Three Alarms

One I need to deactivate.
One I need to set.
One I need to ignore.

Deactivate

Our rental house has a security system. It isn't currently being monitored but that doesn't stop it from doing its thing.... making noise. For the first month we were able to just hit a button and it would stop. And then one day I guess I hit the wrong button and somehow activated the thing.

The next time we opened the front door it started going off and I had no idea how to turn it off. Every time we went out the garage door, same thing. It would go off for a good 20 minutes.

The first time it happened, I immediately ran to the bathroom to put on some makeup and put a bra on just in the case the fire department showed up. Luckily, they didn't.

It was pretty embarassing when you are sitting in a house with the alarm going off and you know the neighbors who are outside can hear it. It is so loud. So loud it wakes up sleeping babies:-)

We were getting ready to call the management company to see if they knew how to turn it off. How would they? But what else could we do? It wasn't battery operated, it was hard wired.

I remembered there was a stack of documents in one of the kitchen cabinets that had owners manuals and the home builder information. Luckily, someone had scribbled the code on the front of the manual for the security system. So now we can turn it off, we just have no idea how to deactivate it completely. But at least we aren't forced to listen to it.

Set

Unless you have been living under a rock, you have heard the age old adage "early to bed, early to rise  makes a (wo)man healthy, wealthy, and wise". This girl stays up too late and can't get out of bed before the kids do.

One of the things I have noticed that contributes to a better day is getting up before they do. Not just eyes awake before, but up showered, dressed with shoes before.

I tried waking up at 4:30 am with my husband and it worked for 1 day. That day was awesome. I accomplished more that day, than any other day I can remember. And most of it was done before the kids woke up. I wasn't able to repeat that performance.

I  haven't actually used an alarm clock (with the exception of having to wake up to travel) since having kids. Small children are my alarm clock and they have never let me sleep past 7:30.

If 4:30 is to early, and 7:30 is too late (although my body is fully accustomed to this time) I need to start utilizing an alarm clock if I am going to make this work. That also means I need to get to bed earlier, which I should do to help my husband sleep more.

Not to mention that school starts later this month and I need to get kids up and moving instead of letting them make their own schedule.

Ignore

For the last six years I have heard the same pager go off a couple nights a week. Then for a period of 2-3 months I didn't hear it a single night. Then we started fellowship and he was issued a new pager with a new sound.

The first night I heard it go off I thought it was the fire alarm and was starting to execute our evacuation plan, and then cursed myself for not having an evacuation plan. It was just the pager.

With a little coaxing I was able to convince my husband to change the "beep" to a sound I was more familiar with - and one that I had already learned to block out.


**Don't forget to check back this week for new additions to the Medical Monday's Blog Hop. I have already found several blogs to add to my reading list from other resident wives, nurses, and even a real life doctor. The link up is available all week so come back often!