What's with the Weather?

Ok, Crazy week!

Ice storm Monday night that kept us awake. Literally, at 3 in the morning it sounds like someone is right outside the window throwing rocks at it. Couldn't sleep till passed out at 5. No joke, SHEETS of ice on all roads and parking lots Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday. Mutuals canceled, work canceled, so I've been working from home since Tuesday! Now I know what you're thinking- Staci, you are pretty much a receptionist, what could you possibly be doing from home? Well let me tell ya, being me is no easy picnic!

I've had to call EVERYONE who's had appts, try and reschedule them, and deal with returning phone calls. Last night we got into the office from 3-6 and it was CRAMMMM PACKED full of people. They just started showing up saying that they were "DRIVING BY" and wanted to see if they could be "Squeezed in". Now if I was working for anyone else, I would be happy to say "No, sorry. And by the way... You HAPPENED to be driving in Zero degree whether braving the icy tundra to just drive around?? I don't think so. State your business and own up that you knew you were going to try to bully me into getting an appt." HOWEVER, because I work for my brother who can't turn anyone away (because he's so nice), I knew I had to play nice, lol. It really doesn't bother me that people show up randomly, it bothers me that they don't tell me the truth or call me to let me know there's something wrong, and then expect to get in right away! Anyway, I was polite and charming as always.

LAST NIGHT! (Being Thursday), I figured by the weather reports that it was going snow. Just didn't know when. Well, we were crawling into bed last night, exhausted, at 11:45. As soon as I started to get comfy, and Andrew starts reading scriptures, a FIRE ALARM starts going off! I sit straight up and look up at the alarm in our room. "What the heck is that?" (Me thinking that our stupid alarm just needs batteries, though it was REDICULOUSLY more loud than usual!) Andrew LEAPS out of bed, and runs and opens the door to the living room and runs back in. "You need to get dressed!" he says. "WHAT?!" I yell over the alarm, "GET DRESSED NOW! WE GOTTA GO!" So I am throwing on clothes. THANKFUL that we made it to walmart a few hours earlier and bought me some thermal clothes! I am throwing everything on, throwing on socks that are dirty and slipping into shoes. My first instinct, Fry and Behr. Andrew is still getting clothes on. I RUN to the Fry's (The second bathroom) Bathroom, throw open the top drawer and grab his harness. I RUN to Fry (Who is freaked out by the alarm and hiding.) Grab him, literally whip that harness on in about 5 seconds (He is pretty much letting me do this). I grab Andrew's keys and he is yelling something about my keys & I don't know where they are so I yell come on! I'll get new ones! Meanwhile, I am unlocking the door and poke my head out to see if there are any flames... there is literally NO ONE in the hall. I turn and yell for Andrew to grab Behr's cage. I drop his keys, he bends down to get them. I run to the stairwell, half way down to look below to see if there was any smoke. NOTHING. Andrew locks the door and FLIES past me downstairs. In a split second I hear voices upstairs. "HELLO!!! I yell "WHAT'S GOING ON!!!???" The guy calmly walks to the balcony overlooking the stairwells and says, " I don't know? Anything on your floor?"

Andrew says its all clear downstairs and sees our neighbors. Meanwhile, I RUN back inside. Put together Fry's kennel and literally SHOVE HIM inside! I leave Behr and him by the door and run downstairs. "WHAT THE HECK IS THAT!"

Apparently, the neighbors below us had a waterline BREAK. They had water flowing through their second bedroom closet and when they opened the front door is was coming out. WOAH! And apparently it blew through the outside wall, and started draining out their patio as well! And apparently one of their fire sprinkler heads popped off from the pressure and that is what set off the alarm!

Needless to say,

SCARIEST 10 minutes of my life. Felt like an eternity. We stay downstairs with them for a little while. BTW, it did not comfort me at all when the guy upstairs with two big dogs comes down holding his beer, obviously already drunk, and starts telling us stories about which liquor each of his dogs prefers. The two daughters that live in that second bedroom directly below us are clutching their Budlight cans and smoking at the same time. Saying things like "Yeah, it was so weird.... Just heard this sliding sound then looked out the patio and it was water coming out everywhere." And another neighbor upstairs who said, "Oh, we were just playing Xbox and was like 'What's that sound?'" And NO joke, 2/3 of the building did not even leave their apartment!

Really? These are the people I am surrounded by.

Andrew was the one who called 911 about the alarm going off. Andrew was the one flagging down the firetruck. And all these people who are still under assumption of a fire are hanging out in the bottom corridor. Really? You don't even want to step aside to the FIELD across the freaking street? Where were you people in 3rd grade for fire drills? Oh wait, that's right, there was no alcohol for us in the 3rd grade!

Needless to stay it scared us silly. We got back inside the apartment at 12:30. I start playing Donkey Kong to try and get my mind of things... and allow my adrenaline to burn off. Meanwhile we brainstorm about all the "preparedness" stuff we need to do to get ready for something like this. 72 hour kits, copies of important docs, escape plans, etc.

Andrew looked around when we first got back inside, seeing Fry in the kennel and Behr next to him. "WHEN did you have TIME to put the kennel together?" I smirked and said, "When you're adrenaline is running as fast as mine, everything suddenly becomes crystal clear on where things are."

Man, that really taught us a lesson.

In the words of Scar & the hyenas: "BE PREPARED!!!"

And by the way, looked outside at 12:50. And EVERYTHING was covered in snow. Yeah, in 20 minutes cars, grass, street, EVERYTHING covered!