Situation: High Alert

6:58AM: I was awakened early this morning by a 125 db burglar alarm siren. Scared the bajeebers out of me! The last thing I ever want to encounter is someone who has so little respect for me, my family or himself that he would invade our private space for his own gain, or worse.

The screeching siren told me I had to be prepare to take charge of a bad situation, a situation that had the potential of going wrong, on many levels.

Adrenalin pumping, heart pounding, I grabbed my nightstand ornament, as it were, and headed for the bedroom door. (Common sense tells me I should lock the door and wait for him to enter my space, but my wife isn't in the room with me! Where the hell is she???) I crouched down, opened the door slightly and waited. I feel the sweat beginning to flow.... Within seconds I hear someone running up the stairs from the lowest level. This means they broke in the family room door... I prepare for whatever is coming... This is not ever supposed to happen to the common Joe...

I catch sight of blonde hair, a woman, sailing up the stairs. Then, I see it's my wife! Is she being chased by someone? I make ready to do whatever needs to be done to defend her/us....

She runs to the alarm system keypad, mumbling some mild expletive along the way. She then punches in the safe code, and the 125db screeching stops.......

Just like that, the emergency was over, and we both started to return to normal heart-rates, elevated for two totally different reasons. Turned out she was leaving for her cat-rescue appointment, and completely forgot about the alarm system. She walked right out the back door, just like she owned the place. (It's only funny now:)

6:58AM: The phone rings. It's the alarm monitoring company, checking on our status. They asked for, and I provided the "secret word," which gave them all-clear. I tell them it was all an accident. (I am really impressed that the alarm trigger and the call from the monitoring service, all happened in a single minute's time!) It is also a first-hand testament that unless a police officer is spending the night, one will never be available to help us through an emergency, as it occurs. I have to take care of me and mine, and the police will help solve the crime. Like they say, when seconds count, help is only minutes away....

Anyway, the wife goes on her rescue mission. I replace the nightstand ornament, and attempt to catch a few more zzzzzs. Wishful thinking. I spent the rest of my time in bed reliving the event. A nap was in my future....... 

This evening as we were talking about the episode, we realized that even though we thought we had a plan in place, it was worthless in this particular situation. There needed to be plans B, C and maybe D. We have work to do, but make no mistake, I don't ever want to go through this again, particularly if it's the real deal.