Rude Awakening!

Oh my heck! Last night at 2:00 AM the fire alarm went off. This isn't your ordinary house smoke detector. This was a full blown, industrial strength, big building, LOUD type of alarm. I remember sitting up and knowing what it was, but couldn't believe that there could actually be a fire here. Scott and I threw some clothes on and shoes in case we had to go outside, and rushed to get the kids down all those steps. Daniel didn't want to wake up and said it was too early and to turn the loud noise down. At the bottom we met up with the rest of the faculty and their families and all the students. Dave, the resident director, was trying to get the alarm to shut off because there was no fire that anyone could find. It turns out that Mrs. Shepard turned her oven on to the hottest temperature to help warm her up. Oh boy.

About Mrs. Shepard. She's in her late 70's and is getting more senile all the time. She lived here before BYU bought the townhouses. She and her husband were the original directors here. England doesn't remove people from their homes easily and it's just easier and cheaper for BYU to wait it out. So she has a flat here on our side of the building. She's non LDS and smokes, smokes, SMOKES! Heather couldn't sleep the other night because of the smoke. She has an amazing life story though. She's originally from Hungry I think. As a girl she had to wear a badge saying she wasn't a Jew so the Nazi's would know. (She has dark features.) She joined the resistance against Stalin after the war and someone said against Hitler during the war. I have a huge interest in WWII and would love to talk with her. But because she isn't really all there, I don't think I will.

Anyway, last night was a traumatic experience. Laura didn't even know it was a fire alarm until we got downstairs. She thought she was getting up to go to breakfast and couldn't figure the alarm part out.  Daniel cried a little and has been talking about it all day. When I was just settling him down last night the alarm went off again!! This time it was much shorter. Dave went up and couldn't get Mrs. Shepard's door open, but managed somehow. She was on the floor having an asthma attack and couldn't unlock her door. Needless to say, today Dave's wife Terry was on the phone with Social Services a lot. The fact that there are children and students here and the fire alarm issue finally caught their attention. Lets hope we get a better night's sleep tonight!