Four to Remember

I know I'll remember the evening that Karston's fourth tooth came in, but not because number four was such a tooth to remember. (This tooth probably explains why we haven't had much sleep this week, which makes Daddy snore, which means I sleep even less. My trick is to fall asleep very quickly. Sometimes I can.)

Karston nursed a little before bed, but said he'd really like to cuddle. Often he'll go to sleep on his own, but particularly with a new tooth, he wants to snuggle. (And he has wanted to cuddle all night this week!) Anyway, he had just gone to the Land of Nod when I heard very loud knocking at the front door. I thought Daddy might have locked himself outside, so I stood up very carefully so as not to wake the baby. Knocking again (now I'm thinking it's less likely to be Daddy), I answer the door (Karston is sleeping soundly), and it's Jim our next-door-neighbor to the north. And Jim says, "Do you have a fire extinguisher? Your neighbor's house is on fire." I quickly gave him the kitchen fire extinguisher and he was off. Then I noticed the half-finished projects around our house and started wondering where the blank is Daddy. Shoes, white shirt for night visibility, flashlight, baby monitor, and I went off to find him for my peace of mind. The first volunteer fireman I encountered was very nice, and pointed me to a clump of people who had been working on the fire before the firemen. And sure enough, there he was. Whew!

What happened is that, two houses north, something shorted in the main electrical box. (And no one could find the main breaker. Ours are right above the two main electrical boxes serving the house.) Randy and Allie were watching a movie when the lights went out with a loud ZAP. The in-between neighbors had their lights flicker, they heard buzzing, and they went outside to check on their air conditioner only to see flames. My husband was on the porch, heard buzzing, looked, saw flames. No lights flickered here, so I didn't know anything until Jim told me. But anyway, everyone who saw flames showed up to help. Randy's cell phone would not let him dial 911, and he wasn't going back in, so Jim called 911 from his house. [Note: see if your cell phone actually supports 911 as it should.] One very large fire extinguisher and two small ones later, the volunteer firemen showed up to take over. Kinda smells out there, there's a wall that's been axed down, but everyone's OK, and I think the physical damage isn't too bad. (No comment on the electrical damage. The power company showed up and had no idea what started this, so fixing it is open-ended for now.) I offered them our guest bed for the night. It's probably time to check into mine, as a matter of fact.

Baby