One of the first things Marshall did when he moved in with us was get a fire extinguisher. He mounted it next to the stove. My response?

I was HIGHLY insulted. Good grief....was my cooking THAT bad? Sheesh

I relegated the extinguisher to the broom closet and forget all about it.

Last night I stood up late. I couldn't sleep. I was up playing here. About 2:00am I decided I should get to bed. I turned off all the lights and laid down next to Marshall thankful that it was a cool breezy night. I had a hard time going to sleep. Weird, strange, scary images kept flashing through my mind. I remember thinking that I should get up because something just felt weird. I ignored my feelings and finally fell asleep.

Have you ever woken up and thought you were in a dream? I woke up at 6:00am to a high pitch screeching and I immediately jumped out of bed. It was the strangest thing but I knew instantly what was wrong.

Fire

I ran out of my room and saw my desk up in flames. Not just a little fire but huge flames shooting up and spreading up the wall. I screamed for Marshall and he came running out. I froze. I couldn't move. I started babbling something about the fire extinguisher and he ran to the broom closet, got the extinguisher and quickly put it out. Fire alarms are still screeching and the house quickly fills with thick acrid smoke. Did I mention he sleeps with no clothes on? Here he is extinguisher in hand and buck naked. I quickly brought his pants. We open the front door and all windows. Anthony started crying so I took him to the closest window and sat holding him as Marshall cleared all of the smoldering debris off of my desk. I can still see the fire in my mind. Dancing flames shooting up around my computer monitor. I am in complete shock. It takes some time before I get the courage to see the damage.

Everything on my desk is pretty much gone. Papers, bills, shit, everything up in ashes. I look around and see ashes everywhere. If you look at my computer monitor from the front or the right side view it looks perfect.....look around to the left side and it is completely melted. Amazingly it still works! My computer desk, which at one time I complained that we got ripped off on, kept everything else underneath from burning and because it has a shelf up above it pretty much kept the fire contained.

Did I mention I had forgotten to blow out a candle burning on my desk? How many times have I heard my stepfather bitch about candles? I always laughed him off. Now I look at the damage on my desk and realize how lucky I was. Everyone is safe, no one was hurt, it could have been a hell of a lot worse than it was. My stepsister came downstairs (our house is a duplex, she lives upstairs) freaking out. I don't blame her. In my panic I completely forgot that smoke rises. Her house filled with smoke as well and the worst part? She has been telling my stepdad that she needs smoke alarms and she doesn't have any! As you can probably imagine she was slightly upset. I don't blame her.

Maybe 15 minutes passed after the fire is out and my mom calls. She of course already knows about it. Her concern? That my stepfather was going to be upset. Did I mention he hates candles? I understand what she was saying but give me a F***ing break! I am just so thankful that my kids are safe and no one was hurt that at this point I don't give a shit what he says. Does she think that I don't already feel like shit over this? She asked me what I was going to tell him? Give me a break! What should I tell him? That my computer just spontaneously combusted? Sorry for the sarcasm here but I am slightly stressed.

Through all of this Marshall stood calm. I'm glad one of us was. Considering that he once had a house burn completely to the ground because of his exgirlfriends kids playing with matches I think he took it quite well. He keeps calling me from work to see if I am ok. He keeps telling me that this happened for a reason and that because of it we will always be more careful that could/would prevent a bigger tragedy in the future. He keeps telling me that the Gods were looking out for us. For that I am thankful.

I took a picture of my computer but in the chaos my printer which I use to download my digital pics got disconnected. Once I get it up and running I will post a before and after photo of my poor desk. No damage other than melting plastic to my computer monitor. Isn't that amazing? I am just in complete shock! lol Did I say that already? Even the walls aren't damaged other than the mess made by the extinguisher. You know something? Until Marshall moved in I have NEVER had a fire extinguisher in my house! I am telling you right now....if you don't have one in your house GET ONE!!!

And of course.... don't forget to blow out your candles.

Okay, now I think I am going to go have a nervous breakdown!