Alarm Force Fails Us Again

I slept soundly until about 4am. From that point on, I woke three or four times to check the time. I didn’t get up for good until almost 610am. No one else needed to be up so I wasn’t too concerned about over sleeping. I was a little stiff after two full days of skiing but otherwise fine. Finding the motivation for calisthenics was difficult but had to be done. Did sit-ups, windmills, and push-ups over the next 10 minutes.

Enjoyed coffee, work, and internet for the next couple of hours before finally setting it aside for a stretch and a run near 8am. It was cold but also sunny – only 18 degrees. But it was supposed to reach close to 50 by afternoon. Ran the full 4.1 miles. Not a lot of people. Most I’d imagine had the holiday off.

Mindy was up and milling about the kitchen when I returned. I asked if she would make my eggs while I got a shower. That would save me several minutes. She kindly agreed. Opted to wear short sleeves – a polo shirt for the first time in a while. Mindy thought I was crazy, but I reminded her that it was expected warm-up by t the afternoon.

She and the kids didn’t have a lot planned. Mindy thought she’d spend most of the day on laundry and organizing for our trip. Said she’d be going to the grocery too. I left for the office around 945am arriving about 10am. I walked the quiet halls and learned that I was one of only a few actually in the office.

Had a very busy day. Not only were there plenty of things on my to-do list, but a handful of unexpected items too. I didn’t take a formal lunch break but did spend a little time doing some writing while snacking on packed food (Nuts and cheese).

Must’ve been about 3pm when I got a call from Alarm Force. You guessed it, another sensor alarm. Wanted to know if they should dispatch. I was not happy and let the girl know it. She promised to have a service tech call me back. Said she showed no record of issues the prior week. That didn’t set well with me at all. I called Mindy to see if she might be home but given the alarm, I expected her to be away. She was at the grocery and set the alarm as expected. Said Jacob was playing with friends down the street and had the iPhone. I tried calling him 3 times but he never answered.

I called Mindy back a couple times too. I was somewhat worried that our house had been violated but also realistic. Most likely another false alarm. Only one sensor went off again. Mindy promised to call me once she was home from the grocery .Until then, I couldn’t exactly call Alarm Force back and hound them about another bogus alarm.

She called me around 430-455pm to share that the house was secure. I decided I wasn’t going to call Alarm Force until later. Didn’t have the energy. Left the office for home near 5pm. Called Mindy once I was safely on the road. Said she was busy making dinner and that my dad would be joining us. Arrived home just ahead of 530pm.
Dad wasn’t there yet. I asked Mindy how much time before dinner. When she replied plenty, I moved forward with prepping her skis for travel. Dad got there just as I laid her skis out across the kitchen table on an old bath towel. I have the drill down pat. I got out the Fantastik, Pledge and a couple old diapers. I used the rubber stone Bob I. gifted me some years ago to de-burr her edges. Actually though, they were still in excellent shape. I then cleaned them thoroughly with Fantastik and water. Once dry, I coated the top with pledge. Like new. Took no more than 8 minutes start to finish.

Dinner was ready by 555pm. By then I had everything put away and the table ready for dinner. Mindy made chili and had it simmering all day long in the crock-pot. She also whipped up a garden salad and fresh corn muffins. Everything was delicious. Dad shared that he’s been on a losing streak at the casino. Said he hasn’t been going all that much of late. Asked how mom’s doing. I think he was a little surprised to hear that she’s pregnant, at least that’s what I was told. Hmmm? Does seem a bit odd.

I managed clean-up while Mindy prepped for dessert – sugar cookies and pineapple. Jacob soon bolted for his room. Bella went for her homework folder. Still not sure how all this came about but know that Mindy found a homework assignment sheet of Bella’s where Mindy’s initials had been forged about 15 times. Yikes! We opted to wait until dad left to attempt to get to the bottom of the caper. Speaking of dad, he departed near 715pm after wishing us a safe and happy ski trip.

Once dad departed, I headed upstairs to change into my PJs. I brushed my teeth while upstairs, too. Downstairs, we quizzed Bella about the forged initials. Apparently this was a volunteer assignment sheet related to the schools walkathon, which we opted not to sponsor. The sheet contained all kids of brief exercises for the kids to do and then have their parent initial. Bella did none of them and said she was afraid she’d be in trouble so she forged Mindy’s initials. It hit me right then that only last week she asked me how Mindy writes her initials. Oh boy!

To this day, we’re still not sure if these were official assignments or simply voluntary. Still, it didn’t change the gravity of the situation for us. Bella still was cheating and deceitful. There had to be consequences. However, we didn’t want to over react, either. She knew that the hammer would fall, but not until we fully understood what happened. At a minimum I insisted that she tell her teacher. If not, we would. Once she calmed down we had her do several of the assignments, which were all in good fun.

She had to measure 5 items around the house to the nearest ½ inch. She had to do an exercise and count off in units of “7” (7-14-21- etc.). We let her know how disappointed we were with the mistake but happy she was proactively working to right a wrong.

Mindy and Bella did some reading next. While they read, I watched a program about the recent asteroids on the Science Channel. I eventually took to the floor with a pillow and fell asleep. I woke around 905pm about the same time that Mindy & Bella headed up for bed. With my second wind, I opted to stay up a while longer watching a little more Science Channel. Headed up to bed around 10pm. I didn’t bother setting the security system.