One of those days

I had one of those days today that everything went wrong. I woke up in the morning with a headache and, as usual, went to let the dogs out and feed the cats. But, first, I stepped in the dog poop with my barefoot just as I got out of the bed.

"Perfect! It's going to be a great day!"

I should have gotten up earlier when my pitbull mix Olive was sticking her wet nose in my face.

Oh well, my fault. My headache persisted with sudden dizziness, which I think was a cause of my recent stress, lack of sleep, and low blood sugar that orange juice and some breakfast would fix to some point, and the day went on.

I had a few phone calls, an appointment with my son's mental health caseworker, then responded to a few emails. Nothing big. I planned to do some homework and relax—finally, a quiet day.

And I couldn't have been so wrong about the quiet day! We did homeschool for an hour before the internet stopped working. Temporary outage. No biggie, right. It will be fixed in no time. Wrong again. The internet went back on around 6 pm, just when I was busy making dinner, chasing the muddy dogs out of the kitchen, and dealing with hungry cats. Before we had a chance to eat, I had to wash both dogs, and my son after the mud bath they all took outside. At that time, my son's sister came from work after a very exhausting day she had herself. I made her a plate before my mom called asking for help. Her blood pressure was very high, and she didn't feel well. In the morning, she had a procedure done on her teeth, and it looked like the anesthesia didn't agree with her. Before I packed our bags, I finished helping my son with a bath and asked his sister to make him a plate. She would work the following day, so I had to take Adam, my son, with me. I wasn't sure if I'd go to the hospital that night or let mom feel at ease by being close by.

Ready to go, we got in the car. I was going to pull out and help my son's sister take the trash out. Unfortunately, I was rushing and didn't check if my son had closed the door. I just backed out and heard the noise and my son screaming. Yes, the back door was open even though I reminded him to close it many times. But to make things even worse, I hit the gas meter, and the gas was coming out with a hiss. I cursed loudly. I pulled to the front, closed the door, and then pulled out of the driveway. My son, who has autism, started laughing, but I had many scenarios going through my head and didn't have time to reprimed and teach him.

"I'm so screwed!" I yelled. My son's sister, Sarah, ran to me, asking what had happened. I was already making calls, and just yelled: "I hit the gas pipe! Get your phone! I can't get through to consumer energy!" She ran inside the house to get the phone and started calling to. The smell was getting awful. I told my son to stay in a car that was at a safe distance from home and run to warn the neighbors whose meter I damaged. They run outside with their pets and stayed in safe distance of our houses. I told Sarah to do the same and I myself run inside to get the animals. Sarah ran after me. I got both dogs out to my car, but Sarah struggled with cats, so I returned.

At the same time, we both were making calls. I called 911. They confirmed that I was doing the right thing by getting as far away from the gas leak. I grabbed Ozzie, the male cat but Sarah couldn’t catch Oriana who bit her and hid under the bed. There was no time. I told Sarah to leave her and run. Oriana will be ok somehow. Our lives were more important at that point. After getting all three animals to the car and being aware how strong was the smell, I run to inform people from two more houses next to mine. Then all of us waited outside. The firetruck showed up first. They turned the gas off, joking that I was in big trouble now.

The gas company showed up one hour after. First, they checked the air quality and allowed us to return to our homes. Then they fixed the meter and pipes.

While waiting for help with gas meter, my mother's blood pressure stabilized.

I kept apologizing to everyone and learned that I always must check if all my doors are closed before pulling in or out of the driver as the path is very narrow, and the meters are just in a very uncomfortable spot. I will fix my car door, and it's not a big issue. Everyone laughed this evening off. We saw two possums and a skunk that chased us across the street. Everyone, including animals, was resting well after that incident. I ended up still driving to moms, and now I am here, wondering if I will be in trouble for hitting the gas pipe. The police and gas company took my information down. Is there a ticket for this kind of accident?