Just Another Day, Chez Nous

Right now, we're in California, having moved Mom to assisted living recently. We're now preparing her house to be sold. For the last two weeks, I've spent most of my time at her house, first with my sister and then with Terry.

I'm not used to living in such a large space. Her house is about twice the size of our house in Manhattan Beach and it is about three times the size of our apartment in Paris. We've gotten used to living in smaller spaces.

Mom's house is also a bit isolated. Both Manhattan Beach and Paris are densely populated cities and there's a weird comfort in being able to see your neighbors. (Notice that I didn't say "hear" your neighbors or "smell (like cigarettes)" your neighbors, as these two things take a lot of getting used to in Paris).

Feeling vulnerable in our new surroundings, we figured out how to use the alarm system and started to use it. We're used to using alarms, but in our new surroundings, we were constantly having to look up the pass code and paste post-it notes on doors when the alarm was set so that we wouldn't have a "false alarm".

Last Friday, we were working at a fast pace, trying to pack and organize the house before the estate sale. We both forgot to turn off the alarm in the morning, despite multiple reminders to each other.

The newspaper has been stopped and it wasn't trash day, so there was no need to go outside. I was tinkering around upstairs when I heard a hellish siren -- Terry had opened a window. We both started running, literally in circles, trying to figure out where the keypads are located. Then, I needed to find my day planner to get the codes. The alarm was screaming, we were screaming...

I found the book turned off the alarm, but now we needed to call the alarm company. We couldn't find the phone number. Pulses elevated, we raced around some more, luckily no police. I tried to call the alarm company and got distracted. Minutes later, Terry asked me to call something else and now the cell phone was AWOL. In a house where everything has been mved, and no surface is empty, finding a cell phone in a black case isn't easy.

Then we remembered we could call the phone. We did, it rang and the familiar black case was located.