Tired, weary, and bedraggled this mama drags herself to the blog tonight. I actually went to bed a bit earlier last night--usually a good sign that disaster is ready to strike!
Around 2am this morning, I shot out of bed to the sound of SEVEN screeching smoke detectors in our house. They *BEEPED* two or three times, then all was silent (including the children who slept soundly through the whole ordeal--ironically just a few hours after I watched a news clip sent by my mother-in-law regarding the alarming fact that children usually sleep through fire alarms). Standing in the middle of our room, the house now eerily silent, heart thumping, husband off in a foreign land (again Murphy's law strikes), I pondered what to do. Finally, I figure since the detectors are quiet and I don't smell smoke, I'll check the house. House checked out fine, so did the still sleeping children. Now what? I knew Ryan should be sleeping and I hated to wake him out of the precious little sleep he's been getting at the NCO Academy in Germany; but I figured my folks in Indiana, four hours behind us might still be up.
Well, no such luck, but Mom still answered pretty alertly anyway--thank the Lord for mothers! Mom and Dad suggested I still call the fire department. Sigh. I could just hear the, "Ma'am, you should evacuate the house immediately and wait for the fire department to arrive with sirens wailing through the night." Fortunately, though the dispatcher did want to know if I had seven 9-volt batteries on hand and if I was prepared to install them (HA!), he didn't require me to get the kids out of bed into the rain and wait for the neighbors to peek their head out the bedroom windows wondering which neighbor was foolish enough to burn a pot roast at that time of the night? Anyway, he decided it was probably a battery issue and to take care of it in the morning.
Morning came, I tested the alarm at breakfast and noted for the kids that they had slept through such an ear-ringing performance last night (wide-eyed, they kept eating). All seemed good there. I posted a note to our personal Fire Chief Coach--thanks Coach!:) For some reason in Lajes the phone number for the fire department (other than 911) is the best kept secret--must be national security or something--otherwise I could have called the guys this morning and straightened the whole thing out. No such luck. While waiting for Chief Coach to email back, I chatted with neighbors and friends who thought Maintenance might have the answer.
So, Maintenance was called on the scene. And of course, during nap time. Fortunately, once out, my kids seem to sleep like rocks (thank you, Daddy!!!:), so the noise of the maintenance worker didn't bother them. (However, check out my brother-in-law's October post, *chirp* for a hilarious clip on children vs. adults and the infamous smoke detector: http://mennodaddy.blogspot.com/2004/07/tests-that-started-it-all.html.) The very nice Portuguese gentleman seemed to convey that all was well with the detectors, but that maybe the wattage of the Island and the American-made detectors were not quite compatible and maybe that's what made them take a weird turn in the middle of the morning.
I'm beginning to wonder if I dreamed it all. Oh well, it's the stuff good posts are made from, right?
p.s. Chief Coach did get back to me and directed me to his guru on fire prevention, so I'll have to try that tomorrow. Maybe he'll have me feed a bit of egg to the silly things and they'll be happy from here on out????:)
