Hoofprints: Most Exciting Night

Nice Picture, huh? Yes, well that picture would be from the scene of our house last night. Don't panic! Our house is still well intact and not even close to being burned down. It all started with a nice evening of working out with The Wiggles. About ten minutes into the DVD, I heard a strange noise. There was some really loud cracking/popping sound above our dining room that fizzled and cracked just like the scary sound of loose electrical wires. Every cat in the house looked up at the ceiling and started growling. The kids and I were also staring at the ceiling waiting to see what it was. About ten seconds later there was a horrendous smoky, electrical burning smell that penetrated every room in the house. The smell got to the point of burning my nose and I didn't stop to think another moment. I grabbed the kids and my handy little pay-by-minute cell phone and ran outside. No. My cell phone isn't that important to me. I did, however, need something to call the fire department on. And seeing as how our only other phone was lost in the mess of the house...well...you get the point. Lucky for us, we live about 2 minutes from our local volunteer based fire department. Let me just start by saying: God bless firefighters! And the same goes for EMT, police officers and any and all military. I have no greater respect than I do for these fine men and women that dedicate their lives to helping/saving others. (We have quite a few of these in the family.) So after the awesome firefighters showed up, they strung hoses through the house and had their axes ready for anything that they might find. So yeah. I see the axes and start thinking, "How cow! Axes?? What's about to happen to my house??" Then the fire chief showed up, followed by a sheriff. I told them what happened and pre-apologized if it was a false alarm. But I sure wasn't going to chance it. I started thinking, "Oh naturally. Josh is unemployed and now our house is going to burn down. Of course!" As twelve firefighters in full gear plowed through our house checking every single place they could to make sure we were safe, Alex and Abby were beyond excited. If anyone of you knows Abby personally, you would know that she is very unhappy around big, scary, new people. So naturally, you'd assume that twelve big men in fire gear would terrify her beyond comprehension. Wrongo! She was positively the sweetest most chatty little thing. She talked to the sheriff and firefighters and followed one of them willingly to sit in the firetruck. My theory is that Firefighters and the sort have a particular glow that children would just naturally trust. I mean, why not? These guys only want to help. And what kid doesn't think firefighters are interesting? So as this is happening, every neighbor in a two block radius was standing outside their house watching. A photographer joined the scene and I was starting to feel pretty stupid. They reassured me that a smell like that was exactly the kind of thing they are there for. Their exact words were, "You don't mess with fire. It's our job." They said that calls like this give them practice which is always a good thing. I joked with them and told them it was original plan to keep them on their toes. Two very excited kids, two neighbor visits, and one and a half hours later, we were in the clear. They never found the source, but said it might be an old wire that went bad or something along those lines. It's a bit unnerving to think that they didn't find the source, but they assured me that we were safe and to call if it ever happens again because it could be something that gets worse. (Great.) Josh wasn't here due to class so I had quite the story to tell him when he got home. Plus, I now have something to blog about. Bonus. I got a really big kick out of the fact that a KU fan was the main guy on the scene. I told him that Josh might kick him out, regardless of coming to our rescue, for that simple fact. He let me take a picture of him for proof that KU is superior. (I'm impartial. Not a sports fan.) So all in all everyone is fine, the cats are still cowering in hiding, and our house didn't burn to the ground. It was quite possibly the most exciting night ever.

Alex and Abby in the fire truck. They were overjoyed.