Almost home

So tonight we go on a date (a term loosely used when parents take their two month old baby to Ikea) and pick the other kids up late from the sitter's, returning home at about 10. I was in a hurry to drop off a handful of stuff and open the door for the kids, when I noticed a cheerful older man sitting in my easy chair (kinda like Goldilocks, except not quite as cute) eating my freshly purchased, and delicious, I might add, Schwan's lemon frozen yogurt. I proceeded to ask him what he was doing, to which he succinctly replied "just eating ice cream". Stymied, I informed him that he was in the wrong house, but this didn't phase him, he just said "oh no, I'm just waiting for my wife". I asked him how he got in and he pointed to the patio door and told me I'd left it unlocked. At this point I decided to enlist the help of our public servants, and shut the door while I made the call. The 911 dispatcher almost had an officer on the way when the old gentleman sauntered out of the house, seeming a little concerned about who I was speaking with on the phone. Overhearing him chattering away with Chastidy, I overheard him mention he was Dale's step-father-in-law; Dale is our next door neighbor. I declined police assistance, at which point he started apologizing profusely about how this was the second time he'd been in the wrong house today (not in his life, today); apparently he cleans houses for a living and his boss already caught him in the wrong house earlier today. He also went on to explain his consternation that "the big screen TV was gone, and there was a piano there now". I can only imagine him sitting in my living room snacking on ice cream (we found a second cup, already consumed, in the sink), just wondering why the heck his daughter and son-in-law would sell the TV and buy a piano, all in one day. I'm also curious as to how many drugs one must have to consume in one's lifetime in order to be sitting under full size photos of someone else's grandkids, while you're eating their ice cream. However, all the excitement didn't seem to make him feel the need to leave the unfinished ice cream inside; he took it with him to the correct house, telling us he'd be by tomorrow to drop off the cup and spoon. Hopefully he manages to wash it first......