where to begin?

It has been a month since my last post and it's hard to know what to start with. I guess I'll start with what stands out most dramatically in my memory. We had quite a scare this past Sunday --a fire in our yard.

Now that some time has gone by I can call it a small fire, but the night it happened to me it was nothing less than a four alarm deal (or at least a three engine event --yes, that's how many trucks the fire dept. showed up with!) Let me just add that no fire feels "small" when it is on your property and threatening your home.

What happened was that my DH cleaned out the ashes from the fireplace earlier in the day. He was sure they were cold (well, thought he was sure) and tossed them into our big black plastic barrel. I guess there were a few embers left though and they smoldered throughout the day and into the night. Thankfully a neighbor --and get this, not one on our own street, but one who lives behind us-- saw the flames and called the fire dept. He also drove over to our house and knocked on the door to tell me there were flames in our yard. Without his help, I hate to even think of what might have happened.

I'm also thankful that the trash barrel was in the little brick and stone wall cubicle where it is meant to be kept (instead of where it is sometimes hastily deposited against our covered patio or side of our house). Also in our favor that night was an absence of wind so the flames were shooting straight up in the air and not licking the bare branches of a nearby tree, the eaves of our house or patio. Or worse still the neighbor's home which is quite near to the trash area.

What's left of our black & green barrels

We could hear the sirens from the moment the neighbor informed us of what was going on but they sounded so far away given the size and vigor of the flames. Thankfully, dh was able to attack the fire with the garden hose and after a bit the fire was tamed. It came back to life as the fire dept. arrived but they doused it in short order with some foam and more water. They also delivered a quick lesson to dh on *not* disposing of ashes in a trash can.

I am so thankful to my neighbor (whoever he was), the fire department, my hubby & the backyard hose and the fact that we still have our home and only lost two trash barrels. Whew!

The rest of December wasn't nearly as dramatic, but quite enjoyable nonetheless. I taught six or seven private classes in my home and that was lots of fun though a lot more work than I expected. It was wonderful to have as students some friends that I didn't know too well and now feel so much better acquainted with. I also got to visit with one of my cousins (Hi, Leah!) whom I hadn't seen in way too long. I was so happy to be chatting with her that I kept forgetting to give instructions on how to make the paper bag album we were doing in that class -lol!

Temporary "classroom"

We had my dad living with us for the two weeks of winter break while he waited to move into his new place. That made things a bit tight with the classes going on and all, but as the saying goes "houses filled with love, have walls of elastic." Dad is now settled in his new place near a quaint little downtown area nearby known as "the village".

One low point of the month was a bout of stomach 'flu that hit us all (well except for my dd). It was a nasty, painful bug that knocked the rest of us down for about a half a week each, tho thankfully not all at the same time. So glad to be done with that! My son is still down with it, but if it follows the same pattern with him that it did in me and his dad, he should be back in business later today or by tomorrow.

Hmmm.... what else? Oh, yes. We had a karaoke party. (I guess I should say *I* had a karaoke party, since the rest of the family are not big fans of the activity -lol!) Had just a few friends who love to sing (like me) over and it was so fun. We sang our little hearts out until we were croaky.

Now, it's back to business with prepping for my January 17th "Stylish Girl" class and whipping up some samples for the February class kickoff event.

Never a dull moment!