Dangerous Weekend 2

A week after Hubby sliced his hand and had to be sewn back together, we were running late for church. That is not the dangerous part, for that happens all the time. We have been picking up a couple young teens in our town from a very un-churched family, so we rushed out the door.

I believe I had taken my shower that morning, instead of the night before, which put me even further behind. I discovered the kids had only eaten applesauce (from Gigi's house, and full of corn syrup. Yuck!), and knew that wouldn't hold them through church. I think I dished up some cottage cheese (protein!) for the milk-tolerant, and set some quinoa on the stove to simmer up quickly for Li'l Artist. In the hustle and bustle, I never served her the quinoa.

In fact, I didn't think about it until an hour later we were sitting waiting for church to get started, and the kids were a little wild. I considered what they had eaten, and the thought of applesauce led me to the other breakfasts... I hadn't served Little Artist. Apparently a horrified look fell upon my face, and I hurried to the back where Hubby was sipping coffee to ask if he had done anything with the quinoa. He had not. "I don't think I took it off the stove..." I said. 

Breaking speed laws, we are at least 20 minutes away from church. Hubby said I should call our neighbor (who is retired, lives alone, and had been sick). I did so, but could only leave a message. I told him, "this is already an emergency." He suggested I call another neighbor who lives 3/4 of a mile away, an organic gardener who I'm friends with, and he took the van and hurried in the direction of home.

I must say, what follows is kindof humorous in hindsight. This dear woman has been *in* our house only once. It was December 26, 2009. The 10 days or so prior to that had me madly sewing/knitting/whatever for gifts, then a few days spent at Gigi's, then back home to cook/bake like crazy, both for our home, for the Christmas Eve goodies, and the holiday meal, both at my inlaws, and the house, post Christmas, literally looked like a bomb had gone off. There was NO WHERE to sit; not a single surface that wasn't a complete disaster, and you could barely walk between the boxes and bags of christmas gifts/things hauled to and from festivities/kid mess/coats/boots/laundry/etc. I was exhausted and in fact hadn't even gotten out of bed by the time she and her husband stopped at our house that morning. Mortification is too mild a word.

Last year of course, I was moderately ready for a visit (i.e. there was at least a place to sit), but not surprisingly, they did not come. :)

So, I considered calling this lady, knowing full well that Sundays were only slightly better, generally speaking, than the-day-after-Christmas in our house. Saturdays I often try to get 'projects' done - sewing, or organizing something, an outdoor job if it's pleasant, but the kids tend to slide on their chores, and I tend to slide on enforcement, so the house was - again - not guest ready, by any means.

So I considered... call Mrs. S. to save the house, knowing she'll walk through and SEE it, or just let the house burn down altogether...?  Oh my. You know you need to step up the housekeeping if THAT'S how you weigh such a problem.

As Hubby hit the road to go home, I called Mrs. S. to ask if she could go see if my house was burning down. I did not advise her as to where to find the scrapbooks; if it was afire I would be spared the embarrassment of AGAIN having her in unexpectedly.

She called back before Hubby had made it home, saying things were 'fine' (i.e. the house was still standing), though the quinoa was quite burnt, and the house was filled with smoke (she opened a window). She placed the pan in the sink and turned off the burner, and left. 

I haven't used the pan again, though it's my best little oatmeal pan. I fear ruining anything I try to cook in it, but I haven't relegated it to the feed sacks either. 

I am grateful, for my scrapbooks' sake, that she did not just close the door after one glance, and let the place burn... :)



(Truly, I AM so thankful to God that He brought this to mind before we could do nothing about it! One minor careless act could've cost us so very much, and we are SO grateful for His grace..)