New mosaic materials!
Thanks, Jake.
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A New Perch
When she sits still, she's no trouble at all.
Hmmm, seems I typed too soon. In the 3 minutes since I started this post she started gnawing on the painted wooden bench in the picture and now there are several scratches in the paint.
Fence A Pet is coming on Friday, even if our tax refund is not.
Sure, it's funny now...
But Wednesday night when I was setting up the "guest room" for the a visit from the Slyers and I smelled an ever stronger odor of gas in the upstairs hallway, funny wasn't the first word that came to mind.
I'll insert right here that everything and everyone is fine.
Now back to the gas odor.
It was around 7:30 and the kids and BGD were watching a recorded episode of American Idol. I was going up and down from the attic, gathering pillows and blankets for our New York friends who were due to arrive at 9pm. Every time I came back into the hallway, I noticed an odor of gas. We have gas heat and a gas stove and a gas hot water heater here at this house. In our last 2 houses we've also had gas heat and a gas hot water heater but never a gas stove. This will be an important detail in a paragraph or two.
Anyway, I started to get a bit worried so I convinced BGD to leave the comfort of his leather chair and take a sniff. He agreed: definite gas odor. After deliberating for a few minutes, we decided a call to the gas company was in order.
I got through right away, no voice mail hell when you have a gas leak or odor of gas--which is nice. After taking the information (including that we could smell gas at the top and bottom of the stairs and in the kitchen), the woman told me she had to read me the 'Evacuation Notice'. If your heart rate isn't elevated when you first call about your gas odor, after they read you the notice it surely will be. Basically they tell you to gather all humans and pets and get out. Don't turn on or off anything (including lights), don't open any windows, don't even hang up your cordless phone just lay it down. And flee! She did preface her reading with 'not all of this may apply to you but I have to read it because you can smell gas in more than one place in your home'. Comforting. So I hung up and we fled.
Ah yes, the fleeing.
First I told Rob/Bob. The gas company is on their way (in how long? she said immediately. how long is immediately?) and we have to get out. The kids were still watching American Idol and were quite comfy on the couch. Ebby panicked first. The boys were pretty chill. Finally I said, "We are having an EMERGENCY, we have to EVACUATE!". They got up. They put on their coats and were all like, yeah, we totally smell gas. Big time. Can I get a Kit Kat to take with me? What about my Ring Pop? And yes, I let them get candy. We got the dogs without a problem but Brady the cat was a challenge. Ebby ran up to her room and carried him downstairs but he saw Maisy and freaked. He jumped out of her arms and disappeared. We got everyone else out (including BGD who grabbed his Mac Air laptop and me who grabbed my pocketbook and the gas bill). Ebby was flipping out about Brady--so we sent Daddy back in to get him. Daddy emerged no more than a minute or two later, with both Brady and the news that the gas odor was getting stronger.
It was decided that we would just get in our cars and drive the to bottom of the driveway to wait for the gas company. I had the boys and Brady in the van, BGD had the dogs and Ebby in his car. Through the driving snow we ventured to the road in front of the house. Finally, the long driveway played to our advantage: we were a safe distance away from the house but could still see if it was to say, explode in a giant fireball...Which again, not funny, but felt like an all too real possibility given the circumstances. After about 10 minutes we were trying to decide whether to call the fire department. The boys were searching the car for Brady and Ebby was trying to check her email on Daddy's phone. A few minutes later the gas company technician pulled up. He told us to hold off on calling the fire department until he found out what was going on.
Wise man.
BGD was in and out of the car, looking up the driveway, through the trees, giving us updates.
The screen door is propped open.
He's in the truck.
He's walking around inside.
No giant fireball.
After about 10 or 15 minutes of the technician arriving (and no explosion), BGD ventured up the driveway to find out what was going on.
Then he came back with the news.
I could tell from the expression on his face that all was going to be fine.
It wasn't so much a look of relief as it was amusement.
The source of the gas odor?
The gas stove.
Specifically, the front 'power boost' burner. Yep, the one I had used to keep a pot of pasta and meatballs warm at dinner. Seems I had turned it on 'low' and never turned it off.
In my defense, there was no flame with the burner on low. That doesn't seem right, now does it?? True, I didn't think to check the burners to see if they were off--but neither did the other adult in the house ('I wasn't using the stove').
The gas man was very nice. And understanding. It's quite possible he's seen dopey homeowners before. But he didn't show it. He checked the whole house, the attic and our outside meter, just to make sure there wasn't an actual leak or other problem. He said that the odor was quite strong but actual amount of gas in the house didn't even register on his meter.
So, about an hour after our adventure began, it ended.
All of us (including the animals) were back in the house, safe and sound.
And thankful.
I think we all learned something from this little episode.
First of all, natural gas rises which is why I could smell the odor in the upstairs hallway.
Second, when I was in the car and we were waiting for the gas company to arrive, the only thing I wished I'd grabbed was my laptop (for the 25,000 pictures I have on it). Ok, and my camera. I really did have the thought that the rest of it doesn't matter because my family is all here. Ok, and the pets.
Third, the next time I smell gas, check the stove.
Ginger Betty's, Again
Today we made our second visit to our favorite local gingerbread bakery, Ginger Betty's!
Today Will made the trip, as well as Ebby's bff from preschool, Danielle.
Will kept telling us (over and over and over) that he doesn't like gingerbread and that the place was "too pink!" He ended up selecting several pieces of candy for his treat. Cuyler also picked out a few pieces of candy, along with a basketball gingerbread cookie. Ebby got the g-i-a-n-t half moon topped with a sugar cookie.
Danielle picked out a lovely purple accented gingerbread girl whom she named Lola.
Here's to vacation week sugar overload...
Impossible!
It's school vacation week and you know what that means....everyone is sick!
In various stages of illness, of course. Will is recovering, Cuyler is just starting and Ebby is deciding whether or not to get sick but is hopefully just tired.
Regardless of anyone's health, we headed out today for a few adventures.
One stop found us at the playground.
This is Cuyler talking into one of the playground underground microphone things.
Me: I love you!
Cuyler: I love you more than you love me!
Me: Impossible!
Cuyler: It's true!
Then we both made kissy noises into the mouthpieces for about 2 minutes straight--while simultaneously laughing.
Wonder how long he'll keep doing stuff like this with me. I'd better enjoy it while I can : )
Ebby says Hi
Ebby started taking a Babysitting class after school.
They were supposed to start 2 weeks ago. Then we had 2 Wednesday snow days.
She's back on track now.
She's already decided that she will be working as a babysitter while she goes to college. She's already figured out that she can make more $ babysitting than say, working at Burger King.
I guess the question is, by the time she graduates from college, will the economy have recovered enough that she will be able to get a job other than a babysitter?
And nanny doesn't count.
Do Your Kids Have Excess Energy?
After being home all day due to a snow day (yesterday), our boys sure did.
What did we do?
Sent them to the basement to run on the treadmill!
To burn up even more energy, make sure the incline is set to at least 15%--then let the workout begin!
{For your reference, Cuyler's wearing blue. Of course, so is Will}
Keep your Ears up...
New post(s) coming soon!
Not sure that you could actually hear a new post, but it goes with the picture of Wee Beastie ; )
