New Years Eve

The day started with me nearly burning our house down. All because I wanted a cup of hot tea to soothe a sore throat. I've made a hundred or more cups of tea since we've lived in this house but today I made a mistake I'll never make again--I left items that didn't belong on the stove. And then I lit the wrong burner. Thank heavens we have an electric stove top--the kitchen would have been in flames a lot quicker if we had that gas oven I've had my eyes on.  

I'm the last to get a drink in the morning, because I scream the least.  I filled Allie's sippy with whole milk, skim for Audrey and then decided to make hot tea for me. Normally, I'm a coffee girl, but not when I'm sick. I filled my plastic liquid measuring cup with filtered water and turned on the burner. I then drew Audrey's attention at the lakes of water in our neighbors back yard. Hard to believe a week ago we had nearly a foot of snow and today it's all melted and raining. No sooner did I draw the blinds in the kitchen as I smelled something hot. What on earth would be hot? And then it hit me as I frantically looked across the room. My eyes settled on the smoke coming from the  stove. My biggest concern at that point was that the alarm would go off and scare Audrey to death. She hates our alarm and screams to her core every time it goes off. Lots of smoke, but no flames,  so I grab the two tea boxes and 4 cup measuring cup that has now melted and throw them in the sink.

The cook top is still smoldering. It's not grease, so I throw a little water on it. That calms it down. I open all windows and doors and am now warning Audrey that the alarm could go off because of the smoke. At the mention of alarm, she runs to the living room love seat and curls up in a ball. That takes me back to my childhood and I feel for her and my heart breaks a little because I know her fear. I look at Allie, my one year old. She's still holding her bottle of milk, but she has spit up all down her dress. When did this happen!? And where? I start to see tracks of it on the floor. I find the pile of her breakfast on the kitchen floor. The focus is now on the puke and not the smoke. I take the girls upstairs, we all get dressed and plan to head out until the house can be refreshed. With all the windows open and the rainy day, 45 minutes later it smelled like an April day in our house.

I'm so thankful that not more damage was done. Oh how thankful I am that we stayed in the kitchen and didn't wander to another room or upstairs for a minute. Thank you God for protecting us and our house.

We didn't do anything wild and crazy tonight to bring in the new year. We are fighting colds and didn't feel like partying this year. We watched part of Jeremy's new Blu-Ray series, held our breath every time  fireworks went off in the neighborhood, hoping they didn't wake the girls, and went to bed before midnight.

For years New Years Eve meant spending time with my Dad's family celebrating my Grandpas birthday. Some years, I even made the cake.  Happy birthday Grandpa. You are missed and how I wish you could have known my girls.

Happy New Year!




Sarah