Adventures all around

Today has been a day full of adventures. 

 It started at 8:30 when my neighbor called and said, "Hey, can I ask you a favor... wait, I'll have to call you back. There is a cop pulling into my driveway."  

 Being the fabulous neighbor that I am, I got dressed in a hurry. I figured there was a good chance I would be needed for something. It would seem that it is never a good thing to have a cop pulling into your driveway at 8:30 in the morning! 

 First, some back story. We went out to lunch yesterday, and when we got to the restaurant she couldn't find her purse - we assumed she had just left it at home. This morning she had searched the house, and it still wasn't showing up, so she had called to ask if she could come do a deep search in the car. In the meantime, the police showed up, with her purse in tow. Someone had turned it in, minus the $70 cash, but at least they had turned it in, military ID, credit card and check book included. 

 Amy came over afterward to discuss the "adventure", and the children decided to serenade us with some rousing good morning music. They were quite a trio!

This afternoon we had some friends over to play. I was babysitting the 10 month old twins of another neighbor for part of that time, so I had a house FULL of kids for awhile! That wasn't really an adventure, just fun! 

After the babies left, the big kids decided it would be fun to play in their "playhouse". They were pretending to be sheep, and shepherds and a sheep dog. It was hilarious! 

My big adventure of the evening was supper. It seems that Zion inherited his ability to catch kitchen appliances on fire from me. We had taco's for supper, and I warmed the shells in the toaster oven. The first batch were only slightly browned, but still set off the smoke detector. The second batch was still okay. Then, when Andy was on the phone with his Mom, I decided to stick the last shell in to warm up. But, I didn't use the pan - I just set it directly in the oven. 

 And I walked away. 

Bad idea. 

It seems that when taco shells burn enough, they then burst into flame, practically "melt" onto the burner of the toaster oven and make a horrendous mess. 

I unplugged the toaster oven, then went running for the fire extinguisher, but my calm and wise Andy told me not to "waste it" on such a "small fire". He just left the door closed, so it wasn't getting any extra air, then threw some baking soda on it. 

 I guess in the long run, it really wasn't as big of an adventure as it could have been! 

We opened all the windows, aired out the house, and vacuumed the inside of the toaster oven. 

 All in all, it wasn't too bad...

but it was enough adventure for me. 

Unfortunately, my day was not quite over yet. 

Tomorrow the real estate agent is coming over to take pictures of the house, so we can officially put it on the market. Needless to say, I am frantically trying to clean - to make it look as presentable as possible. We are also having a yard sale on Sat, so that I have less to move. I have been cleaning out closets, straightening shelves, and getting ready to tackle the attic. This evening, I discovered a whole case full of cassette tapes. OLD cassette tapes. 

Andy was looking through them, laughing at the choices available, and he decided we just HAD to hear these. The only tape player we own is in my car, so out to the driveway we went. I felt like a couple of teenagers, sitting in the car, listening to music. I am sure we looked hilarious, and sounded even more so! 

We were only out there about five minutes, (because old tapes really aren't that good) but when we came back in, Canaan was sitting by the front door, just sobbing! I felt like such a terrible parent. I thought he was asleep, but I guess he was awake enough to hear the front door open and close, and he got worried, and couldn't find us, and had worked himself into quite a stress level. 

 Poor, pitiful thing!

That was my final adventure for the night - feeling like a terrible mom! 

I'll close now with a quote from one of the tape covers. I was laughing my head off as Andy read it, but then he commented that it sure sounded like something I would say, and I realized that I had to agree. Surely I am not quite that cheesy, but they do have a good point.
 It is just said in a very New Age, 1990  kind of way.

The band is "Nelson". 

"The history of our vital and endangered planet earth is characterized by the music of the times. Likewise, music is the cornerstone of all future life.... Music is to the soul what breath is to the body.... since music forms the times in which we life... and music is power... perhaps we should start channeling that power responsibly and positively - to heal rather than harm - to bring a little joy and light into the world one song to one person at a time. We hope you'll listen and feel alive."

 As you read my blog, I hope you "feel alive"- one person at a time!