November 17, 2008

• Crazy Weekend

  I actually think that's an understatement -- I haven't yet come up with the right adjective to describe this weekend!

  You may have read about the wildfires in California last week. There were the fires up near Santa Barbara, but over the weekend, wildfires also popped up in Orange County -- specifically, in Corona, Brea and Yorba Linda. As a California resident, I hear about these wildfires all the time, but I've never personally been affected by them ... until Saturday. My mom and sister live in Yorba Linda, and their condo nearly burned down!

  Johnny, Jack and I had planned to stay overnight at my mom's on Saturday, because we were going to meet up with some friends in Irvine on Sunday, and it's much closer to drive from Yorba Linda to Irvine than it is from our place in West LA. We were on our way when we heard about the fire. It seemed pretty well-contained at that point, and we were already in the car, so I told my mom that we were still coming. After all, it seemed pretty unlikely that the fire would actually reach where she lived. When we arrived, we saw smoke over the hills, and helicopters flying overhead, dumping water on the fire. We went inside, and Charles and Johnny began making statements like, "Maybe we should pack up and leave." We saw a few neighbors packing up their cars, but for the most part, people were sticking around. June and I made fun of the boys for being such scaredy-cats. At this point, we couldn't see the flames.

  All was well until about 5:30 p.m. We played with Jack, hung out and discussed which movie to watch after dinner. I was really tired and looking forward to putting Jack to bed and relaxing with the adults. At 6 p.m., I put Jack in his high chair and gave him the special dinner of delicious rice noodles that my mom had made for him. That was when Johnny and Charles proclaimed that you could see the fire from the living room window, and that the fire trucks were here. I ran to the living room, and while you couldn't see the flames, you could definitely see a firey orange-red glow from just beyond the next row of townhomes! It was supposed to be pitch black outside, since the sun had set, but instead everything was glowing, and it looked foggy out because of all the ashes. Johnny ran outside and spoke to the firefighters. We had to leave at that very moment.

  Thank goodness Jack was a trooper. He sat in his high chair in the living room, eating his dinner all alone, while the rest of us frantically packed some stuff up.  Luckily, my mom is really organized, so all of her and my sister's important papers were already in a fireproof box, ready to go. It was hard to decide what to take -- none of my stuff is there, per se, but it's all our family's furniture, photo albums, my grandma's things, not to mention my mom and sister's clothes, TV, everyday items. Charles and Johnny made trips up and down stairs to pack up the cars -- our RAV4, my mom's Highlander, June's Mini Cooper and Charles' two-door. I wanted them to come to our place, but my mom decided that they should go over to my Aunt Kathy's, because she lives closer (but not in the realm of the fires), and it would be easier for them to come back and check on things if the freeways were closed. So we reluctantly parted ways. Jack was visibly scared, but he didn't cry -- he just frantically looked around as we all raced around.

  Johnny and I made the long, trafficky drive back to LA. The inside of our car smelled like a giant cigarette. While en route, I called June and learned that they had made a second trip back before going to Aunt Kathy's, to get my mom's prescriptions and some more of my grandma's things. The firefighters had left after everyone evacuated, and they could see the flames on the row of condos behind theirs! Fire was also approaching from a second side, and it was really hot out. So at that point, we were more than 99% certain that their condo would burn, and we were so heartbroken. All of our stuff, all of my grandma's things, would be gone.

  After we got home, I put Jack in his crib (he didn't even wake up when I changed him into his PJs, he was so exhausted), and then just kind of sat around in a daze. I couldn't sleep, either. At 2 a.m. I sat up because a little voice in my head told me to call the condo and see if the answering machine still worked. I was so nervous as I waited five rings. Then I heard June's voice -- she's the one on the outgoing greeting. I've never been so happy to hear my sister's voice in my life! I woke Johnny up and asked him if that meant the condo was safe. He replied that that was likely because the electrical wiring would have been the first thing to go if the fire got to it. Woo-hoo! After that, I couldn't fall asleep. Finally I couldn't wait any longer, and at 7 a.m. I called my mom to tell her. Yesterday, she, June and Charles went back to their neighborhood, where police had cordoned off access to the homes. At 4 p.m., they were finally allowed in, where they found that everything was OK! It's truly miraculous that the firefighters stopped the fire right before it reached their condo. Johnny made a trip out there after we got that call from them, to deliver the stuff in our car, and mostly to see for himself that they were OK.

  Thanks for reading, if you've made it this far! On a lighter note, I do have some pictures of Jack to share, taken in the last few days:

  Jack being silly on the couch before bedtime

  

  

  Jack making his monster face and playing upon waking up

  

  Notice his wild hair? Well, since we're going to Michelle's wedding this weekend, we took him to Fantastic Sam's for a haircut yesterday afternoon while waiting for news from my mom and June. It turned out well!

  New cut (in the last pic, Jack is holding a cheddar cheese stick, while Atari is practically drooling. Alas, Jack didn't share. He loves cheese sticks!)

  

  

  And I also have two videos.

  Here's Johnny making Jack laugh before bedtime. It's kind of long (1:15, I think), but the beginning is fun, and the very end is also cute -- Jack blows a kiss!

  And here's a short one of Jack using the computer. I love how he looks at the screen after punching a few keys.

  Hope you all had a safe weekend, away from any fires!

  • 3:45 pm
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