I can't scream my sirens any higher, cause I'm bound to find a fire...
... well, I was having a very good Yule/Christmas season. we had our Yule celebration on Monday night; debboamerik made me fresh ravioli with meat sauce and an apple pie. we had alaanu over, which was all kinds of fun. he and I talked about energy work and beading and video games and just enjoyed being together again. we opened presents: debboamerik got me No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency and A Very Special Christmas, Vol 3; I got her bodyart-quality henna for her hair and Andrea Bocelli's Christmas. she also got her traditional presents from the cats: two Christmas movies (Holiday Inn and The Polar Express) from Sandy, cat socks and cat earrings from Nikki, and winter earrings and an unbreakable cat ornament from Miles. alaanu gave her original Star Trek Uno cards, which we proceeded to play with immediately. having him with us was present enough for me.
Thursday night we went to midnight Divine Liturgy at her church. the service was quiet, welcoming, and powerful, and we made the Metropolitan (Pope of US & Canada in the OCA) smile at a silly joke. Friday morning we woke up to fog, coffee with Bailey's/Kahlua, Handel's Messiah, and more presents, mostly from Santa. he brought debboamerik the Fred Astaire & Ginger Rogers box set, Vol. 1, the new Valdemar novel by Mercedes Lackey, and a Star Wars/Transformer crossover toy (Darth Vader, who converts into a star fighter). from me she got an 8GB media card and headphones for her phone and a lovely, incredibly soft, fleecey robe with a blue-on-white paisley pattern. I got the most loving and sweet handmade book from her, and a collapsible silicone strainer. Santa gave me a combo food processor/blender, a new purse, and two trivia games; Trivial Pursuit for the Xbox 360, and Urban Myth, which is a board game. Santa also brought a humidifier for both of us, which we've needed since last spring.
we had dinner at nehesi's parents house, with all of his and alaanu's local family. it felt really good to be welcomed and loved as a part of the family, and even better to have debboamerik's expressed thanks responded to with, "well of course, you're part of the family now." the contrast to Thanksgiving was palpable and much appreciated, in spite of the ban on PDAs (for everyone, not just us; one of the aunts is a very conservative fundamentalist Christian). dinner was entirely too much good food, with lots of noisy talk, running, screaming children, and fun with presents. we introduced several of the oldest and youngest generations to MadLibs, which they all enjoyed.
today was mostly a quiet, restful day; we slept in, got up and ate breakfast, napped, and went grocery shopping for the final ingredients for maaro e liddi, a Pulaar dish of stuffed, fried fish, rice, and vegetables. debboamerik meant to make it for me yesterday, but the invitation to family dinner took precedence. the first step is to fry a fish in a pot of oil; but debboamerik's recipe is based on Mauritanian outdoor cooking and the pot wasn't deep enough, so the oil and water splashed onto the two burners that were on. a wall of fire engulfed the whole front of the stove; I saw the flames from the living room and teleported to the kitchen (I have no recollection of moving, I was just there). debboamerik screamed and ran out, and once I saw she wasn't on fire herself (I knew she'd been standing right in front of the stove), I grabbed her and dragged her to the door. the flames dissipated almost immediately, but the house was full of smoke and the kitchen full of ash. she ran back and turned the gas off, and I yelled at her to get out of the kitchen NOW. I called 911, and the wonderful voice on the phone calmed me down enough to check the condition of the kitchen and capture debboamerik again. of course, by this time I couldn't breathe (YAY, asthma), so I opened the dining room window and then escaped to the balcony. debboamerik came with me, but she went back to check for flames (per the fire department operator's request) and to extinguish a potholder that had caught fire. she also tried to coax the cats outside, but they wouldn't come.
the firemen came and looked over everything; the stove hood is finished, all the wiring and the filter melted, and the ceiling from the kitchen to the end of the dining room is blackened. there was hot oil all over the stove, counter, and floor, which the firemen apologized profusely for tracking through the house. the cabinets over the stove are blackened and at least one of the doors will need replacing. it looks like most of the smoke damage will wash off of the ceiling; if not, we're rather adept painters. and I think the firemen at Station #18 have homemade cookies in their future.
we've cleaned the floor and stove, and my chest is settling down again (the firemen were worried by the way I was coughing, and I was worried they were gonna force me to go to the ER no matter how much I didn't want to, but I told them I knew that if I started wheezing or choking I should go). debboamerik didn't panic, though she did break down into tears a few times. the cats are completely unfazed. my girlfriend isn't even singed, so I'm fine too. scooterbird and efbq are coming to take care of us for the rest of the evening, and I think we'll have to figure out something else for dinner tonight.
