Follow up

Sorry, so many things happened to distract me from the end of the story.

.... So, the firemen came and said we had carbon monoxide in the house. I had to call the gas company and a guy came out with his magic wand and looked for the source. Fortunately, it was not a gas leak, just improperly burning appliances which were putting off the high levels of carbon monoxide. He said there was an issue with the water heater and with the stove- mostly the stove (but just while it was on, not while it wasn't in use). He put red tags on them, and shut off the gas to them. So I was hot waterless and stoveless till someone came to fix them. Eeep!

I had a little trouble getting a call back from the management company. (Which really means that I wanted to hear from them at 8am sharp and they didn't call till 10:30, by which time I was gone.) I also went ahead and went to the doctor. Both the firemen and gas company guy said I should get checked out. Apparently, I didn't really need to. Thankfully, I was able to drop the girls off at Playgroup and go alone to see the doc. He said that if I was walking, talking and functioning normally, then I was fine and any residual carbon monoxide would leave my body on its own eventually. He could have done a blood test to see what the levels were, but there really was no point, since they would not do anything, and as long as the source was stopped, there was no problem. Plus, they'd need arterial blood for it. So I didn't get poked, I went to the last 30 minutes of Playgroup!

I did have to wait at home all afternoon and the water heater guy came and cleaned it out and labled it functional. The stove guy came and chatted with me as he cleaned it out. It had gunk clogging the holes where the gas comes out and that had been causing it to burn improperly. So he cleaned out all those tiny holes and the stove actually works properly for the first time since we got here! Even better, it cooks stuff faster than it use to! Yay. So, by 4pm, all was well with the house. The alarms have not gone off again, and I had the stove on for an hour last night (I had to finish the last of my 10 Shepherd's Pies!).

Oh, and I have my eye exam resheduled for the monstrously inconvenient time of 1pm today.

So, life is back to normal and Everyone's getting a carbon monoxide detector for Christmas!!!

And now I have to mention this.... Andy actually got me a Mononxide detector for Christmas a few years ago because I was worried about the car in the garage killing us on accident. So, we moved in with one to this house. After we'd shut off all the other ones on Tuesday, I was still hearing a beep beep. It took me a while, but I tracked it down- in the middle of one of the boxes in the basement that I had never gotten around to unpacking! The darn thing worked all the way in there!

In Case of Emergency...

Guess who came to our house today?!

No fair, you cheated. Okay, I guess I did post the picture so you have every right to peek ahead. And now that I've told you the middle of the story, why don't I start at the start!



I think I mentioned my 30 potatoes, in the last post.... well, I was cooking the meat and whatnot to put together my 10 Shepherd's Pies. I spent a lot of time in the kitchen with 10 lbs of meat, browning on the stove. Add 10 zucchini and 10 carrots, and a plethera of other delights and I was slaving away in there. I was nearly done when the alarm began to beep- very loudly. Then it said, "Caution, Carbon Monoxide." I ignored it.



Hey, don't blame me! We moved the smoke detector out of the kitchen because every time I turned on the stove, it went off. So, I didn't pay attention to it. Then the upstairs one went off as well. 2 CO2 Detectors, both beeping quite loudly and announcing the presence of Carbon Monoxide got me a bit worried. I turnd off my stove, and called the police department, because that's the only number I could find. 10 minutes later, with sirens screaming, the fire truck pulled up in front of the house. How exciting!

There's the house and the lit up truck. 4 Burly firemen came in and walked around with their gieger counter. Right, it was counting gas, not giegers. Aparently zero is where you should be at, over 10 and they want you out, and we were at 40 in the kitchen. Very bad. So the girls went accross the street to play with the nieghbor kids and I called the property management company. 5 calls later, I finally talked to who I needed to and they said someone from the gas company would be out soon to see where the leak might be coming from.

The problem with all this (other than the possibility of very bad things, like death) is that I had a 4:30 eye apointment. Dan was going to meet me at the eye place at 4:15, and it was currently 3:45. Aargh. No way to reach Dan, so I cancelled the appointment and crossed my fingers that Dan would get home okay. The Gas company guy came just before 5pm and Dan came home 10 minutes later.

Fabulous ME!

I must first mention that you need to go visit the Normal Mormon Husband blog. I have a link on this blog so I can get there immediately. He is so funny and if you have not visited his blog, you really need to. If you have not visited his blog and read his Twilight Spoof (he wrote it right before the last book came out, so search accordingly), you REALLY need to!

Now, on to me. Some of you may know that I am part of a "Make Ahead Meals" group. That means that once, every 2-3 weeks, I make 10 meals. The same 10 meals. Then I meet with my friends and we trade our meals so we each go home with 10 different meals. Its fabulous. It would be easier if I could get into the freezer in the garage, but Dan likes to park his car in there and that effectively keeps me out of the freezer, unless I have planned ahead. This time, I am making a Shepherd's Pie. And today, I peeled and cubed 30 potatoes. Yes I did. 10 of those potatoes were sweet potatoes. See, its going to be ahealthy Shepherd's Pie! My wrist hurts, and the dirt from the taters is hitting my allergies. Scuse me, I need a Kleenex!

I am going to abruptly change the topic. I have a sewing machine. I like to sew. My talents however, are very limited. I can sew a straight line. I can follow very simple directions. I can make a great quilt. I cannot sew or alter clothing, which would be a helful thing to be able to do. Even with my severe limitations, I managed to do some pretty spiffy things!

