Well Done.

we had quite the evening here last night. it was around 5:00, and i had started dinner already. ben wasn't home yet, but i was expecting him to be home shortly. the plan was to have mashed potatoes, green beans, and one of benny's favorites, steak on the grill. i went out to start the grill, but it wouldn't light. the last time we grilled out, i remember ben saying that the propane tank was just about empty. i figured that must be the problem, so i replaced the tank and tried again. it lit this time, but something wasn't quite right. there was a hissing sound, which continued to get louder and louder until.... poof! there was an explosion under the grill and the entire thing was soon engulfed in flames. to make matters worse, the propane tank.... the FULL propane tank was fueling it all, and there was no way to turn it off. i didn't really know what to do, and was worried that the tank would explode, so i ran into the house and grabbed the phone and called 9-1-1. while i was on the phone with them, i told anna to go outside and sit on the front lawn. then i found jane. as usual, she used those 5 minutes of being unattended to get into trouble. she was standing on the kitchen table holding the salt shaker, atop the mountain of salt that she had just created. sweet! so, there were the girls on the front lawn- anna in full princess attire (snow white dress, glass slippers, purse, sunglasses, jewels), and jane in her silky nightgown. i saw a lady walking her dog down the street, and flagged her down to help. i backed the van out of the carport while she ran inside the house to retrieve the fire extinguisher. soon the carport was filled with a huge yellow cloud of smoke, and the fire was out. needless to say, our grill was toast. a few minutes later, the fire dept. arrived, along with an ambulance, and my husband who was being pursued by the military police. i managed to get a call out to ben, and he raced home to see if the house was still standing. :) it as quite the spectacle. thankfully the girls weren't afraid at all. anna has been around firetrucks & firefighters a lot, since going to the fire station with her poppa is one of her favorite activities. after examining the charred mess, the fire dept. suspected that the valve on the propane tank was faulty, and that was what caused the fire. what are the chances of that? i'm thinking that i was just my bad luck rearing its ugly head. anyway, because the tank was so messed up and still leaking, they decided to haul it out into the yard and let the propane continue to leak out little by little until it was empty. this took about 3 hours. i'm so thankful that nobody was hurt, and that the fire didn't spread. since ben has spent so much time away from home and i have been forced to fend for myself, i have developed quite a case of invincibility. now i have to admit that i'm a little bit apprehensive to get near a grill again. that was scary! i think i'll leave that job to my husband from now on!