Ring ring, Hello?

I've had to tell my mother on several occasions that she has poor phone etiquette. Well, maybe not so much poor phone etiquette as strange phone skills. My dad, who is old, had a health scare a few years ago and ever since then I've been a little nervous about him. I've had to tell my mom that her phone behavior doesn't help. I've had several adrenaline rushes due to her. A few examples:

• At my old job my mom would occasionally call two or three times in a row. I'd panic and think this was her way of calling about an emergency. I couldn't answer my phone in the lab, so I'd wash out and leave the lab to call. When I'd call her back she would say she only called multiple times in a row to give me extra time to answer the phone.

• When she called me and I'd answer, she usually start by saying "Kate," in a very panicky voice. When I'd ask her what was wrong, she'd say, "Oh nothing, just calling to hear how you are doing." I finally got her to correct this and now she always answers in a cheery voice.

Before you think I'm some bad daughter who yells at her mom, she's also given me lectures about the phone. When I lived in Utah, I could only call past 6:30pm Utah time (8:30pm Ohio time) unless it was an emergency, because sometimes she liked to be in bed by 9pm and didn't want to be woken up. She has since moved that time to 9pm as she has a 9:30pm bedtime (she gets up for work at 4am).

Anyway, here is the most recent example that almost gave me a panic attack (which I've never had, but I could imagine this could induce one):

Last Saturday night I got home around 1am. I got ready for bed when I heard the phone ringing in the other room. I was brushing my teeth and figured it was my friend who just dropped me off saying I forgot something in the car. I finished getting ready and checked my phone. To my horror, the missed call was from my parent's house (remember how my parents are in bed by 9:30pm). As I dialed their number, I started panicking and thought about how fast I could drive to their house and if it would be safe to drive myself. My mom picked up the phone.
Me: "Mom, what's wrong?"
Mom: "Nothing."
Me: "Why did you call?"
Mom: "I was just wondering if you were coming to my Memorial Day party. It's going to be lots of fun. Everyone is coming."
Me: "Is this seriously what you called for? Why are you calling me at 1am?
Mom: "I couldn't sleep and thought you'd be up. You were awake weren't you?

Needless to say I was relieved but a little upset.