4 Nights Ago While I was in my Bed
Posted By AmyD. on September 3, 2007
In the wee hours of last Friday morning the entire house was awakened by the most horrifying and panic inducing sound EVER.
Our smoke alarms went off.
Not one… but several.
Leaping out of bed I immediately went to Ethan and Kate’s rooms and told them to get out of bed… not that it was necessary as they were already stumbling into the hall.
Maggie, clearly in “ignorance is bliss” land, yelled (from my bed) “TURN that OFF, I’m SLEEPIN’!”
Mike, in his underwear, jumped out of bed, probably envisioning himself in a scene from “Red Dawn” where he and Patrick Swayze were mowing down Russian invaders. He ran out into the hall and stared at the smoke detector.
There was no smoke. No fire. Nothing. We checked the closets (although what flammable item would be in there, I have no clue), the kitchen, garage, bathrooms, bedrooms, laundry room…
Actually, I checked the laundry room. And, while in there Mike said, “Get a broom and check the attic!”
A broom? To check the attic?
Oh, what was this some lovely veiled joke about me being a witch?
No, he wanted me to poke the attic door to open it.
Half asleep and starting to wonder if I should get the kids out of the house, I grabbed my trusty swiffer (who has a broom these days?) and standing directly underneath the attic door, I poked… hard. There was a slight crack (we rarely, if almost never open the attic door) and something fell into my EYE!!!!
I let the door drop and began stumbling around half blinded.
This is when it occurred to me that if the house really were on fire, I would be playing the part of the idiot in the “what NOT to do if your house is on fire” part of the instructional video.
Kate and Maggie were sitting on my bed half asleep, Ethan was no where to be found, and Mike was roaming the house ala Red Dawn.
Kate and I stepped out on to the deck where I had a fleeting thought about this not being a good place to be if the house were on fire… you know, standing on a wood deck and all. The sky was early morning purple with large puffy clouds, some tinged in pink signaling the arrival of sunrise. I glanced down and Ethan was standing in the backyard scanning the rooftop.The idea of being a human marshmallow tickled me for a split second until I became aware of an overwhelming, stifling heat. The air was so thick I could barely breathe. I looked across our roof and saw… nothing. Absolutely nothing.
That heat? The heatwave California is currently enduring combined with a nasty sort of humidity causing the air to be uncomfortably thick in the pre-dawn hours before the sun has a chance to burn it off.
The smoke alarms stopped on their own and everyone went back to bed.
20 minutes later… it happened again. Cue same scene, Mike leaping out of bed, kids meandering aimlessly and I was seriously starting to wonder what I needed to get out of the house.
Even the cat was running up and down the hall in complete confusion.
And, then, they stopped.
I’m changing the batteries today. Yeah, yeah, a month a head of time… but still.
And, through it all, wondering what to take out of the house, doing head counts, etc. etc. Sophie, ran laps in her cage while pausing to beg for treats.
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You didn’t figure out what caused it? That’s not good.
The batteries were croaking. They go off when the batteries get too low.
Ah. I thought maybe the humidity was so bad there that it was causing smoke-like symptoms.
:pissed: That would have made me very upset for a little while.
This is for you. :martini:
Waking up like that always make me feel sick… At least it wasn’t fire, that would suck BIG time.
~Captain Obvious was here~
OK, am I the ONLY one who thought I might get a reprieve because it’s a fucking HOLIDAY??
Bastards.
Holy Cow! Glad it was just batteries. I was thinking forest fire, smoke from the area…
Avi That’s what Mike thought too. I kept saying, it’s the batteries! It’s the batteries! He finally changed them out that afternoon and they were half dead.
HA! I love being right.
DeeJay Oh boy was I! And, thank you, very much. :martini: Cheers!
Geek Captain, we salute you! Keep up the good work. :cheesy:
Miss B I thought that no one would see this post because they would all be off barbecuing or whatever people do on Labor Day. But, I was wrong!! It’s the first time, I don’t plan to make a habit of it.
Trish That’s what Mike was thinking as well… that and the humidity. The things that fire has done to our weather around here. Gah!!
Ours went off once when a spider walked across the sensor. No kidding. I killed the bastard.
Your house is haunted. You’ll get used to it – I did – LOL
On the off chance that you have a killer ghost, I promise to write you a nice blogituary, just like you promised me.
(snicker)
Glad everyone is OK. I know you’re looking forward to autumn as much as I am.