"Yes Maam. You should leave the house right now."

So, I have had the gas logs for 9 days now. We have been smelling a slight gas odor since the first usage...every day...and it lingers as long as the logs are lit. I mentioned this to a co-worker and she said the logs need to "burn in" for a few days.

Well, yesterday I was working from home and I let the logs burn to achieve that "burn in." After 3 hours on conference calls I went downstairs to be met with the gas odor and it had lingered up the stairwell too.

Sooooo, I call the gas company to see if this is normal. They connect me to the Emergency Gas Leak department. This VERY calm woman said that they never take a potential gas leak for granted so my case will be classified as an emergency. I am still calm at this point....then she proceeds to tell me that she needs to read their standard safety precautions to me....

1. Do not light a match.
2. Do not turn on a light switch.
3. Leave the domicile.

Uhm....can you back up a moment. Did you say leave the domicile. "Yes Maam" was her reply. "You need to leave the house right now. Immediately." All said in this very calm, "pass the salt" voice.

I sat outside in my car in the driveway waiting for the gas company to arrive. They take potential leaks seriously. He arrived in 12 minutes. He entered the house armed with a spray bottle filled with soap. If you remember from high school chem gas is a kinetic gas and moves (Nathan told me that as I totally did NOT remember!) therefore the soap would bubble if there was a leak. Thankfully NO leak. BUT it may take a couple of months for the logs to "burn in."

Oh well. They are beautiful when lit and keeping us warm. We can deal with the gas odor for a bit. Thankfully it is not Sophie or Gracie blessing us with their odors! ; )

Gas Logs -- WOO HOO

FINALLY gas logs are installed.

Took over a month to get them in from the point of the first call but they are IN. It was quite a ridiculous experience in buying the logs. Tried to save money buying them over the internet but was faced with TERRIBLE customer service from a company in California that I canceled my order. Ended up spending MORE money at a local company but at least I know they are good quality and have good customer service to back it up.

Ahhhh the warmth. And just in time as we had 6 inches of snow last night. Our neighborhood tends to lose power pretty easily in the ice and heavy snow so now I am prepared to at least stay warm if that happens this winter.

Basketball Wrap Up

Matthew finished his basketball season this week. They lost in the semi-finals of the playoffs.

It was sad in that two of the starters got in trouble in school the day before the semi-finals and were not allowed to play. You could see on the boys faces when they came on the court at the beginning of the game that they were not quite themselves. Matthew played an incredible game but got quite frustrated....no doubt about the team not starting off on the right foot but also a little at the refs. That is how things play out sometimes.

Nonetheless, they had a truly fantastic season...and quite good for Carver in many years.

I am SO proud of Matthew. He finally gets a chance to rest over the next few weeks thankfully.

BBall Playoffs

Go Wildcats!

Finished the regular season 10 -2. Playoffs begin this Saturday and looking for the championship.

I love you Matthew. So VERY proud of you.

Good luck Saturday!

Basketball and more basketball

The Wildcats beat Gaffney Middle School tonight. Woo hoo! Matthew has been playing incredible defense. So proud of him.

They are now 9-1.

Tomorrow, weather permitting in N.C., we will be heading to Thomas Jefferson...the team we lost to last week. The boys are stoked to get some bball revenge. This will be our final game before the playoffs next week.

GO MAFFFFFOOOOO!

Bball Update

As of tonight, Matthew's team is now 9-1. They lost their first game. : (

They played Thomas Jefferson - the only other undefeated team. It was a fantastic game. Matthew said it felt like a championship game.

Final score was 59-72.

They had one guy on their team that is 6 ft 5. He could not handle the ball well but he could shoot 3's and made nearly every one of his free throws.

What was completely DISGUSTING is that the refs truly called the game one sided. Our team had 20 fouls....their team had 4! Something is just WRONG with that CRAP!

I must say that despite the loss, our boys held their teams high and showed some incredible and honorable sportsmanship. I love you, Mafffffooooo!

Matthew just posted on his Facebook page a very descriptive comment. He said they he feels down but also accomplished. Hugs my dear son.

Basketball Update

Matthew's team has not lost a game yet thus far.... WOO HOO!

vs. Ewing - 73-55 (7 pts)
vs. Whitlock - 47-22 (2 pts)
vs. Granard - 65-45 (4 pts)
vs. McCracken - 42-37 (7 pts)
vs. Middle Gaffney - 36-33 (6 pts)
vs. Thomas Jefferson - cancelled. Hope to reschedule
vs. Ewing - 52-34 (4 pts)
vs. Whitlock - 49-24 (10 pts)
vs. Chester - cancelled. Hope to reschedule.

Matthew is having a great time with his team as well as the new coach.

I don't want to use the word beginning with "u" for fear it will ruin the winning streak. : )