NotHardUp1
What? Me? Really?
Last night, I went to make a grilled cheese sandwich, so I went to the kitchen, and when I picked up a remnant piece of a loaf from the top of the toaster, I was stunned to find the plastic wrapper fused and had left a mark on the top of the toaster oven.
As a rule, I eat less toast or English muffins in summer than in winter. It has been weeks since I can remember toasting anything. I'm always careful to remove any bread stored on top of the toaster before using it, and I've never turned it on with anything atop.
In a household, one would just assume someone else blundered, but I live alone. I stared at the bag and the toaster, and it seemed to click in place. I must be have been sleepwalking.
There have been two other incidents over the last two years that would suggest it, but were vague so had not occurred to me. The first was when I yet lived in Albuquerque, but right after I had a friend's son letting a room for a few months before getting a place together with another young friend. I took him in as a favor to his mom who had previously housed him before selling her house and leaving town with a new husband. At the time, I came to the kitchen a few weeks after he had left, and I found a chip missing from the granite countertop at the front of the sink surround.
I was devastated. I had the countertops replaced after I had bought the house a couple of years before. It was so nice, and I had tons of counter space there which I sorely miss in my new home. It really rankled me that the boy (32 years old) had damaged it without telling me. It seemed likely that he had struck it with a pan or utensil, but it was conjecture on my part. As it was butterfly granite, it also seemed possible that the installer had damaged it and that it had latently popped off. The chip should have been in the sink if that were the case, but I never found it.
I shrugged it off and paid a professional to repair the granite prior to listing the house for sale.
The second event was after I moved into the home I live in now. It has an older kitchen, with a wall oven and microwave combination which is older but ok. A couple months after I moved in, I opened the oven and the glass inside the door had a large crack in it and a noticeable chip in the middle of it from a strike point. I had seen teens cross the property recently from the woods behind my lot, so I figured they might have come in the house when I was gone to work. It seemed possible, much more possible than me not noticing the oven damage during the house tour prior to buying the home. I specifically remember opening the oven to check it out back then, and could not have missed the crack.
It all has me a little spooked. I don't believe it is as likely that I have had intruders as I have been sleepwalking. After reading up on it, most sleepwalking occurs in childhood, and I certainly had it then as well as my siblings. It also has a genetic component, so that is true in our case. In adults, it usually coincides with sleep deprivation, stress, or some other sleep disorder.
My fear is that I am in danger. All three incidents indicate I went to the kitchen. Thankfully, I only have electric appliances, so that makes open fire a less likely event. However, I have a central stairwell that is right in the hall on the way to the kitchen from my bedroom. And, I have a pool behind the house not 12 feet from my bedroom door.
I'm going to find a reputable sleep clinic and see about having a study done.
Do you know of any sleepwalkers in your family or home? What did they do about it, if anything? I have even heard of people driving in their sleep.
As a rule, I eat less toast or English muffins in summer than in winter. It has been weeks since I can remember toasting anything. I'm always careful to remove any bread stored on top of the toaster before using it, and I've never turned it on with anything atop.
In a household, one would just assume someone else blundered, but I live alone. I stared at the bag and the toaster, and it seemed to click in place. I must be have been sleepwalking.
There have been two other incidents over the last two years that would suggest it, but were vague so had not occurred to me. The first was when I yet lived in Albuquerque, but right after I had a friend's son letting a room for a few months before getting a place together with another young friend. I took him in as a favor to his mom who had previously housed him before selling her house and leaving town with a new husband. At the time, I came to the kitchen a few weeks after he had left, and I found a chip missing from the granite countertop at the front of the sink surround.
I was devastated. I had the countertops replaced after I had bought the house a couple of years before. It was so nice, and I had tons of counter space there which I sorely miss in my new home. It really rankled me that the boy (32 years old) had damaged it without telling me. It seemed likely that he had struck it with a pan or utensil, but it was conjecture on my part. As it was butterfly granite, it also seemed possible that the installer had damaged it and that it had latently popped off. The chip should have been in the sink if that were the case, but I never found it.
I shrugged it off and paid a professional to repair the granite prior to listing the house for sale.
The second event was after I moved into the home I live in now. It has an older kitchen, with a wall oven and microwave combination which is older but ok. A couple months after I moved in, I opened the oven and the glass inside the door had a large crack in it and a noticeable chip in the middle of it from a strike point. I had seen teens cross the property recently from the woods behind my lot, so I figured they might have come in the house when I was gone to work. It seemed possible, much more possible than me not noticing the oven damage during the house tour prior to buying the home. I specifically remember opening the oven to check it out back then, and could not have missed the crack.
It all has me a little spooked. I don't believe it is as likely that I have had intruders as I have been sleepwalking. After reading up on it, most sleepwalking occurs in childhood, and I certainly had it then as well as my siblings. It also has a genetic component, so that is true in our case. In adults, it usually coincides with sleep deprivation, stress, or some other sleep disorder.
My fear is that I am in danger. All three incidents indicate I went to the kitchen. Thankfully, I only have electric appliances, so that makes open fire a less likely event. However, I have a central stairwell that is right in the hall on the way to the kitchen from my bedroom. And, I have a pool behind the house not 12 feet from my bedroom door.
I'm going to find a reputable sleep clinic and see about having a study done.
Do you know of any sleepwalkers in your family or home? What did they do about it, if anything? I have even heard of people driving in their sleep.

