Spice Drawer Horrors

I know this isn't quilt related, but it could be...if you got sick from it and weren't able to sew because of it. I have a spice drawer, like I suspect 99% of the people reading this have. I don't replace my spices regularly, but that is going to change. The spice company hasn't put their spices in these small metal tins for years. And who knows how long I had this container before they quit using the metal tins? Ugh. I knew I was going to need the dry mustard for a recipe yesterday so I bought a new container (little plastic round one - so cute!) and dug this old one out of the drawer. And threw it away.

I need to go through the drawer and get all the yucky stuff out of it. I should also throw out what my children call the 'sentimental' jar of parsley. My great grandpa used to have a huge garden and he dried parsley and other herbs. I have a jar of parsley from him, but it's not useable. Great grandpa died in 1991, so it's no good, I just hate to throw the jar out with the slip of paper in his handwriting that says 'parsley'. maybe I'll throw the contents out, and save the paper and jar.

Last night I made baked macaroni and cheese along with some baked chicken breasts. The mac and cheese could have been creamier, but it was still pretty darn good. I made a pretty big casserole dish of it. This morning when I went to make a plate to take to work for lunch I couldn't find the leftovers in the fridge. I finally found them, in the bottom of the vegetable drawer with all kinds of produce piled on top of them. My daughter hid the leftovers! I guess she liked it...

I got pretty shook up last night. Let me explain a couple things about my little town. When there is an emergency call, they blow the fire whistle to call all the volunteer firemen and paramedics. I think they also have radios and scanners, but they also blow the whistle. The whistle is blown once at 5pm every day. My husband likes to say "oh, boy, quittin' time!" It is also blown the last Thursday of the month three times in a row at 7pm for the monthly meeting. So any other time it blows, it is blown twice for an emergency call.

Well, at about 7:30 last night the whistle blows twice. Both my kids were home and my husband was at work. I sent him a text message asking if he was okay - I always do a head check when there is an emergency call. He sent me one back saying yes. I didn't think much about it again, except when my son said he was going to a friends house about 10 minutes later. I told him to be careful because I had heard the whistle and there might be emergency vehicles on the road he would need to be aware of.

My son left and a few minutes later he calls me and says there is a lot of emergency equipment blocking the road to his friends house and that there was a car off the road about 20 yards in the field, flipped over. He said he couldn't get through and was going to go around the country way.
I no sooner hung up the phone than my daughter gets a call from one of her friends, who happens to be the sister of the friend my son was going to see. The sister was going home and couldn't get through for the same reason, but she got out of the car to see who it was. It turns out it was the son of one of my friends' and he had a girl in the car with him. Totalled out his mother's brand new car. He and the girl were both okay and I know for sure he came home last night from the hospital. I don't know about the girl, but was told she was okay. It's a miracle either of them lived. The car is crunched up pretty bad. So that really shook me up. There by the Grace of God go I. It could have been my kid and I thank God that it wasn't, and I also thank God that the kids involved are okay. Cars can be replaced. People can't.

Tell your family you love them. Every time they walk out the door.