Sorry, I was late, I was putting out a fire!

So, my son, Orrin's, best friends, Cameron and Conner (twins), lit their grandparents' house on fire. I was knee-deep in a crazy night with a dinner to deliver, a talent show to get the kids to, and a school dance to get my oldest son to. Dinner was cooking on the stove and my son, Orrin, leaves to return a toy gun to his friends. About a minute later, Orrin returns, frantic, telling me about the fire.

So, I run over there and sure enough . . . flames are leaping up the side of the house. I run home to get a fire extinguisher, but I can't get the darn thing to work. So I barge into the adjoining yard, grab their hose, and start squirting the fire and the gate and the fence. The water-pressure sucks something awful, but another neighbor gets a second hose on it and a couple fire extinguishers.

Finally, we all put it out. 15 minutes later, the fire trucks show up. Meanwhile, my dinner was burning on the stove. I almost started my own fire. We were late to everything that night . . . but what a good excuse. It turns out the twins were lighting toys on fire with lighters.