No Good Deed...
What a disaster!! Today has been especially hectic, I have been running all over, driving kids here and there, while trying to clean all of the bathrooms in the house-- not a pleasant event. Alex has been house/dog/cat sitting for a friend and I have been dropping him off twice a day to take care of the aforementioned responsibilities. Today, however, he got himself overbooked and I had to take care of the dog/cat/house. I dropped him off at a church meeting, loaded the younger kids up and off we went. All I had to do was, open the garage door, turn off the alarm, let the animals out, feed the animals, get them back in the house, set the alarm and leave. How hard could it be? I worked at the visitors center for almost two years, setting an alarm on a building with millions of dollars worth of equipment, without a single problem. Surely, I could easily do this.
If only it had gone the way I thought it would ....
I did manage to open the garage door. I went into the house typed in the alarm code ... the alarm was still armed. So, I typed the code in again... and again, then it started beeping faster and faster and I started pushing all sorts of buttons. Then, the dreaded sirens went off. The three younger kids all jumped out of the car and ran into the house, then out of the house, then seemed to cluster around my legs. By now, the dog and cat had run out of the house. I ran back to the Suburban to get the paper with the code and instructions and finally got the alarm turned off. Baylie was almost in tears, so I calmed her down and we went about the business of feeding the cat and dog, etc. Then I checked the caller ID and yep, you guessed it, the alarm company had called. So, I called them back, explained the situation and then the guy asked me for some secret code ( I knew it was coming ) which, of course, I didn't know. He just said " okay " and hung up. Kind of weird, but whatever. ( It is never that simple, you'll see ).
Then, as Mikenzie was getting the dog food into the bowl, a mouse jumped out from behind the shoe rack, ran across the floor, which had the girls squeeling. By the time it registered in my brain what was happening, the creepy little thing had scurried down the stairs. ( Of course, the cat was still outside.. where is a good cat when you need one? )
Finally, I got the mail in, found the cat and the dog, and told the kids I'd had enough and we were going home. We got all the shoes, coats and whatever else little girls bring, set the alarm successfully, went through the garage. While the kids were in the car, and I was in the process of closing the garage door, I saw the headlights. Just what I needed, one of Liberty's finest. Ahhhhh..... all this for a stinkin' buck or two!! And, of course, he parked right behind me, as if I am trying to evade questioning ( I am sure the Wyoming plates, dark sweat shirt, no makeup, toilet bowl cleaning smell and a pony tail didn't help much ).
So, of course he needs to ask me what I am doing there, my name, my address, my phone number, the friends phone number. I show him the paper with all the codes and info., trying to prove my innocence ( hoping in the back of my mind that my lame sister hasn't used my name to get herself out of some other trouble -- long story, I'll save that for another posting ). He wrote it all down, smiled and wished me a good night. He let me out and then followed me allllll the way home. I hate it when I cop is right behind you-- I am so stressed about not speeding, not doing a California roll through a stop sign... the stress of it all!!!
So, what can I say... I have really great friends.. I hope the alarm company doesn't zap them with some big fine, I hope the cat finds the mouse and leaves it somewhere we can find it, I hope they get home safe, but most of all I hope they can forgive me for being such an aweful dog/cat/house sitter. Why can a 15 year old can do a better job at this than I can? Well, I guess it should be no surprise.
I need some ice cream!!
What a disaster!! Today has been especially hectic, I have been running all over, driving kids here and there, while trying to clean all of the bathrooms in the house-- not a pleasant event. Alex has been house/dog/cat sitting for a friend and I have been dropping him off twice a day to take care of the aforementioned responsibilities. Today, however, he got himself overbooked and I had to take care of the dog/cat/house. I dropped him off at a church meeting, loaded the younger kids up and off we went. All I had to do was, open the garage door, turn off the alarm, let the animals out, feed the animals, get them back in the house, set the alarm and leave. How hard could it be? I worked at the visitors center for almost two years, setting an alarm on a building with millions of dollars worth of equipment, without a single problem. Surely, I could easily do this.
If only it had gone the way I thought it would ....
I did manage to open the garage door. I went into the house typed in the alarm code ... the alarm was still armed. So, I typed the code in again... and again, then it started beeping faster and faster and I started pushing all sorts of buttons. Then, the dreaded sirens went off. The three younger kids all jumped out of the car and ran into the house, then out of the house, then seemed to cluster around my legs. By now, the dog and cat had run out of the house. I ran back to the Suburban to get the paper with the code and instructions and finally got the alarm turned off. Baylie was almost in tears, so I calmed her down and we went about the business of feeding the cat and dog, etc. Then I checked the caller ID and yep, you guessed it, the alarm company had called. So, I called them back, explained the situation and then the guy asked me for some secret code ( I knew it was coming ) which, of course, I didn't know. He just said " okay " and hung up. Kind of weird, but whatever. ( It is never that simple, you'll see ).
Then, as Mikenzie was getting the dog food into the bowl, a mouse jumped out from behind the shoe rack, ran across the floor, which had the girls squeeling. By the time it registered in my brain what was happening, the creepy little thing had scurried down the stairs. ( Of course, the cat was still outside.. where is a good cat when you need one? )
Finally, I got the mail in, found the cat and the dog, and told the kids I'd had enough and we were going home. We got all the shoes, coats and whatever else little girls bring, set the alarm successfully, went through the garage. While the kids were in the car, and I was in the process of closing the garage door, I saw the headlights. Just what I needed, one of Liberty's finest. Ahhhhh..... all this for a stinkin' buck or two!! And, of course, he parked right behind me, as if I am trying to evade questioning ( I am sure the Wyoming plates, dark sweat shirt, no makeup, toilet bowl cleaning smell and a pony tail didn't help much ).
So, of course he needs to ask me what I am doing there, my name, my address, my phone number, the friends phone number. I show him the paper with all the codes and info., trying to prove my innocence ( hoping in the back of my mind that my lame sister hasn't used my name to get herself out of some other trouble -- long story, I'll save that for another posting ). He wrote it all down, smiled and wished me a good night. He let me out and then followed me allllll the way home. I hate it when I cop is right behind you-- I am so stressed about not speeding, not doing a California roll through a stop sign... the stress of it all!!!
So, what can I say... I have really great friends.. I hope the alarm company doesn't zap them with some big fine, I hope the cat finds the mouse and leaves it somewhere we can find it, I hope they get home safe, but most of all I hope they can forgive me for being such an aweful dog/cat/house sitter. Why can a 15 year old can do a better job at this than I can? Well, I guess it should be no surprise.
I need some ice cream!!
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