Wednesday, March 10, 2010

Where There's Smoke, It Stinks

On Monday, I decided to make Red Beans and Rice for dinner--a family favorite. I use the quick soak method, so I usually put the beans on in the morning to boil, and then turn them off and let them set for a few hours before cooking them. We left for speech therapy about 10 and when we got home two hours later, the smoke alarm was going off and the house was completely filled with smoke. I had forgotten to turn the beans off! Thankfully, there was no fire, so I immediately turned the stove off and took the pot of beans outside where the grass was wet and there was a light rain falling. Then I ran around opening all (39!) windows and turning on ceiling fans. I made the kids go outside because the smoke was burning my throat and eyes.
Well, it's Wednesday and the house still stinks. It smells like someone's house who's been smoking for 30 years. It's been nice enough outside, however, that I can open all the windows during the day, but the raw throat, eyes, sneezing (I'm allergic to smoke), and persistent headache are getting old--really fast. It was the first time I've actually been GLAD to go to speech (ha!) just so I can get out of the house. All during speech, though, I wondered if the therapist assumed I had taken up smoking since all of our clothes smell like stale smoke! lol!
I stopped by Wal-Mart on the way home and got a mega tub of disinfectant wipes to wipe down EVERYTHING, some big odor neutralizing ("Ideal for smoke") air fresheners, a bottle of white vinegar, and air-neutralizing Glade. I've got bowls of baking soda and bowls of white vinegar sitting around. I've been washing anything with fabric that I can. We don't have curtains, and we only have carpet in the school room which we've let baking soda set on overnight. Any other ideas for getting the stench out quicker? HELP!

1 comment:

  1. Oh no!! I did that once, but thankfully it was only a tea kettle so it just boiled a bunch of water and nothing caught fire. I didn't start doing stuff like that til I had 3 kids... maybe our brains are just working overtime?! :) I will pray for you all, though, and for wisdom for you with all the smoke. I know when I make big mistakes I can tend to play out the scene over and over in my head. My husband always reminds me that, when it was just a mistake and not a sin, I need to just learn what I can from it and move on. These things also help me to humbly be more patient with the children! :)

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