Pink Robes & House Fires

Just kidding, this isn't our house it wasn't this bad. 

Our old farm house had the kind of heaters that were not forced air but ran along the floors attached to the walls the length of the room. In some rooms they were on all the walls in others only some. I think they had water running through them. Hopefully you get the idea anyway.

I kept my beautiful fluffy pink robe hanging in the bathroom about a foot or so above the vent, it never got hot from hanging there but one day while going to the bathroom I noticed that the bottom of my robe was turning grey. That puzzled me. I got the boys ready for school and off on the bus then went to confront my husband about the robe because I was sure he had something to do with it.

He looked at my robe, got down on his hands and knees and then looked at the vent, then he put his nose right up to the vent and sniffed. He got up and calmly said, "There is smoke coming up out of the vent."

I couldn't see or smell any smoke, I thought he was crazy. He went outside the bathroom and pulled up the carpet on the floor. Under the carpet was the removable door to the basement, just a Michigan basement but for some unknown reason the heater was down there. Then he lifted the door and flames shot up to the ceiling from down below. I shrieked and he threw the door back down, grabbed my hand and we ran outside. Stay here he said and ran off around the other side of the house. He is such a smart man, to smart sometimes. He ran to the back of the house and turned off the gas at the tank. Then he came back to me and told me what he did and that he was going to check to see if that did the trick or if we needed to call the fire department.

He went in and came back to get me. The fire died when he turned off the gas. He then called a friend's dad who worked on heaters and he said that it wasn't properly ventilated down there and we were lucky to be alive. The heater was trashed so we installed a new one up above the basement and made sure that it was properly ventilated.

I said he is to smart because I often think, that old house could have burned down if we would have just went outside and called the fire department and I would have been fine with it. Oh, but we would have missed so many adventures that I've yet to share.

I do think that we have had an angel looking out for our safety though and he was working overtime in that old house.

Please leave a comment and let me know what you think. Have you ever had a house fire? Even a small one?

Thank you for reading and have a blessed day.

A ROOM of her OWN

As mom's we know that the day will come when our family shrinks in size. Some of us look forward to our little birdies leaving the nest and others dread it.

Yesterday we took my oldest to his dorm at SVSU, not really a big deal to any of us in the family except my youngest who ran in the door the minute we got home and said "Mom will you go upstairs and help me bring my clothes and stuff down?"

I hadn't even gotten my coat off yet but her's was on the floor and she was racing toward the steps.

She was finally going to have a ROOM of her OWN and she wasn't going to waste a minute getting into it. So, as I made way to the stairs, I made a quick mental list of all the things I had planned to do but would need to do later in order to help her achieve her new found freedom. We spent the next two hours cleaning moving and rearranging the two rooms until she was satisfied that her keepsakes and toys were in the best places and her brothers' remnants were cleaned up and tucked away. Then my little girl who won't spend any time in any room of the house alone borrowed my computer and watched her anime shows for the next few hours while I caught up on my list of chores that was pushed aside earlier.

Hopefully our oldest will like his freedom in the dorm at college as much as his 10 years younger sibling loves finally having a ROOM of her OWN and a little privacy even though she likes to keep the door open for now.

As mom I am just glad that she actually spent time in her room (even though it was with the door open) and slept the night alone in the room (even though she had two nightlights, a small lamp and a dog) without waking up once she finally fell asleep. All of this makes me a bit nostalgic but in an appreciative, loving way. I am not the least bit sad that they are growing up, that is what they should do and I'm very happy to see both of them exploring new ground and seeking out new adventures, after all that is how we learn and grow.

Do you have a child who recently moved away to college? How about one that finally got their own room? Please leave a comment and let me know how it all went for you? Thanks.