Really? Did you have to bring all of this?

In my family life is never dull. Crazy, yes. Worthy of a daytime soap, absolutely. Here's a great example.
Last week my son had vacation bible school (VBS). I was supposed to relax, enjoy myself, my husband says. I had errands galore to do. Finally, on Wednesday, I found an hour to sit back and relax. At least that was the plan. I went upstairs to the master bath and turned on the lights. A loud pop and a stream of smoke came pouring out of the light fixture. I panicked. The light it came from was burned out. Had been for two weeks. So the pop sound wasn't the bulb breaking. And the smoke? There was enough that I thought "this is so not good". I called 911. I politely told them that it was most likely nothing but would they please send a fireman to check it out. You don't want your house to burn down after all.

In less than five minutes there were two fire trucks, two fire chiefs, an ambulance and a news crew at my house. All of which arrived with sirens blaring and lights flashing. Really? Did we need all this? I mean, an ambulance?! A news crew?! Yikes!! And, wouldn't you know, it's a lovely day, low humidity, so people are out walking. Well not anymore. They are standing across the street watching. Out come the firemen in all their gear. Up the stairs they go. No smoke now. Just a lingering electrical burnt smell. So they take the fixture off and look behind the wall with some special camera. Luckily, no fire, no heat, behind the walls. So, where did the smoke and smell come from?

One of the chiefs tells me that it is likely the fixture itself is faulty. I did the right thing calling them. And, until the lights are replaced, the breaker should stay off. But, why so many people here, I ask. Turns out it is standard operating procedure for our fire department. The news crew? They were passed by the fire trucks and decided to follow. Oh lucky me.

Is the light replaced yet? No, but they are down so the breaker is back on. Did we make the news? No thank goodness. Can you imagine? I shiver thinking about it. But, I did the right thing calling. After calling my husband at work, he wanted to know why I didn't tape it? He thought it would be cool to see - all the fire trucks at our house. He's not southern. He wouldn't understand you just don't do those things.