Close Call
Sometimes it definitely pays to be good.
Troll is off at a sleep-over tonight. Tygrr was in bed by about 7 tonight, which is pretty usual for a Saturday night for her these days, seeing as she only came off night shift at 7 this morning.
So, I had the whole evening to myself.
What to do?
I could go to bed early too. It was tempting.
But, after a month of writing non-stop with Nanowrimo my lounge room was looking pretty sad. My desk was a mess. I really should make use of the time to myself and clean, I thought.
But it's saturday night. How sad is it to spend one's saturday night cleaning?
So, to indulge I hired some dvds. I had watched one and was tossing up about going to bed (still) when a friend came online and started chatting to me. So I began cleaning my desk as we talked and finally decided I really should get in and tidy up the rest of the room.
It was when we stopped chatting I realised I could smell something - something cooking. But I didn't have anything cooking. Sniffing a bit more strongly I got up to find the source of the smell. It got very strong out in the hallway, and stronger still as I got close to the kitchen.
The SMOKE-FILLED kitchen!!!!
Yikes!!!
It turns out that one of our little furry darlings had been horsing around on top of the stove and had managed somehow to turn one of the electric rings on. I keep covers on the rings to protect them from dust and splatter while others are being used and the cover on the ring that was on was bright red with all the paint peeled. I quickly turned the ring off but didn't touch the cover until much later when it had cooled. I switched the exhaust fan on pronto and made sure the back door was open and then closed the door to the hallway so the smoke wouldn't reach the smoke alarm. The last thing I needed was it going off and waking tygrr!
So, no real harm done.
The thing is, usually at night most of our cats are put away in the laundry to sleep because they get a bit rumbunctious when left with the run of the house. Usually either tygrr or troll puts them away and tonight I was thinking of giving them a treat and letting them stay out as I didn't think I would bother putting them to bed.
If I had done that, and left them out and gone to bed earlier as I had been tempted I might not still have a house. So, there you have it. It was definitely a good thing that I was still up in the midst of cleaning my lounge room!
And yes, you can be guaranteed they are now all safely put to bed in the laundry as per usual!
You know, those cats never bother getting on the stove like that but the minute their routine is changed they seem to just go nuts and run completely amok! So much for giving them a treat. In future they can sleep in Alcatraz every night rather than risk them repeating that sort of behaviour! And yes, to be safe I've taken the covers off all the rings on the stove now. I don't think I will replace them. That was way too close a call!
In other news, I've been busy over the last week or so with troll. Firstly we had her second induction day at her new High School for next year. She was very nervous about it but it all went well with her making three new friends from what will be her class next year. Emails and phone numbers were exchanged for keeping in touch during the holidays, so she was feeling much happier about things by the end of the day!
I took the chance while she was at the school to do some christmas shopping and bought myself the book 'Northern Lights' which has been made into the movie called 'The Golden Compass' which I can't wait to see! I love what I've read of the book so far and have threatened my family with blood and mayhem if the next two books in the series are not under the christmas tree for me in a couple of weeks time!
I say threatened because I am forbidden to buy myself anything between now and christmas, in case it mucks up their plans, so if I must wait to read the sequels I better not have to wait past christmas day!
After sorting out trolls' new school it was then time to sort out something for her graduation dinner which is happening this thursday. It's a dinner, followed by a dance but is not a 'formal' as such. I don't know why. I think perhaps because it's a country town and people seem to think they are 'only' graduating primary school. The kids seem to have other thoughts however and from what I hear the girls seem to be planning on tizzying themselves up a bit.
So, with this in mind we went dress shopping. Not something formal, but something dressy all the same. Now the problem with this is that troll hasn't shopped for anything like this before. The other problem is that she's in that between stage - not just a kid, but not a fully grown woman either. And, she's a curvacious girl and not particularly tall.
Well, after visiting every boutique in Norwood and Burnside with her utterly refusing to take advice about what to try, she finally burst into tears of frustration because nothing looked good on her. I had been patiently letting her go her own way as she had made it clear at the start that she was not going to listen to my advice.
While we sat on a bench in the mall and I soothed her tears I pointed out the difference between her body shape and that of the manikens in the stores. I told her that she has to chose things that suit her, not what looks good on them. I also suggested she approach it with an open mind rather than going in already decided with what she wanted. After all, what she wanted didn't look good on her, and the whole point was to look good, wasn't it?
So, with a bit of slick talking I got her to calm down and we went into the store again, this time with her trying the things I had suggested. In the end she chose a lovely dress which will look simply stunning on her next week. Once the dress was chosen it was a simple matter to match shoes, bag and accessories to it. She owes a huge thank you to her grandma for buying her outfit for her and when she's all dressed up next week I shall take some photos to post for grandma to see just what she bought for the girl.
Yesterday we went to see one of our local hair dressers and discussed plans for a new style and cut on the day. I usually cut her hair for her but I think it's time she had her first professional cut and style and what better time than for her formal.
So come thursday it's going to be girl mayhem in the dragon household as troll prepares for her graduation dinner! At least she seems to have learnt her lesson that sometimes mum does know what she's saying when it comes to what looks good!
After that I only have to finish my christmas shopping, get the tree up and decorated and get the house clean for Grubblet's visit. After taking a teenager shopping for her first graduation dress, it should be a walk in the park!
