BOOM goes the...smell of gas in our house.

Dear Blogary,

I've missed you.  Work has kept me away from writing and sharing all of the adventures and craziness of late.  However, after last night's events, I decided I had to take a quick break to share. 

I worked late again last night and Mike was rushing me home because he had made dinner plans that would apparently self destruct if I wasn't there by 5:45pm.  (Yes, I thought that was early bird special time, too!)  I rushed home in the rain as fast as I could.  I raced to the front door just to drop off my lunch box and work bag, only to be met by an overwhelming smell of gas pouring from the house.  I'm not talking about the "I had beans for lunch" kind of gas; I'm talking real deal gas stove gas.  Yikes!  I race in the house, careful not to cause a static spark or clink my keys against anything else.  I'm shouting, "Mike, we have to call the gas company!  This is an emergency!  You've been sitting here in this?!?!"  The smell was so strong it was dizzying. Seriously.  Forget about the self destructing dinner plans, we were about to blow up the block!

I enter the kitchen to find one of the dials for the stove top turned to 'light' with gas just pouring out of it.  Apparently it had been doing so for quite some time- like since the morning.  Neither of us is sure who bumped the stove, and regardless of blame, this was a super scary situation.  We opened the windows, cut off the heat, and contemplated what to do next. At one point, Mike mentioned that he had been sitting in the house earlier with candles lit!!!!!!  Seriously. It's a wonder we didn't blow up the neighborhood.

Not having grown up with gas, I am no expert of this stuff so I don't really know what to do in a case like that.  Mike decided we should go to dinner and check it out afterward since we couldn't stand to just sit in the house smelling it.  After dinner the smell was still so strong that we opened every single window and door on both floors and froze all night long with no heat while the gas slowly leaked out of our house.  Needless to say, I didn't sleep and I worried that every move we made in our fleece blankets would ignite a static spark that would blow us into oblivion and destroy all the condos on our block.

Thank goodness we were OK and a major crisis was averted.  This morning, everything smelled normal again.  I do have a ridiculous headache and am very tired, but at least we made it out without harm.

Be careful, my friends!  If you think you smell gas, you probably do!  Don't wait or give it some more time.  It's a distinct smell so you're not imagining it, and it's not onions in the trash can as Mike thought it was.  Call the gas company, check your appliances, BE SAFE!

Happy Friday!  I'm thankful for our safety.

Whitney