Embarrassing Moment of the Year

This past Saturday, we had our fireplace going and it was a lovely, cozy morning in the Kim household. After about 45 minutes, I went upstairs and noticed that it smelled like gas. We turned off the fireplace and started to open windows, but the smell was not going away and we were getting pretty worried. So, we decided to call the fire department, worried that there was an unknown gas leak somewhere. We sent Katelynn in the backyard into her sandbox.

Then Gene noticed something rather important: I had never opened the flue.

Right after he noticed this, we heard the sirens blaring. Three fireman in their full suits, wearing oxygen tanks, came into our house to a very embarrassed Katie. They were very nice about the whole thing, and made sure our house was not full of dangerous carbon monoxide, then went on their way. Katelynn was very excited by their big suits and the huge red fire truck. She stood on the front lawn in her PJ's, waving good-bye.

I haven't used the fireplace since...