Dayne and I finally drop into bed around 11 pm last night after a long evening of preparing our taxes - when you run your own business it gets that much more interesting. We're exhausted and as I lay down I notice some flashing light. Was that an electronic device or lightening? It continues - must be lightening. Then we hear the first rain drops fall and Dayne realizes he didn't cover up his prized grill. On go the lights and the robes and we run out to the backyard to cover the grill in the rain. Mission accomplished, we fall back into bed and try to fall asleep, the rain pounding on the roof. This is good because our lawn really needs water (we're trying to regrow some of it).We hear thunder approaching which I don't mind because who doesn't love a good Texas thunderstorm? A few gigantic cracks of thunder later and our power goes out. Just as I'm thinking that it's going to be a little warm without the fan on and hope that the food in the refrigerator doesn't spoil, the power comes back on. Phew. But the burglar alarm also comes on. The previous owners had it installed and we have never tried to mess with it. So it starts beeping harmlessly at us and we try to figure out how to stop it, when lo and behold we set off the actual alarm. An ear splitting siren starts reverberating through the house and I start mashing the control pad trying my darndest to shut it off while Dayne holds a pillow over the siren trying to muffle it, while we both wait for Leilani to wake up. After mashing the pad does nothing, I start ransacking the house for some Brinks alarm information that I know I saw once somewhere... An eternity later Dayne finds a phone number and I start calling. A few different numbers later I get a hold of Shalonda. Wonderful Shalonda. She sends me scrambling for some screwdrivers and puts me on the hunt for the Brinks power source which should be in one of our closets. It's one of those things you barely notice when you move in and never think about again. I find it in the master closet behind a shelf and start un-screwing, vehemently. Yanking out a black cord later, it mercifully stops. We drop everything and get back into bed at midnight. And now we're so worked up we just lie there.
Sweet Leilani, she never woke up and has no idea what happened.