It has gotten cold here. I hear that's what happens as winter approaches. Still, it was getting a bit chilly for me to be comfortable taking the girls out in the stroller for a run. The problem is that I need to run. I eat too much junk not to. So I decided to make a stroller blanket to keep their tootsies warm.

I know, it came out pretty cute! I got some fleece at Walmart and attached some velcro and straps to it and a wee bit of elastic down the front, and viola! It works really well at keeping the baby dolls from falling out too. There is no problem of blanket dragging on the ground or getting run over by the wheels, and the girls don't get so cold. I thought I was pretty cool.

When the temp dropped below 30 in the morning, I didn't think this was warm enough. I actually took a week of from running with the stroller. (Thank goodness for the elliptical machine!) Then I had another thought. I could make a plastic cover- like the rain covers. This would keep the warmth in, and keep the wind out, and the girls could still see out. So I went back to walmart and got some plastic, and I got to work.

This is my almost-finished product. I know, I am darn impressed to. You would be a little less impressed if you saw the stitches. I can't figure out why the tension is off, but it is, and the stitches are pretty awful on one side. I don't care, its for my stroller! Let me mention also how much I love this stroller. I got it about 4 years ago and I still love it and use it all the time. Its what we take on our trips and I've used it enough that the tires are nearly bald. I LOVE the swivel wheen in front. It does lock also, and I lock it to run. But the swivel makes it easy to get through doors, and on and off the Metro. I love it! And now back to my lovely stroller cover...

Here is the side view. I still need to trim and add an attaching thing to the bottom there, but I think it is pretty good. I didn't need it this morning, so I haven't tried it out yet, but I will.... oh yes, I will!

Hanging Out in DC

One of the lovely things about living here is the innumerable opportunities to see cool stuff. Friday we decided to get out and see something. Both Dan and I wanted to see Arlington, so we all went. I wasn't about to let him take Joshua and leave me behind!

The children were not impressed with Arlinton National Cemetery. They did think this statue was pretty cool, although I can't even remember who it was for.

And here is Marian crying that she doesn't want to walk. Yeah, she did that for a while- wailing and howling and refusing to walk. The kid is 5, for goodness sake!!

This was the part I really wanted to see- the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. We got there in time to see the changing of the guard, which I thought was really cool.

This is how Joshua felt about it. Sigh.

They were quite a bit more impressed with this memorial for a ship. I do not know what made it so fascinating for them. And Joshua is trying out his new pose. You can't tell, but his cap is sitting off to the side. I guess he thinks he gone gangsta.

We finally got everyone back to the van- with all that walking, there was a lot of complaing and drama. We had lunch in the car and decided to go see the 9-11 Memorial, since it was just a short drive away.

Sorry, I guess its called the Pentagon Memorial. Dan had to explain the concept of the memorial for me. Its a little complicated. On the diagonal are years, and along each diagonal line are the things that represent the people born that year who died on 9-11 at the Pentagon.

I do not know why they look like benches, but they do. The ones pointing to the Pentagon represent the people on the plane. The ones facing away are for people who were killed in the Pentagon. Each bench thing has a name on it, and there is running water beneath them.

The kids had a really hard time not scuffing gravel into the water. Callie got grumpy because she got into trouble. Anyway, once I got the vision of the memorial, I liked it better. It also made it more personal and more sad for me. It was good for us to see it, although I don't think the kids got it at all.

And here is the Air Force Memorial. I didn't feel the need to get up close and park and get kids out, if it was the same thing up close. I can see it fine from here. I think it is pretty cool.

So, that is what we did on Friday to work off that Thanksgiving pie!

Thanksgiving Festivities

We had a great Thanksgiving! I was a little worried, since I was not familiar with Dan's cousin, and I had been hearing such horror stories from some of my friends about their relatives. I should have known better. Dan's family is fantastic, and his cousin was as wonderful as the rest that I've met. So, yes, we drove out to see Dan's cousin E and her husband for the great Turkey Feast.

Here they are, although I don't think E is really excited to have her picture taken. She put on a FANTASTIC spread!

Check this out... real, facny dishes and everything! I was impressed. Someday we might actually have fancy dishes, but for now, I just basked in the delight of someone else's beautiful stuff. There was a very tasty Turkey and all the trimmings. She did something wonderful with the butternut squash. It was all quite yummy. I brought pie and that also was very good. It was a really nice day. I felt bad that E did all the work and all the clean up and I just showed up and ate. She was amazing and did a marvelous job on dinner. I like her a lot. Her husband is pretty neat too.

We spent the afternoon and evening at their house and the kids were surprisingly good. They were delighted with the toys there, and that helped a lot. Joshua was in heaven with the table, legos, and cars that they had. Having "new" toys makes a difference and the kids were enthralled with what E had at her house.

Ah, yes, Marian and Callie tormented the poor cats and the cats were so sweet. They allowed Marian to haul (and maul!) them around and never scratched or got upset! I was very impressed. The girls were thrilled to have a captive pet for a while.

We tried to get a family picture before we left, but Callie was so done. She had a meltdown and refused to cooperate. Look how annoyed Dan is getting here, hee hee hee. Me and Joshua don't care! Callie can be pretty funny when she's mad. Unfortunately, it got a lot less funny. By the time we got home she was so tired and cranky she couldn't even stand herself and she got to go straight to bed. Other than that, it was an absolutely perfect day! Thank you E!