Close Call

Yesterday, I shared with you about our "fur-baby", Daisy-Do.  We don't have children to spoil, so we spoil her. I'm not sure if it was gut, or just fate that I shared how much I love that girl.  She's really our saving grace.

Most of the time we HATE it when she wakes us up before our alarm clock.  Usually she wants to go outside, play, she's thirsty and her water is empty, or because she hears the neighbors' dogs outside and wants to join in whatever fun they're having.

This morning started out like a lot:  It's about 4am and hubby wakes up to her....whining.  Go figure.  He heads out to the kitchen to let her out and immediately knows something is wrong.  There's a smell.  Not the "oops, I forgot to empty the garbage" smell, or the "man, that food smells so good I wanna eat it now" smell.  The smell was definitely hot, electrical.  He woke me up and we searched the house without finding the source or heat or anything.  I gathered a few things as Hubby called the fire department.  I've never been in a situation like this and I have to say, it was pretty terrifying.  If there was an electrical fire, I could be anywhere.  I do know those spread through the walls so fast things can become dangerous in an instant.  

The volunteer firemen from down the street came in first.  One, then another, then another.  No sirens (thank goodness, people are trying to sleep, ya know at 4:30am!). Slowly the numbers grew to 5 firemen and 2 police officers.  The smell was very evident but the cause still wasn't determined.  They used the thermal imaging camera and found nothing out of the ordinary.  

Just when the firemen were getting ready to head toward the door with the mystery unsolved, we heard it.  There was a current arc in the area of the refrigerator.  Sure enough, our 12-year old, came with the house refrigerator was shot.  

We'd talked for about a year about getting a garage fridge knowing full well that some day this would happen.  We never bought one.  Hind sight is 20/20 right?

I'm very thankful not only for our wonderful alarm (aka Daisy), but also for the fact that we were there.  It could have happened while we were at work, or out of town, or anytime.  

Things obviously could have ended very differently.  I like to think that today Daisy not only saved our home, but our lives.  It makes me love her more....although I'm not sure that's really possible.

Through this "scare", I've realized to be thankful for what we have, the time we have, and the family and friends we have.  I feel a bit more prepared if we really have a fire someday.  Checking out our fire extinguisher and our smoke detectors has now become the top priority on my TO-DO list.  

Anyways...Happy Friday everyone!  Enjoy your Labor Day weekend!  And if you don't have one already, get a dog.  They're amazing!