I'm just glad it didn't happen in the middle of the night while I was sleeping

Finally!  Silence. Blessed silence.

The boys have departed for the weekend.  Yippee!  They were supposed to go last weekend, but faked me out at the last minute and stayed home.  Things had come up on the other end, so they opted to wait until this weekend.

They were up and out early, which was fine by me as they were quiet and I didn't really hear them as they prepared to depart.  I was even able to sleep in a bit this morning as it is extremely overcast and gloomy today.  I think I need to invest in some heavy drapes, I am beginning to think the reason I haven't been able to sleep is that it is too bright in there - it's only taken me two and a half years to figure this out.

I decided to take my coffee and paper out on the back porch as I prefer to do as often as possible.  It was all very peaceful and serene.

Upon finishing the paper (am I the only one that actually reads the paper anymore?  I do get some of my news from the Internet, but I simply can't start the day without having a real live newspaper) I went inside to grab the computer and another cup of coffee.  And then I heard it.

Beep!

I listened.  And heard nothing.  I carried the computer to the back porch and went back in to get the coffee.  And there it was again.

Beep!

I listened.  And again, heard nothing.  I shrugged, picked up my cup and headed toward the door.

Beep!

Dammit! I put the coffee down and headed toward the stairs, because it sounded like it was coming from upstairs.  I stood at the bottom of the stairs and listened.

Beep!

I grabbed the phone and called Hubby to explain the situation.  He informed me that most likely a battery needed to be changed on one of the fire alarms and that I should just remove the battery and the noise would stop.  Fine.  I can do that.

Once upstairs it was brought to my attention again, that I am extremely short and would need assistance to get to the offending fire alarm.  So back downstairs in search of the ladder.  The six foot ladder.  Which is long, unwieldy and not easy to maneuver up the stairs.  But I did it because I am a "can do" kind of gal.

I set up the ladder under what I assumed was the guilty alarm and climbed up to remove the battery.  Yanking the battery out with a great sense of satisfaction, I climbed back down.  Halfway down, I heard it again.

Beep!

By now I'm getting just a little bit cranky.  I called Hubby back.  He informs me that I should remove the entire alarm from the ceiling.  Fine.  I climb back up the ladder and figure out how to remove the alarm.  Done.  I set it aside and prepare to head back downstairs.

Beep!

For the love of Mike!  I set out looking for the source.  Guess what I discover?  For this three bedroom house, we have no less than five alarms upstairs.  Five!  Talk about overkill, but I guess better safe than sorry.  So I drag the ladder over to the next one.  Remove the whole thing from the ceiling.  Surely, this is the one?

Beep!

Apparently, not.  I replace the one I just removed and move on to the next one to repeat the procedure.   And once again....

Beep!

After repeating this procedure with all the alarms but one (because I can't reach it even with the ladder) the damn Beeping! is still going off about every minute.

Fine.  I then proceed to remove every single one from the ceiling and set them aside.  And still....

Beep!

I drag the ladder to my room and prepare to do some dangerous acrobatic moves in an attempt to reach that final alarm.  And as I am almost about to climb onto the tippy-top of the ladder (with visions of me falling and breaking something valuable, like a hip, and laying there all weekend until the boys come home on Monday) I hear the Beep! again and realize, that there is no way the noise is coming from this particular alarm.  Breathing a sigh of relief that I won't have to writhe in pain on the floor all weekend with a broken hip while listening to the infernal Beeping! I climb back down.

I stand there listening and thinking.  The damn things are not connected to the wires anymore.  How can they still be Beeping!?  I patrol the entire upstairs to see if I've missed one.  I haven't.  Then I have a thought.  Sure it's a crazy thought but crazy enough that it just might work.

I gather all the alarms together and remove the batteries from the plastic casing and set them aside, far away from the alarms.  And listen.

Silence.

Success!  Apparently, even when the alarms are removed, if the batteries are still in place the damn thing still works!

So know you know, courtesy of me, you are welcome.

So considering I only have one alarm in place to keep me safe, here's hoping there isn't a fire this weekend.