Today was such a crazy day. It all started last night. As I was putting the boys to bed, we started smelling gas. We all went downstairs to where dh was boiling water. He obligingly turned off the stove and the gas supply to it. No further problems for the night.
Evidently, the week was to start with a possibly costly stove repair and/or a call to the gas company. We quickly planned a crockpot meal for Monday night (tonight). Breakfast and lunch were to be cereal, toast and fruit; lunch was to be sandwiches – no problem.
We got up and drove Daddy to work (our other car died a couple of weeks ago – for good). Daddy drove while I made some calls to the appliance repair people on my cell phone. They gave me the runaround, saying if I contracted them to do the work, it would void my home warranty service contract. Fine. We went home and I called the warranty company. They said that the other company, the one who does the work, was incorrect, since our stove was not covered. Fine.
Then I asked T to start dinner in the crockpot. This is so easy and consisted of opening 7 cans and putting them in the crock pot on low. R was crying for “Boo” by now and needed immediate attention. I settled down to nurse R. T came running in, telling me that he heard a “hiss” coming from the stove. I interrupted R and took all the boys, my cell phone and the house phone out to the backyard. I called directory assistance, and then the gas company. They had a gas lady at out door within a few minutes. T was really panicking by now because he was sure our house was going to blow up. The gas lady double and triple checked our stove, even fixing our bum burner. The stove was given a clean bill of health.
I insisted, however, that there was a definite gas smell. She asked to see the water heater. Alas, it was not vented properly. In fact, it was not vented at all!!! The pipe which was supposed to vent the residual gas and carbon monoxide to the outside was not attatched to the top of the water heater. The best part was that we were not charged for the gas service call. I got my stove inspected and the burner fixed for free.
As soon as she left, I nursed R down to a nap, then called our service company back, as the water heater was covered on our contract. Unfortunately, they can’t come until tomorrow afternoon. I called Daddy again to pass on the information. I was so flustered by the morning’s activities (it was almost 1), that he suggested that I come get him. He took the boys to the park while I took a nap and did the housework. Dinner was ready when they returned. I made banana cake as an incentive for everyone to take their baths quickly. I am now wanted for bedtime stories.
Oh, as for school, we did manage to finish King Lear while waiting for the service company to call back.
