Monday Moments...

It’s Monday again….time to smile, time to laugh, and time to slow down and see the humor in life around us.
“Fire & Water”
Ok, so I admit that I have had a few “oven” incidents in my years a cook. And we’re not talking about burning toast either. However, due to the Lord’s grace and working smoke alarms there have never been any situations that require the fire department….

However, a few months ago, I was cooking dinner and talking to my sister on the phone at the same time. I had a steak that I was broiling in the oven, so I slid it on the top rack, and continued my conversation.

Little did I know, SOMEONE (we won’t say who…but it might have been someone’s whose name starts with an S and ends in tacy.) had moved the oven rack up a rung or two, so the steak – which was quite thick – was pressed up against the coils.

I turned from my vegetable chopping to see large amounts of smoke pouring out from the stove’s back burner. Cracking the door open, I could see that the top layer of meat was um…baking….. with flames dancing happily away.

Hey, everyone loves barbecue, right?

“I’ve gotta go! The steak’s on fire!” I yelled into the phone.

I hung up to the sound of my sister’s laughter ringing in my ears.

Thankfully, with the oven off, the flames quickly died down, and I was able to salvage the rest of the dinner, even though my family refused to eat the black meat on the top…..I told them that charcoal aids in digestion, but no dice...

I didn’t need any water to put out my little “steak fire”, but if I did my friend Nicole would have had plenty to spare.

This little incident happened just last week, as I was visiting one of my dearest and bestest friends (and her cutie-patootie son).

She had made me a snack (she always knows what to feed me to make me feel GREAT!) and had asked if I wanted something to drink.

“Just a glass of water….thanks”

Realizing that their water cooler was empty, she headed out to the garage for a new five gallon jug. She removed the empty jug, and heaved the full bottle onto her hip. She was getting to make the final “swing” that would put the container into it’s new resting place, when her grip slipped and the container fell onto the wood laminate floor.

It bounced once, then, it happened….. a giant crack which soon become a giant split and then, “GA-BOOSH!!!” – five gallons of water rushed over the floor, under the table, and behind the refrigerator, and over our bare feet.

Now drenched in water up to her ankles, Nickle-Pickle quickly rushed to the garage for the handy-dandy Wet & Dry shop-vac. She called her husband to inform him of the situation (“I flooded the kitchen!”) and then set about plugging in and turning on the blue canister vacuum.

With a giant whir, the machine roared to life, and we proceeded to watch the vacuum slurp water down it’s giant black tube. The only problem was that the slurping quickly turned to sipping….it simply wasn’t sucking much up. Looking behind her to see the problem, we saw a giant lather of foam had been squirting out the back of the vacuum and all over her kitchen counters, floor, etc.

At this point, we lost it. I had to sit down to stabilize my pregnant belly, completely shaking with laughter. Nickle-Pickle had to lean on a counter to hold herself up. Once we regained composure, we mopped up the rest of the water with beach towels, and left her floor sparkling clean.

Now, although you might be doubting my ability to broil things in the oven, or Nickle-Pickle’s ability to sling large jugs of water, rest assured that it is our pleasure (thanks for the help Nickle-Pickle!) to bring a smile to your face today! Blessings!