A Day That Won't Be Forgotten

Yesterday we had one of those days I know I'm not going to forget.

When we woke up yesterday morning, we came out to our living room and the whole house smelled like skunk. Really strong, smelly skunk. It smelled so bad, I thought a skunk had crawled under our house and died.

The night before I had listed a bunch of our furniture for sale on Craigslist. I had about 15 people scheduled to come over to see about buying all of our nice furniture from our old house. We just moved all of our furniture from Pasadena, and it was all stored in our garage. In the few months that we were living at this new house, I had bought a bunch of furniture on Craigslist...so there was no room in the house for our old furniture. Hence, the garage was piled high from floor to ceiling with everything...dining chairs, table, bookshelves, clothing, baby stuff, books, photos frames, suitcases, rugs...just everything.

I went outside to see where the skunk smell was coming from, and it was pretty darn clear. That smell was coming from INSIDE the garage.

I had been noticing a cat had been going in and out of the little door opening in our garage for the past few days. I now realize that it was not a cat. It was a skunk.

The skunk sprayed the entire contents of our garage...all of our furniture...and everything I was selling on Craigslist. I am not sure what set him off. Maybe all the fireworks our neighbors are still setting off at night?

Meanwhile, we had planned mid-day to go to Santa Monica to see a dishwasher this lady was selling on Craigslist. We loaded both girls in the car (we all had to go because we were going to be moving it down a few flights of stairs and Mr. Mustard needed my help). Well, because of traffic (and now I remember why I can't stand Santa Monica), it took us about an hour to get to the house. Then, no one was home! So, we waited half an hour, and the lady wasn't there...so then we got back in the car and headed home with nothing to show for our little two hour detour in the car.

We stopped for lunch, and then Paprika had been begging...begging to go to the beach. So, we said okay and went home and grabbed our suits. Just as we were pulling up to the beach, and it started pouring rain. In the middle of July, in beautiful sunny Southern California, where it almost never rains, the sky opened up and the floodgates started pouring down on us. Paprika was like, "I don't CARE if it's raining! Let's go to the beach anyway!"



So...we did. We went to the beach in the pouring rain. And then, eventually, it stopped raining, thank goodness. And then we went and got freshly made ice cream. Chocolate with sprinkles. Paprika's favorite. That was good.

But all those Craigslist people? Some came by to see the furniture. But no one bought anything. And after smelling our house, I would say, I wouldn't have bought anything either. They probably had to brace themselves not to throw up on our floor.

We have been trying everything to get the skunky smell out, but...nothing is working. So, we have our windows open, our scented candles burning...and we're learning to live with the funk of the skunk.

Good times!