Mischievous = Miranda

Main Entry: mis·chie·vous
Pronunciation: 'mis-ch&-v&s, 'mish-; ÷mis-'chE-vE-&s, mish-
Function: adjective
1 : HARMFUL, INJURIOUS
2 a : able or tending to cause annoyance, trouble, or minor injury b : irresponsibly playful
3 : MIRANDA BRYNER

Secured or Scared

With Miranda getting bigger and more mischievous by the day, we decided to hook up our security system that has been here since the house was built. Now every door or window opening causes a lovely "beep beep" sound. I really did think this would be a good thing but by the end of the hour it took for the guy to hook it up, I thought I'd go crazy if I heard that beep one more time. But it's really not too bad. So the first night, I set the alarm and went to bed feeling so secure. The next morning Ben got up and disarmed it and left for work. Well, I wanted to get some practice in, so I re-set it and went about my morning chores. I promptly forgot about it and when it was time to take Jill to Joy School, I was rushing around packing the diaper bag, getting Natalie loaded in her seat, tying Miranda's shoes, opening the door to the garage.... oops! Off went the alarm and boy was it loud! Miranda stood perfectly still and looked ready to cry and Jill just looked confused. I hurriedly typed in the security code and it stopped the extremely loud siren noise but the red light on the keypad was still blinking, so I picked up the phone to call the monitoring service and my phone had a really fast busy signal. Great. So I go to get my cell phone. Nowhere to be found. Again, Miranda is mischievous and loves my phone. So finally I try the phone again and get a dial tone and call the place. The lady is extremely nice and understanding, as I tell her this is my FIRST MORNING with the alarm and I just opened my door without thinking. I told her about the phone giving a busy signal and she said they use the phone line for a second to transmit the alarm signal to the company. She said I could just use my cell phone if this happens again. Yeah, that would be nice, wouldn't it? I told her my almost 2 year old has hidden it and she said, "You have had a rough morning, haven't you?" So now I am SO paranoid about the alarm. I know it's supposed to make me feel secure but I think it makes me feel scared because I might set off that loud noise again! Now Ben arms it at night and disarms it in the morning before he leaves for work. I really don't have to worry about it and am only reminded when I open the door and hear the "beep beep." Last night it was hot in the house and I thought about opening a window and Ben said, "Nope, the alarm is on." Ugh. I feel kind of trapped in my house now but at least no bad guys will be joining me soon!