just another sunday night...

i typically love sunday afternoons. i'm always kinda tired and lazy and just enjoy them. this one was no different. exhausted after a retreat i enjoyed watching a bball game and then the bracket draw with mapboy. i also was enjoying doing my laundry. i actually do like that task - especially with my new washer and dryer.

so last night i had put the last load into the dryer and sat down to check my email, facebook, and blogs. the kids were playing computer games in hubby's office. i got up to get them their vitamins and tell them to get ready for bed. now, the office shares a wall with our dryer. i happened to notice something amiss with the brand new dryer. it appeared to not be spinning, yet bleeping that it was drying. and you know, it smelled a little, let's just say, HOT!

i hit pause but it kept making this strange sound. so i called to hubby. we turned it off and opened it up. by now, it really SMELLED and things seemed a bit hazy around it. as we started pulling the towels out he noticed a big burning spot inside the drum. i stepped outside and thought i saw a glow from the crawl space underneath. so we tell the kids to run outside, the dog follows suit. i go after them and catch the dog and throw him in the car. then i run back inside to get shoes and a sweatshirt for mapboy, the dog's leash and the car keys. all seemed immedietly necessary. hubby had grabbed the phone, headed out the other door, and called 911. we moved the cars and sat in one to wait for the fire department.

now, at this point, i'm slightly freaked. we told the kids to pray and i kept begging God to not let my kids see our house explode! did i mention the dryer was a gas one? explosion was quite possible. mapboy was concerned he'd flunk social studies as his completed biography was inside the house and princess was afraid the library would be mad that their books burned. i reassured them and as all the emergency crew started to arrive they seemed a bit more at ease.

they sat in the car as we explained everything to the volunteers that arrived. i was so thankful that i had yet to see smoke or flames. they entered the house and yes, there was a fire, but it had remained contained in the dryer! they shut the gas off and thoroughly checked the house. now, i felt slightly foolish in that we had 2 townships and 14 emergency vehicles here for this small event, but am so thankful they showed up quickly. the men hauled our dryer outside and assured us the house was fine.

now, when i bought this dryer, our good friend told me he NEVER had to work on this brand....hmm...maybe because it just burns up? seriously, i have no idea what went wrong, but in those moments my emotions were all over the place. from fear to thankfulness to panic to laughter to why did my pastor have to preach the sermon he preached today!

we loaded back into the car and started back up the driveway when our phone rang. remember hubby had it when we left the house. so i answered it. it was my mom. she couldn't hear me too well as we were quite aways from the house at this time, but i think she heard something about moving the car so the fire truck could get out and that we had a fire. i hung up and planned to call her back when we were inside, but she beat me to it. i might have slightly worried her. she was thankful that God had protected us and i am too!

this is the inside of our dryer. my dryer ball is melted to it. you see that goopy swirl? it used to be like that other rim you see. and yes, that is the big orange burn spot. i can't believe that it didn't do one bit of damage to the closet or house...nothing!

although i have rarely ever done this.....you know how they say you should never leave your house with your dryer running. yeah...if we had not been home i'm pretty sure we would have come home to find a pile of ashes!