NDE

In case you don't know, that is a Near Death Experience. I didn't actually leave my body but it was a close call. Not really...well maybe...who knows. Let me get on with the story.

So this morning we (the boys and I) were awakened by some really loud beeping. This is what the boys looked like when all of the beeping was going on. The bunny in between them is a souvenir that the fire department gave us to remember their visit.

Back to the story, I was a little frustrated because I thought it was Kekoa's oxygen concentrator and we really tried to get rid of the crappy one when Makaio was taken off of oxygen. Anyway, I was tired and a little crabby because I was hoping to get a little more sleep before I got going for the day. After a couple of minutes I drug myself out of bed and much to my surprise it wasn't the concentrator at all but our carbon monoxide alarm.

I wasn't sure if the beeping meant that we needed new batteries or if it was detecting carbon monoxide. I climbed up on a chair and next to the flashing light it said "If beeping four times, call 911." Who did I call you ask, our landlord. I knew that nothing in the apartment was operated by gas so I thought that this might be a false alarm for sure. The landlord didn't answer and I kept thinking, "Carbon monoxide is the silent killer, all I need is for Sterling to come home to a dead family."

So I took matters into my own hands and called 911. The fire department was dispatched out and of course after I made the call our landlord returned my call and said that it was probably nothing and that I should just unplug the alarm, take it outside and let it air out. I was not okay with that answer so I was glad that I called 911.

Once the fire fighters arrived, the immediately started walking throughout my newly cleaned house, tracking snow and mud all over my newly mopped floors and vacuumed carpet. All of their contraptions were detecting carbon monoxide. They were trying to decide where it was coming from and as soon as they approached the garage, the CO detecting contraptions went CRAZY!

Evidently the levels by our garage were at 200 ppm which they informed me would have dropped me if I entered the garage. Luckily for me I was too chicken to go around the house investigating the source, finding it and leaving my children motherless.

Today I am grateful for carbon monoxide alarms in houses even though there is nothing that is gas operated. Today we are alive because someone invented an alarm and another someone installed it in our house!