where there's smoke

we went by J's moms earlier today....when we got there, we had some bags to take out of the car and I swore I heard something beeping...something like a car but it definitely wasn't that....

J went in first and I was a minute or so behind...when I opened the door, the living room was full of smoke...and the beeping was clearly the smoke alarms...the further I went into the house, the thicker and stronger the smoke was...I got to the dining room saw J on a step ladder trying to wrestle a smoke detector off of the wall...

her mother was babbling on about letting a pan burn that she had been cooking the wolf's lunch time hot dogs in...she said she just forgot and luckily the alarms went off and we showed up or she doesn't know what she would have done...she also informed us that she had been able to knock the other alarm down with her cane, but couldn't get it off of the floor to reset it....I always knew she was dangerous with that stick....

we opened doors and windows, cut fans on and had a brief flash of panic, then had some lunch, discussed her pending move into an assisted living facility, visited some more and came home....

now I'm drinking, but just a little and listening to Leon Russell because those two things make me feel better for the moment....

next week I will drop off her deposit at the new place and start collecting boxes from work...time for her and J's brother to start packing....obviously we are hoping it's sooner than later...today was scary...

disclaimer - no, the dude above with the fire tattoo, lighter and cigarette is probably not an appropriate image for this post...sue me