Curve Balls

You know those days. When your best laid plans, as Scottish poet Robert Burns once so eloquently remarked, “gang aft agley”. Our plans definitely went “agley” from the get go yesterday, the morning after Thanksgiving. We had eaten more than our fill, competed with zest in our annual Seyfried Charades Spectacular, and so to bed. But then, Evan was awakened in his basement bedroom at 2 AM with the carbon monoxide alarm going off, and a dreadful smell permeating the room. He came upstairs for the rest of the night, and we knew the problem needed to be dealt with, pronto.

Long story short, we learned that the furnace chimney had collapsed. So, instead of enjoying a relaxing post-holiday morning, Steve, Evan and the girls spent hours researching repair people and making phone calls. We settled on what sounds like a pretty reputable place, and the best part is that they can come out to do the job Monday (other companies were telling them late next week at the earliest).  

Until then, while we still have the one open gas line to power the stove so that we can cook, we have no heat in the house, or hot water. The next few days we will be visiting kind neighbors for showers, and huddling around the few space heaters we have. Rose, Julie and I had planned to go to a movie anyway yesterday afternoon. We enjoyed the film very much (Ladybird, I highly recommend it), but even if it had been a clunker, at least we were warm for a few hours.

Meanwhile, Sheridan, Ya-Jhu and the boys had taken off for a family outing to Ringing Rocks State Park mid-morning. They were due to arrive back at 1:00 PM, but by 3:30 they still weren’t home. What on earth was keeping them? Turns out, they had their own tale of woe. After their hike, they had accidentally locked both sets of their keys in the trunk of their car, and had to wait outside more than half an hour, with two exhausted kiddos, for a locksmith to come open the trunk and retrieve the keys so that they could drive home.

Gathering around the old space heater!

the wayward keys

At day’s end, we compared notes. Curve balls were thrown our way for sure, but even then there was much to be grateful for. Had the basement alarm not gone off, we might all have been poisoned—an outcome far, far worse than an upcoming bill that will blow a hole in our Christmas budget. And Yaj and Sher gave thanks that, if the keys had to be locked in the car, at least the boys were not in there too.

And so we near the end of the holiday weekend, chilled yet heartened: we are safe, we are together. We HAVE a home, and cars, even though those things can cause complications. And stories! We’ll have stories to tell, which our family values highly.

Overall, despite everything, we have to say that yesterday was a win.