so much excitement I can hardly stand it

Late this afternoon, upstairs folding laundry, I smelled a peculiar smell. First, it reminded me of the fragrant days living within range of the Houston Ship Channel. Then it just smelled like gas. Lots of gas. In and/or around our house.
I saw Dyami outside. "Do you smell that?" I yelled.
"Yeah," he said, very calmly. "Get the girls and come out here."
I grabbed* my purse and the keys and went outside.

Thus begun a peculiarly leisurely "emergency". We called SDG&E, and they pledged to send a technician before midnight. I walked the girls over to a local restaurant while Dyami waited outside of our house. He loitered there for a few hours, kind of looking like he was staging a sit-in.

By the time Julia, Lucy and I ate** and came back, the gas smell had dissipated. SDG&E still wanted to come. We moved indoors (no smell, no danger??) and evaluated our options. I decided to take the girls to my parents (conveniently) empty house. DYami would stay home, sleep at home, and wait for the technician. And probably watch basketball.

In the end, the technician came (after the girls were asleep off-site), and declared our house fit for habitation. "We got a lot of calls today," he said. "It was probably a ship, or a factory, or something, but no one's fessing up."
Ah, well. We're all safe, and key youngsters are asleep, so I'm happy.

However, I am ready for a very hot bath.

*Ironically, I have been preparing some emergency supplies. None of which were used in this adventure.
**During the dinner, Julia was extremely fussy. I gave her my iPhone as a last-ditch I've-got-to-eat-dinner gambit. I looked over two minutes later and saw (no joke):

CIA NET
PASSWORD:

Hot diggity, did I scramble to get that thing back and undo whatever she had been doing.
Note to child: Do not hack our country's intelligence agency before you're old enough to use the potty.