We Didn't Start The Fire It Was Always Burning

Shawn and I used to live in an older building with a fire alarm system that consisted of a single bell in the hallway of each floor. Our unit was at the end of the hallway so it was easy to sleep through the false alarms that seemed to happen monthly (our building was a bit sketchy - people were constantly trying to get into the building because there was unlimited floor access once you got in the front door.) Shawn would always wake up when the alarm went off and try to shake me awake. He swears that once when he was trying to wake me, I punched him in the arm and yelled, "I don't smell burning!" before rolling over and falling back asleep. I have no memory of this. 

Last night we were woken by a fire alarm. We've lived in our condo for over a year and hadn't experienced a fire alarm yet. We also hadn't figured out what the speaker in our bedroom ceiling was. There is one in the kitchen ceiling as well so we thought it had something to do with the front door intercom system. It turns out the speakers are the fire alarm and the alarm? Is freaking loud. It felt like someone was holding an air horn by my head. 

We bundled up, grabbed the pups and headed out into the rain. The highlight of the night came when I turned to Shawn and said, "I do smell burning!" and he just sighed and told me we were standing next to a group of people who were smoking. In my defense, it was half past three in the morning and I have a cold. That's my story and I'm sticking to it. 

After half an hour of standing in the rain, we were allowed back in the building. We got in the door and both pups immediately peed on the kitchen floor to voice their displeasure at being woken up so rudely. Shawn and I made a pot of tea to try to warm ourselves up and got back into bed. We finished the tea, turned out the light, and with perfect comic timing, the fire alarm went off again.  We debated getting dressed and heading back outside but Shawn vetoed that idea because he couldn't smell burning. How could I argue with his logic? Fortunately the alarm stopped within a few minutes.

You would think that the pups - after being awake from half past three until four in the morning, after having a pee at four in the morning, and after having a few biscuits to tide them over until a more respectable hour - would have slept in past six. You would be wrong. 

Today has not been a fun day and to top it off, it started snowing again this afternoon. I am shaking my fist at the universe right now.