I don’t know about you, but when I think of things that are fun to do at 4:30 in the morning, sitting in an ambulance wearing only a quilt and woolly boots is right up there.

Well, and pajamas, yes, but no one was going to see THOSE.

We woke early this morning to our fire alarm having a hissy fit and the distinct, cringe-worthy smell of smoke.

After checking to make sure that we weren’t the ones that set everything off (did we leave the cider on? The tree plugged in? are we running a meth lab?), we grabbed something to cover ourselves and ran out to the front porch, where we met our neighbours and their baby. Catherine called 911 and within another couple moments, our downstairs neighbour had joined us, too.

Fully clothed, mind you. With his laptop bag. Smart guy.

I started thinking of all the things I should go in and grab, but then we heard the sirens.

Lots of sirens.

And then they arrived.

Four police cars with eight police folks.

One ambulance with two paramedics.

Two fire engines with at least nine firemen.

My goodness.

Gorgeousness all around, and me looking like an ottoman with a bad slipcover. Ole!

They looked a bit hesitant to go in the house (given the uncertain origin of the smoke) but in a few moments, they were tromping about on all levels.

And instead of worrying about the place burning into oblivion, I was asking myself sage questions like:

Do I have bad breath?

Did I leave underwear on the floor?

How does one accentuate one’s figure with a blanket?

Sigh. Shameful.

They finally loaded us into the ambulance (since the temperature was well into the single digits) and so we (Dean, Karen, baby Presley, Catherine and I) sat and laughed at the fact that Karen had remembered to snag her most expensive purse after taking care of her most important concern (Presley, naturally.)

Oh, and we had to mock my attire. Because I was rocking a look I swore I’d never even try.

Uggs with bare legs.

So how does the story end?

They let us back into our apartment after divining that our furnace motor was on fire (!!!) and pumping smoke through the house. It ceased to be a problem once the furnace was turned off. So we’ll be chilly for a couple of days if our landlord doesn’t get it fixed up soon.

Dean and Karen went off to Starbucks (that baby was UP) and brought me a latte.

I was a half-hour early for work.

I’m frickin’ tired.

And how are you?