Where there's propane

...there's fire!

Kind of frightening to see your grill ablaze in orange flames and not the decal kind that you see on those choice rides driven by people of certain ethnicities.

No, these flames were throwing off some heat... a real live grease fire. I was preheating the grill for the barbeque that the kids wanted and I had it on high to burn off the grilling grates a little. I was just getting ready to turn it down when Julie pointed out that the grill was on fire. I couldn't tell how much it was on fire with it closed and so I opened it to see... well... everything orange. YIKES! So I quickly turned off the tank and watched the smoke turn black like when you know, you see something on fire before it gets put out.

It was Julie to the rescue as she quickly went in and got some baking soda... luckily it did the trick and unlike previous mishaps I've had with grills in my developing years, no hairs were singed this time.

LORD OF THE FLIES...

Lord of the fruit flies that is. Let's go back a few weeks or so ago, Julie purchases some nectarines and brings them inside. Along with the nectarines some apples were bought and brought into the house. David Copperfield ain't got nothing on these pieces of fruit. Yup, they plum disappeared. Then the regional invitations went out to all the fruit flies and we became party central for the fruit flies... knowing all along it was the disappeared fruit that was causing this invasion. Try as we might... and we did... we could not find said disappeared fruit. The flies could, but they weren't telling. We couldn't tell either where they were coming from, just that they seemed to be everywhere. For some unknown reason, they like to congregate in the bathroom... maybe their vanity gets the best of them.

Anyway, after much "where the hell are those nectarines" cries, Julie finally found them... well what was left of them... seems the flies don't do well with the pits. We do feel a little better knowing that we found the elusive nectarines since the fruit fly population is slightly thinned. The apples are still at large!

AND...

Not to be forgotten or overlooked, Ana had her first encounter with the toilet, as in her first seat to TCB. While it may be a fluke (the movement of the moment) it's a step. One step towards finally breaking free of diapers... 12 of our 14 years of marriage has been spent changing diapers.

KEIYTAP

Like the counter says...

Zero days until Rachael's birthday... so that must mean it's today!

Happy Birthday Rachael!

She's on the downslide into 10... she's six today.

I realize that when some of you might be reading this, it will still be in countdown mode. I'm still toying with the gadget and am working with figuring out the hours and minutes. Then again, by the time some of you read this, the countdown to Rachael's birthday will be replaced with another countdown.

When you think that you've seen it all...

you're enlightened. To put it another way... you ain't seen nuthin' yet.

It's funny, not funny ha ha, but funny in an irony sort of a way... sort of. One would think that having six children would expose you to just about anything and everything. You'd think that. Then one day it happens, something that hasn't happened before. Today was such a day.

Late this afternoon, Nick was mowing the lawn and I was sitting keeping an eye on him. After he was about half way done with the front, I went in the backyard to get the leaf blower and the cord... using it to blow the excess clippings around and keep them from clumping in the lawn. Anyway, Nick proceeds to finish and I (like I said) am busy getting all the clippings redistributed. Nick manages to finish mowing the back before I finish with the blowing of said clippings. I'd like to add (at this point) that Jake, Rachael and Lyndsey are all in the backyard playing and swinging and so on.

I make my way to the back yard to investigate if there are any stray clippings that need tending to in the backyard. Nick has since gone in after having put the mower in the shed. It's at this moment that I see Lyndsey kind of crying sitting at the bottom of the slide. I turn off the blower and ask what happened (to Lyndsey) and Rachael replies, "She stuck something in her nose."

I ask, "What was it?"

"I don't know."

"Lyndsey, what did you stick up your nose?"

Just a shoulder shrug.

"Rachael, why didn't you or Jake stop her?"

"We didn't see her."

"Then how do you know she stuck something in her nose?"

"Cuz Jake saw her."

This is where I grimace in disbelief and shake my head... this is also when Julie pops her head out the back door and asks, "What's going on?" I explain that Lyndsey has put something up her nose and no one here seems to know what it was.

So Julie takes her in as I finish up. I go inside to see that finally Julie managed to coax Lyndsey to blow her nose. The biggest problem... outside of her shoving something up her nose... is that she's crying and her nose is getting (as we call it) schnoodley and her natural instinct is to sniff... to keep it from running out her nose and down her face. Only one side was running so whatever she got up there was sealing it off.

What was it you ask? A small plastic bead (about the size of a pea and apparently a perfect fit) that she found on the ground. Naturally it fell from the sky and was a gift from the heavens as it wasn't recognized by anyone.

Well... five down and one more to go.

KEIYTAP

Ooh, ooh That Smell...

Can't you smell that smell?

Ahh... pullin' out some more lyrics there... Lynyrd Skynyrd this time.

Okay then, the best smell poll is closed and my readership must be slipping. I know... who wants to pick up an old news paper and keep reading the same article over and over? Maybe if your wrote more frequently Jeff they might be inclined to read and vote. Oh well...

I just wanted to mention what got me started on that last poll in the first place. We have to go back a few weeks first. I was working on the deck, painting house trim prior to its going on the house. As I was doing that, my neighbor came out and started grilling at some point, or so I thought. See he has a grill with a side burner on it and he was using that to cook up something. I mention to him that it smells like bacon (that he's making) to which he replies, "It is." A moment later, I said, "Did I mention that it smells good?" He just smiled and nodded his head... probably in amusement knowing that he was driving me crazy with that bacon smell wafting over.

side note: Perhaps you're pondering why the heck he was outside frying up bacon on his grill... why not inside on the stove? Well maybe he's avoiding having to clean up the grease spatters. Actually, he totally gutted and renovated his entire house (extensive termite problem) and doesn't have their kitchen complete.

Anyhow, for me, you can't beat the smell of bacon. Then that got the wheel turning and I wondered who doesn't like the smell of bacon? I suspect it's a short list. Even if you don't eat it you still have to bow to it's enticing smell. It's just one of those smells that you mostly hear people say "Oooo... bacon." So it was this particular smelling of the bacon got me thinking about what things do people find alluring or perhaps enticing to smell? Hence the smell poll.

For the record, chocolate chip cookies (or other type of cookie) took the top spot with all of 4 votes followed by a tie (with three each) between bacon and cinnamon rolls/bread. Emmah couldn't help herself and didn't adhere to the 'only three' rule and proceeded to pick eight!

Me personally, I like them all (obviously) that's why they were there. To me each and everyone of those smells solicits or triggers a response. Even though I don't drink coffee anymore, the smell of fresh ground beans still reminds me of (I think I got this right) the A & P grocery stores. I realize that some stores have grinders in the aisles today, but for quite some time they didn't and the only memory I have is of the A&P... which I see have all moved to the East coast now, mostly the New York area.

Sorry drifting there...

Anyway, time to think of another poll, but first bedtime.

KEIYTAP