Thursday night we went to midnight Divine Liturgy at her church. the service was quiet, welcoming, and powerful, and we made the Metropolitan (Pope of US & Canada in the OCA) smile at a silly joke. Friday morning we woke up to fog, coffee with Bailey's/Kahlua, Handel's Messiah, and more presents, mostly from Santa. he brought debboamerik the Fred Astaire & Ginger Rogers box set, Vol. 1, the new Valdemar novel by Mercedes Lackey, and a Star Wars/Transformer crossover toy (Darth Vader, who converts into a star fighter). from me she got an 8GB media card and headphones for her phone and a lovely, incredibly soft, fleecey robe with a blue-on-white paisley pattern. I got the most loving and sweet handmade book from her, and a collapsible silicone strainer. Santa gave me a combo food processor/blender, a new purse, and two trivia games; Trivial Pursuit for the Xbox 360, and Urban Myth, which is a board game. Santa also brought a humidifier for both of us, which we've needed since last spring.
we had dinner at nehesi's parents house, with all of his and alaanu's local family. it felt really good to be welcomed and loved as a part of the family, and even better to have debboamerik's expressed thanks responded to with, "well of course, you're part of the family now." the contrast to Thanksgiving was palpable and much appreciated, in spite of the ban on PDAs (for everyone, not just us; one of the aunts is a very conservative fundamentalist Christian). dinner was entirely too much good food, with lots of noisy talk, running, screaming children, and fun with presents. we introduced several of the oldest and youngest generations to MadLibs, which they all enjoyed.
today was mostly a quiet, restful day; we slept in, got up and ate breakfast, napped, and went grocery shopping for the final ingredients for maaro e liddi, a Pulaar dish of stuffed, fried fish, rice, and vegetables. debboamerik meant to make it for me yesterday, but the invitation to family dinner took precedence. the first step is to fry a fish in a pot of oil; but debboamerik's recipe is based on Mauritanian outdoor cooking and the pot wasn't deep enough, so the oil and water splashed onto the two burners that were on. a wall of fire engulfed the whole front of the stove; I saw the flames from the living room and teleported to the kitchen (I have no recollection of moving, I was just there). debboamerik screamed and ran out, and once I saw she wasn't on fire herself (I knew she'd been standing right in front of the stove), I grabbed her and dragged her to the door. the flames dissipated almost immediately, but the house was full of smoke and the kitchen full of ash. she ran back and turned the gas off, and I yelled at her to get out of the kitchen NOW. I called 911, and the wonderful voice on the phone calmed me down enough to check the condition of the kitchen and capture debboamerik again. of course, by this time I couldn't breathe (YAY, asthma), so I opened the dining room window and then escaped to the balcony. debboamerik came with me, but she went back to check for flames (per the fire department operator's request) and to extinguish a potholder that had caught fire. she also tried to coax the cats outside, but they wouldn't come.
the firemen came and looked over everything; the stove hood is finished, all the wiring and the filter melted, and the ceiling from the kitchen to the end of the dining room is blackened. there was hot oil all over the stove, counter, and floor, which the firemen apologized profusely for tracking through the house. the cabinets over the stove are blackened and at least one of the doors will need replacing. it looks like most of the smoke damage will wash off of the ceiling; if not, we're rather adept painters. and I think the firemen at Station #18 have homemade cookies in their future.
we've cleaned the floor and stove, and my chest is settling down again (the firemen were worried by the way I was coughing, and I was worried they were gonna force me to go to the ER no matter how much I didn't want to, but I told them I knew that if I started wheezing or choking I should go). debboamerik didn't panic, though she did break down into tears a few times. the cats are completely unfazed. my girlfriend isn't even singed, so I'm fine too. scooterbird and efbq are coming to take care of us for the rest of the evening, and I think we'll have to figure out something else for dinner tonight.