I really blew it

I have had some really long days & guess that have caught up with me. I was so exhausted yesterday that I came home after my erands & fell asleep on my air mattress in all my cloths around 6pm. I didn't wake up until 4pm & relalized that all the lights in the house were on. I got up & turned off all the lights, put on something more comfortable to sleep in & went back to sleep. I finally woke up around 10am.

I had some an important errand to do today in that I had to write an appeal letter to the patient assistant program for the pain medication I am on. They wouldn't help me because I have the prescription plan for the medicare part D, but with that, I still pay over $5000/year for my med (without that, I would be paying $14,000/year. So they had told me that I could right a letter stating how much I have to pay. Then I needed to go pick up the the physicians part that he had filled out yesterday for me. By the time I got the letter saying exactly what I wanted to say, it was after 2pm. Then I needed to find the Income Tax information. I knew I had printed it out, but it wasn't anywhere I looked, so I decided it would be quicker to just print it out from my computer......NOT!!!! I tried printing & the black ink was out. I couldn't get it to print, so I put an old black cartridge in & it still didn't work........so I went back to looking for the already printed out tax return. I finally found that after 1/2 hour of searching. How anything can take so long to find when I have almost nothing in the house is beyond me.

By the time I got everything together, took a quick shower, as I was drenched after the search, I was ready for the 45 minute trip to the Dr to pick up his part of the application. By that time, the rain was pouring down & the only road to Lexington it through the cascades across the Kentucky river.....a very winding country road. I got to the Dr's office just before they closed & then needed to drive back to the library close to my house where I do all my faxing from........so it was 5:30 by the time I got to the Library & got everything faxed. The place I was faxing it to closed at 5pm, but I figured it was better to get it in today than wait another day.

I decided to stay at the library anyway since they were having a community meeting at 7pm about their expansion plans......so I hung around the library in the reading area getting a chance to look at some of the news that has been going on in the world since I don't have TV, & haven't been looking at the news on the internet, I have been pretty out of it lately.

By the time the meeting got over, it was 9pm & I drove home. I had another meeting that I missed at the extension office but it was over by the time I got done with the meeting at the library....which was fine with me....I was exhausted. I piled myself & my 3 doggies into the house & decided to put dinner on the stove to cook. It was just a frozen dinner that you put in a skillet on medium & cook covered for 12 minutes.

Well, I went upstairs to quickly check my emails. I got sidetracked on one email & started googling some information.....as I was doing that, I felt so exhausted, I laid my head down on my pillow (as my laptop is next to me on my air mattress on the floor of my bedroom). Next thing I knew, I was smelling a horrible smell. It actually woke me up I think....it took me awhile to remember that I had something on the stove & that had to be where the horrible smell was coming from.....burnt dinner I quessed......my few minutes to check my emails turned into an hour catnap. I hurried downstairs to a burnt dinner in my new stainless steel glass coverd frying pan. Burnt to a black crisp....tomato sauce & all. That was a discusting smell for sure. I picked up the pan by the handles & moved it off the burner. I have a glass top electric stove & turned off the burner. I thought I should cool it down a bit before putting water in the pan. I started poking around at the pasta that hadn't burned & there was a bright orange light & a poof sound that came from under the glass top of the stove. That had me worried. I finally got the pan to the sink & added the water to the sizzling, steaming pan. I went back over to the stove & tried all the burners & they all worked. I started thinking about the bright orange light I it seems it might have been a little fire that started & burned out as there was no oxygen inside of the stove area. I have no idea if that is what it was or not. All the burners work....but there is a little fear part of me that wonders it there could be a smoldering something inside of the stove that I can't see. I turned on each burner, expecting them not to work, but they all work, so nothing must have burned up under the stove.

I am nervous about this whole thing as my Mommy dog is in her puppy pen in the kitchen.....I ended up warming up a bit of the BBQ'ed pulled pork I made last week for our womans horse group lunch & some jello salid I had made. The house is filled with the horrid oder of burnt tomato sauce, pasta, & mushrooms.

I am back upstairs on my mattress at my laptop, praying that there isn't anything smoldering in my kitchen stove. I am so exhausted, I can't stay awake much longer, so I am praying for God's protection tonight after I blew it so badly.

I have just been in my house here exactly 1 year. I purchased it on May 15 2007.....what a way to celebrate my 1 year anniversary.....lol.......burnt dinner......yuck. As long as I don't burn my house down.....I will be ok.

I have made a very strict rule for myself......nothing gets cooked on the stove or baked in the oven unless I am in the kitchen with it at all times.....no going upstairs for anything until I have finished cooking what I am cooking cause when I am exhausted, there is nothing that can keep me awake & there is almost nothing that can wake me once I am asleep. My house smells horrible....but I don't want to open it up as it's raining hard outside

Being alone has it's plusses, but I guess one of the negatives is that there is no one there to catch a burning pot. I could have blown it much worse.....I could have started a fire......but I can really see God protecting me all the way here....every minute of my day.

The ongoing saga of my Kentucky life,
Debbie

((((((((((((((((((( Debbie )))))))))))))))))))))))
It sounds like a very scary experience, I'm glad it was only a burnt dinner and you are safe.

Congratulations on your one year anniversary! Boy, after a day like yours, it's easy to believe there's a devil. I'm glad you're okay.

