thinking, "Um, you probably should have had the roof replaced by now, Genius!" ...I think that thought was somewhere in the back of our minds around 2:33, as we were scrambling to get a plastic trashcan from the basement and clear all the clothes from the vicinity (don't tell mom). It's funny how in those moments, even though I trust my husband and it really wasn't a true emergency, I have this overwhelming urge to pick up the phone and call my dad-- not that he could do ANYthing about it, but somehow that feels like it will always be built into me.
Once Dave had visited the attic and discovered that the same blocked off part where the mouse was digging was the same part where the leak was, and after he had gone outside in the ice and rain to investigate the roof (which was nearly impossible due to the darkness, ice, and tree that grows over the edge of our roof), his suggestion was that we go back to sleep. Ha! As if I could do that, with images of our ceiling collapsing on us now running through my mind.
I got online and googled "emergency roofer, west chester"-- just in case the worst came true-- which it did not (thank the Good Lord)... I only dreamed about it coming true as I slept fitfully for the next 4 hours or so, often waking up thinking that there was dripping coming from every corner of the room...
Called the roofer at 8 a.m. (we DID get an estimate since the chandelier incident!)-- and he said he could come over as soon as all the ice melts, so he doesn't fall off the roof... talk about Genius!
All of the schools around here are closed... It's now 9:30 a.m. and I am ready for a nap!
Perhaps it will be another "work from home" day!
Here's to procrastinating on home projects!