An exciting morning already...

6:35am

The Bear is eating breakfast (bagel with cream cheese & a banana). I had just turned on my coffee to get it brewing. I was getting my two insulated coffee containers down (each holds 2 cups in it).

[buzz-buzz][chime-chime]

These weren't subtle sounds. These were the sounds of an alarm going off. In my house!

"Holy shit! What the hell is that going off for?"

I ran to the security system keypad and turned the alarm off.

"Whew!"

The Bear was crying because he didn't know what the heck was going on. I grabbed him out of the highchair (where he'd been happily eating his bagel). I headed upstairs because the Princess was still asleep. I'm sure she wasn't sleeping anymore! I also wanted to check each room upstairs to determine if there was any kind of smoke or odor. Nothing. But I got both kids downstairs after I did my check.

I put the Bear back into his highchair. He protested because that alarm really freaked him out. But I made sure to scoot his highchair over right next to his sister so she could be a comfort to him. I made the Princess her breakfast. Then I went digging for the security system directions. I wanted to make sure I turned the alarm off correctly. Even though I'd turned the alarm sound off, I knew I had to cancel it (for those of you with systems, you know what I mean).

I finally headed to the bathroom and got myself together for the day. Washed my face. Brushed my teeth. Changed into some shorts and a tank top. Pulled my hair back into a ponytail. Waa-laa! All ready for the day.

"Hmmm...do I hear a fire truck? Uh-oh...."

[knock-knock-knock]

I run to the front door. I open it up. Standing there are three huge fire fighters.

"Ma'am? We were called because a fire alarm went off?"

"Uh. Yes. It did go off. Come on in."

They all shuffle in.

"We just got the system installed last week. I checked through the house and didn't find anything out of the ordinary."

"Well, we've got this device that'll detect any smoke. Even in the roof and walls."

"Oh. Great. Go on ahead."

It was a fourth guy who had the smoke detector. The other three firefighters came in and stood waiting. The Princess came to the front when they came in and ran back to her breakfast.

"Her preschool just had some firefighters visit last week."

"Oh that's great!"

As the Bear is actively checking them out.

"This is the first time my little guy has seen you guys up close. We wave whenever we drive by the firehouse."

"Well, we'll definitely wave back if we see you."

The fourth guy with the smoke detector finished up walking through the entire house. And found nothing.

"Since it's a new system it might be a wiring thing. But sometimes those things are triggered by dust. Were you just vacuuming?"

"Nope. Just feeding my boy his breakfast and starting my coffee."

"Well, if it triggers again we'll be out here. If it does happen again, then you should get your security people out here to check for faulty wiring."

"Thanks guys."

They leave. I call the security people. Why? Because they called at 6:44am and left a voicemail. A voicemail that said that they'd be calling the fire department. I talked to a customer service person. Told him what happened. He said what the fire fighter said.

"If it happens again, a tech should check out the wiring."

What's crazy about that statement? We didn't want that additional fire alarm put in. We already had fire alarms through the builder. But it was part of the package in the security sytem we'd selected.

7am

All quiet. The kids have finished their breakfast. They're watching "The Incredibles."

Me? I'm finally fixing my coffee. Just poured the coffee into the containers and stirred the sugar into it.

What an exciting morning already!