That's it, the semester is officially OVER!!! This is the reason that my diary entrees have gone from about 3-4 a week to ZERO!! I have been stressed to the max and trying to keep my mind occupied with musical terminology, geological facts and psychological stuff. I finished last Thursday with my Geology final and have been semi-stress free since. I say "SEMI" because this weekend which was supposed to be full of kid sitting, cooking and relaxation, turned into a flame filled stress fest! Here's the story. Thursday after my final, I headed over to the house of a family from church that I was going to watch for the weekend while they went to a wedding in Nauvoo, Illinois. I got there around 12:30 and started watching the two youngest of the four. A*, who is 2 1/2 and M* who is 8 mos. All seemed fine, M* fell asleep first, A*, not long after. Around 3:40 as I was waiting for the 3rd and 4th children to return home from school, A*, the oldest boy at 8 came home and I waited for C*, the second oldest, 6. I was standing at the door when this man walks up to the door and says, "It looks like smoke or something is coming out of the house." Hmmm, ok, well I looked in every room of the house, couldn't find where it was coming from, until BANG BANG BANG!!! this woman comes pounding on the door, "Smoke is coming out of the attic!!" So, I grabbed coats and shoes and got M* out of her crib and rushed outside, to find C* just barely getting off the bus. I, being barefoot, got the kids in the van and drove to the other side of the loop they live on. From there we could see dark smoke billowing out of the side windows of their attic. I took the kids to a neighbors' house who I also know from church and had them go inside....I mean, watching my house burn down at 23 would give me nightmares for years, so I didn't want them watching. Anyway, the fire dept. showed up not long after calling, (that's the good thing about living on post, they hardly get any action so they're right on time.) Anyway, this guy in like a space suit climbs on top of the roof and cut a hole in it. He flies back from the back-draft, off the roof and flames are shooting out of the attic. They load the house with water and start rushing all of their things out of the house to try and save stuff. They put it into the empty house across the street and amazingly, nothing is damaged. At this time, the parents return after being called, thank heavens they were only in Louisville at the time, rather than halfway to Nauvoo. They are amazing, they laugh about how if I didn't want to babysit, all I had to do was tell them, not burn down their house. They are so grateful that everyone was ok and that none of their stuff was lost. The only thing that made her cry was the generousity of everyone. Within an hour from the fire starting, the house the kids were in was filled with diapers, formula, baby clothes, kids clothes in every size, toys, you name it, it was there! Absolutely amazing!! I couldn't believe how they all pulled together and helped out...I have new faith in the army and the people in it. Well, about five hours later, the whole thing hit me....my stomach started to cramp really bad and I was really nervous about the stress I had put the baby through. I had called Joe and asked him to come over, he had just barely gotten back from the field, I was so grateful for that, and he came over and made me go home. IT turns out that the fire was started by an wiring problem in the attic and it had been smouldering for hours. I went back over to help the next day for about 6 hours and it's amazing what we got accomplished. The new house is getting close to normal. It was tough because everything was just kind of thrown in their in hopes of getting it all out before the roof collapsed or rain came. It was a stressful, but faith building weekend. I am trying to take it easy now, I worry about all that stress and the effects of it on Luke. So, anyway, still trying to help them get their home in order, but trying not to lift or stress. Joe will have my head if he hears of me lifting anything. I am excited though, this is Joe's last week of Officer Basic Course and we leave this place for good!! YEAH!! I can't wait to get out of this one-room smoke stack!! I swear everyone and their dog smokes!! WHY?!?!?!? I just don't get it, the smell that FILLS our room everytime someone walks near it with a cigarette is just NASTY!! Stale, rotten....just nasty!! Why anyone would even pick one up is WAY beyond me. So, since Kentucky is known for it's high rate of smokers, I am assuming Colorado will be much better, plus we will actually have a house and those who do smoke won't be near enough to it to stink it up!! Ok, enough ranting. Now that you all know EXACTLY how I feel about cigarettes, I'll go. Things are good here, just so excited to leave!! Love ya'll!!

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