Red.
Troll is off at a sleep-over tonight. Tygrr was in bed by about 7 tonight, which is pretty usual for a Saturday night for her these days, seeing as she only came off night shift at 7 this morning.
So, I had the whole evening to myself.
What to do?
I could go to bed early too. It was tempting.
But, after a month of writing non-stop with Nanowrimo my lounge room was looking pretty sad. My desk was a mess. I really should make use of the time to myself and clean, I thought.
But it's saturday night. How sad is it to spend one's saturday night cleaning?
So, to indulge I hired some dvds. I had watched one and was tossing up about going to bed (still) when a friend came online and started chatting to me. So I began cleaning my desk as we talked and finally decided I really should get in and tidy up the rest of the room.
It was when we stopped chatting I realised I could smell something - something cooking. But I didn't have anything cooking. Sniffing a bit more strongly I got up to find the source of the smell. It got very strong out in the hallway, and stronger still as I got close to the kitchen.
The SMOKE-FILLED kitchen!!!!
Yikes!!!
It turns out that one of our little furry darlings had been horsing around on top of the stove and had managed somehow to turn one of the electric rings on. I keep covers on the rings to protect them from dust and splatter while others are being used and the cover on the ring that was on was bright red with all the paint peeled. I quickly turned the ring off but didn't touch the cover until much later when it had cooled. I switched the exhaust fan on pronto and made sure the back door was open and then closed the door to the hallway so the smoke wouldn't reach the smoke alarm. The last thing I needed was it going off and waking tygrr!
So, no real harm done.
The thing is, usually at night most of our cats are put away in the laundry to sleep because they get a bit rumbunctious when left with the run of the house. Usually either tygrr or troll puts them away and tonight I was thinking of giving them a treat and letting them stay out as I didn't think I would bother putting them to bed.
If I had done that, and left them out and gone to bed earlier as I had been tempted I might not still have a house. So, there you have it. It was definitely a good thing that I was still up in the midst of cleaning my lounge room!
And yes, you can be guaranteed they are now all safely put to bed in the laundry as per usual!
You know, those cats never bother getting on the stove like that but the minute their routine is changed they seem to just go nuts and run completely amok! So much for giving them a treat. In future they can sleep in Alcatraz every night rather than risk them repeating that sort of behaviour! And yes, to be safe I've taken the covers off all the rings on the stove now. I don't think I will replace them. That was way too close a call!
In other news, I've been busy over the last week or so with troll. Firstly we had her second induction day at her new High School for next year. She was very nervous about it but it all went well with her making three new friends from what will be her class next year. Emails and phone numbers were exchanged for keeping in touch during the holidays, so she was feeling much happier about things by the end of the day!
I took the chance while she was at the school to do some christmas shopping and bought myself the book 'Northern Lights' which has been made into the movie called 'The Golden Compass' which I can't wait to see! I love what I've read of the book so far and have threatened my family with blood and mayhem if the next two books in the series are not under the christmas tree for me in a couple of weeks time!
I say threatened because I am forbidden to buy myself anything between now and christmas, in case it mucks up their plans, so if I must wait to read the sequels I better not have to wait past christmas day!
After sorting out trolls' new school it was then time to sort out something for her graduation dinner which is happening this thursday. It's a dinner, followed by a dance but is not a 'formal' as such. I don't know why. I think perhaps because it's a country town and people seem to think they are 'only' graduating primary school. The kids seem to have other thoughts however and from what I hear the girls seem to be planning on tizzying themselves up a bit.
So, with this in mind we went dress shopping. Not something formal, but something dressy all the same. Now the problem with this is that troll hasn't shopped for anything like this before. The other problem is that she's in that between stage - not just a kid, but not a fully grown woman either. And, she's a curvacious girl and not particularly tall.
Well, after visiting every boutique in Norwood and Burnside with her utterly refusing to take advice about what to try, she finally burst into tears of frustration because nothing looked good on her. I had been patiently letting her go her own way as she had made it clear at the start that she was not going to listen to my advice.
While we sat on a bench in the mall and I soothed her tears I pointed out the difference between her body shape and that of the manikens in the stores. I told her that she has to chose things that suit her, not what looks good on them. I also suggested she approach it with an open mind rather than going in already decided with what she wanted. After all, what she wanted didn't look good on her, and the whole point was to look good, wasn't it?
So, with a bit of slick talking I got her to calm down and we went into the store again, this time with her trying the things I had suggested. In the end she chose a lovely dress which will look simply stunning on her next week. Once the dress was chosen it was a simple matter to match shoes, bag and accessories to it. She owes a huge thank you to her grandma for buying her outfit for her and when she's all dressed up next week I shall take some photos to post for grandma to see just what she bought for the girl.
Yesterday we went to see one of our local hair dressers and discussed plans for a new style and cut on the day. I usually cut her hair for her but I think it's time she had her first professional cut and style and what better time than for her formal.
So come thursday it's going to be girl mayhem in the dragon household as troll prepares for her graduation dinner! At least she seems to have learnt her lesson that sometimes mum does know what she's saying when it comes to what looks good!
After that I only have to finish my christmas shopping, get the tree up and decorated and get the house clean for Grubblet's visit. After taking a teenager shopping for her first graduation dress, it should be a walk in the park!
Red.