Glad that you're ok - and it was only a burnt dinner. But what a way to celebrate a one year anniversary. I can really relate to being tired and sleeping through things though. I've slept through my last two sat. harp lessons - I think it's our bodies way of telling us to slow down.

hope everything get's sorted out with your meds application.

splitimage

Guess we better send you a smoke detector! I'm glad you're ok.

I could have died from a similar problem, fell asleep forgetting I had something on the burner. If it weren't for my old service dog (who was not trained in smoke alerting) I probably would have succumbed in my sleep. NONE of the 6 smoke detectors went off, and it wasn't until the smoke hit the level of the dog that he alerted (maybe he was sleeping also?)
Even after turning the burner off, and opening the doors of the house, I was still not out of the woods... but seeing outside, with all the neighbors illegally parked in the street, my feeble air-starved brain thought that fire rescue could never reach me. I ended up with pneumonia from that, which also nearly killed me

If you have trouble breathing, see your doctor, ok? Whew! Close call! Maybe put the pup in the pen by your bed?

Hi Deb,
Any way you could take your laptop down into the kitchen with you while you're cooking? I'm glad you're ok, but it sounds as if you're really beating yourself up about this and it was only a mistake. If we ruminate about all the potential "what ifs" of every situation, we'll drive ourselves over the edge.

Congrats on the one year anniversary! You have just survived one helluva year!
Blessings,
Okie

Thanks all,

The house still has that horrible odor of burnt tomato sauce. I was amazed however. The 12 inch fry pan was black.....burnt on black gunk....crispy crud stuck solid. I wasn't sure how it was going to clean up, but wow. It is just like brand new....shiny mirror finish still the same under it all. I had purchased this new cookward off HSN over a year ago....when I was just thinking about my move. It was the 'command Performance" stainless steel cookware with the glass top (I think having the lid on it kept it from catching of fire). It is the most shiny beautiful cook wear I have even seen......so of course, I had to test it.......lol. When I read the reviews on the HSN site, they all said to use 'bar keepers friend' to clean it with. I can honestly say that between having awsome cookward & the "bar keepers friend' cleaning stuff (found at walmart), my fry pan looks just like new.

I had actually burnt water (oh what a wonderful cook I am) when I was heating water for my tea last fall & the bottom of that pan was black....just not the caked on food black that this was. I used the same stuff to clean that one & it turned out as good as new also.

I am glad I didn't ruin my pans or leave them looking horrible. My memory of the mess I made is good enough....I am glad I don't have a constant reminder of my boobo.

As soon as I can get the smell out of the house, I will be even happier.

I do think it was my barking dogs that woke me up & then the smell, jerked me into immediately remembering that I had the dinner on the stove.

I know what you mean about the smoke causing pneumonia. I had that problem with the smoke from a forest fire in California. I ended up with a horrible asthma attack that landed me in the hospital for 10 days with that horrible reaction. When I was growing up, my Grandparents (on my Dad's side) were smokers & my parents would drop me off there for baby sitting. I would always end up with bronchitis everytime I stayed with them for even an evening......I always related getting sick to being with them, only my parents didn't have a clue. The bronchitis attacks & then from the smoggy days in California when I was growing up caused more bronchitis attacks along with getting sick with pneumonia. I am overly sensitive to smoke of any kind. Luckily, there wasn't any smoke in the house from this...only the smell. With the lid on the pan, it kept it in well & then I turned on the stove fan as soon as I got down there & kept the lid on the pan until it cooled down. I think that helped keep the smoke from getting into the house.....but that is also why the smoke detector didn't go off to warn me either.

I have been spraying a good room spray that is supposed to soak up the odors, but it's hard to get rid of that strong of a smell (burnt tomato sauce). It was running a close second to skunk. I am just glad my med controls my migraines cause that smell definitely was trying to do me in.
Debbie

Im glad the pots okay but more importantly, Im glad your okay too!!!

That smell will be gone before ya know it. And yeah, congrats on your one year anniversary!!! Buy yourself something special for the house, even just a bouquet of flowers would be nice!
Take Care....

You might need to wipe down your walls and ceilings? the smoke smell might be attached to the paint or plaster. I assume you don't have central a/c... it took me changing filters so often I couldn't buy enough of them (it seemed)...
Any cloth wall hangins, curtains, etc and towels, bedspread etc might also need to be washed.

Actually I did buy something for the house.....I purchased a pink dogwood tree along with a white dogwood tree to plant.....I think just outside my family room widows. It is the most beautiful room of the house....with the arched windows, & tray ceiling & 2 plate glass windows nest to the sliding door I had put in rather than the french like doors that were in there. The room reminds me of a sun room. I can just picture those trees right outside those windows so in the spring, looking out, I can see the beautiful flowers that cover the dogwood trees in the spring. I am also going to try to find several little red bud trees growing wild that I can dig up & bring to my house & plant all around the grounds. I love trees. The windows of that room look out onto the field that is going to be the pasture for the horses & now will probably be where I put the barn also....& they overlook the woods & open out onto the deck that over hange the back yard with the woods coming right up to the fence. I thought the trees would be the best thing to celebrate the year with....as they are something very very lasting...& only cost $20. You can't beat that for an anniversary present....something to add to the permanent beauty of the house.