Awwwww CRAP

We averted complete disaster today because someone was definitely looking out for us.   This afternoon JTK and I went to my Mom's house to visit with her.  I needed to go to PetSmart for her and we took Piko with us to visit.    We had a couple of our own errands to run after our visit so when we finally got home I was definitely ready for some serious relaxation.    As soon as I unlocked the door, we immediately could tell something was wrong.   There was a crazy, weird smell and even though it was still daylight - the house seemed darker and grungier.     Joey pointed out it smelled like something was burning and I immediately asked him "Did you leave the incense burning?"     He didn't answer me and we started trying to figure out what happened - at first we thought the fan caught on fire because it was completely black and then I thought we had an electrical fire because everything was turned off.   But no, it wasn't either of those things - JTK definitely left a little incense burning.

Let me give you a little back story on the damn incense - I freaking hate it.   Not only does it make an annoying mess but it bothers my allergies to no end.   Of course, with Joey's fascination with Egyptian and Japanese culture - incense is a must.    A few months ago I had thrown every stick of incense away but missed a container of authentic Japanese incense.   We'd actually been battling it out about the incense the past week - as soon as I was asleep or if Joey was home by himself he'd insist on burning it.   Even today, I was lying down in my bed because I felt kind of crappy.    As I was getting up I realized that Joey had burnt some incense - he even showed me the small stick that was left.   I just assumed that he was putting it out ... but I guess not.

Anyway the incense container obviously caught on fire, on top of our entertainment center.    It melted the controllers to the Wii, a number of Wii games, a bottle of my lotion, and the Wii itself.    And the thing that's really weird is that the entire house is covered with a film of soot.   I don't get it- but every room is just a mess.   We spent hours tonight cleaning and we haven't gotten it all.   Just imagine - every top of every picture frame, every book, every piece of furniture, our bed clothes, our dishes ... EVERYthing in the damn house.  

 

Cooper after his bath tonight

That includes the dogs - they're a mess.   They've all gotten baths, but soot is hard to clean out of a dog's fur and they're still unbelievably filthy.  The worst are Piko, Jingle and Cooper - even after a good bath they're still nasty.    I'm sure they'll need  2 or 3 more baths.    And even though we've cleaned and mopped and cleaned and mopped there is still soot everywhere.   And the dogs are like soot magnets.   Our dogs, after they get out of a bath they freak out and try to rub their faces on whatever surface they can to try and dry off and get the icky water off them.    Well, tonight after they got out of their baths they ended up rubbing their faces in more soot.    I think Jingle actually looked dirtier after her bath than before.   I'll say it again - CRAP - this is going to be such a long process of getting things cleaned.   What really sucks - even though we did get a lot of cleaning done tonight, dJTK is heading to boyscout camp tomorrow.   That means ... I get to clean up solo which literally includes about a dozen loads of laundry.

Cooper - how he's supposed to look.

It's so scary what might have happened - we could have lost everything and all of the animals. That is so horrible I can't even fully think that possibility through. Cynthia has a bad cough and seems to be wheezing a bit, so we'll be making a trip to the vet tomorrow. I'm coughing quite a bit too ... AND the air conditioner isn't working very well. I imagine I'm going to need to get my ducts cleaned out.


Our Entertainment Center Now

JTK feels awful - and you know what? He should - he really should.   Not only did he do something I'd asked him repeatedly not to,  he broke the Cardinal rule of not leaving anything burning unattended.   It was no big deal to him because he was leaving a very small portion behind, but it still did a lot of damage.   I was so upset I actually called his Dad, looking for advice and reassurance. blech I hate it when I do stupid shit like that. I was completely overwhelmed, though, and didn't know where to start or what to do with the mess facing us.    He's leaving for camp tomorrow morning and he comes back on his birthday next Saturday.   This is going to be tricky, but he is definitely going to have to suffer some consequences.  I've already told him he's going to have to buy me a new entertainment center.    I'm being nice and making it a Craigslist purchase so it won't be really high and I've also thrown away the last of the incense.

I'm telling you - I don't think I'm ever going to fall asleep tonight.     It's exhausting being filled with anger and gratitude at the same time.