I'm over at MidCenturyModernMoms today, begging people to explain how to let my teen daughter indulge in Facebook safely. There have been some pretty helpful comments, too; so any of you wondering the same thing (I mean, about your teenager, not mine, of course) should check them out.
And someone from Glencoe, Illinois, has practically been living on my blog the last few days. I don't mind, but would it kill you to comment? I feel used.
I'm late posting because I made the mistake of asking Larry to ignite the pilot lights on our 2 gas fireplaces tonight. Well, I more than asked - I threatened to try to do it myself tomorrow, because his sister is coming to visit in 2 days and I know she will not enjoy sleeping in a 58-degree basement (albeit on a brand-new Ektorp sofabed). Not wanting to come home from work to find our house blown up, Larry tackled the job this evening.
You would think it would be easy, wouldn't you? Like, maybe an on-off switch should do the trick?
No. That would be too simple, and it wouldn't provide divorce lawyers with any clients. Instead each fireplace has a big plastic card covered with complex instructions interspersed with dire warnings of what might happen if one does not follow said instructions precisely. So our evening consisted of such scintillating conversation as, "Are you sure that's safe?" and "Hold the glass up! I said, hold it up!" and "Do you smell gas? I smell gas."
This was not quality relationship time. And the children learned a few new words.
Have I mentioned this is his sister who's visiting?
Whatever happened to "safe, clean natural gas"?
ReplyDeleteSurely, there's Someone that you're supposed to call to help. Y'know, other than the divorce lawyer...
Relatives are soooo much fun, this is coming from someone who has a big Italian family. I sympathize with you, we just got a queen-sized Aero Bed out!
ReplyDeleteI'm going to assume that the children learned new words such as "Please" and "Thank you".
ReplyDeleteIf the house is cold, maybe she won't stay as long.
I agree with JillyBean. Unless of course you really truly LOVE and ADORE his sister because she is just absolutely wonderful and/or offers to pay a bill or two for you while she's there...then you may want her to stay a little longer so she feels that she's getting good value for her money.
ReplyDeleteI thought I better comment that I was here, I know what you mean about people not commenting, gets you wondering who the heck are you?
ReplyDeleteglencoe, IL. sounds suspicious.
ReplyDeletei have someone in houston who logs in from nasa.gov. eek! keep your eye on the space shuttle!
Sorry to laugh at your expense. I was just so glad it wasn't me. I try to stay out of the way when these things are going on myself. It usually doesn't work, he finds me and makes me join in on the fun. So he can blame it on me if we get blown up. Maybe the Illinois person just got called away from the computer by her husband who needed her to help light the pilot and she just never made it back to comment and her screen just sits there with your blog on it. Sad, really.
ReplyDeleteDo these new words count as a vocabulary unit?
ReplyDeleteHi, I'm not from Glencoe, Illinois, but I have been following your blog for a while. I don't remember how I found my way here, but I so enjoy your posts! I am a homeschooling mom of five, and am somewhat new to blogging. I enjoy having a place to share my thoughts and my favorite recipes. I added your site to my list of favorite blogs.
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing your world with us!
Bev
Okay. Men. Last year my husband was hooking up our gas dryer and wanted to be sure that there were no gas leaks. So he says to me, "Run get the box of matches, I'll just hold a match and see if it flares."
ReplyDeleteAnd he's an engineer. Sheesh.
I like how you threaten blog stalkers to reveal themselves...I'll have to try that sometimes.
I am TOTALLY from Glencoe, Illinois, except for the part where I live in Canada and have never been to Illinois. Otherwise.
ReplyDeleteHey, this was spooky - I kept having someone FROM MY TOWN show up over and over again on my blog - sometimes for HOURS! Who could it be, I wondered? And then my husband solved the mystery: it was me. Ah. Der.
The annual lighting of the gas fireplace. We had ours a couple of weeks ago when my house was about 48 degrees inside and hubby wouldn't turn on the heat. Why DOESN'T it just work to flip a switch?? It really should.
ReplyDeleteI bet Larry's not getting any loving this week!
ReplyDeleteI hate the lighting of gas things. HATE it.
i think the gas company does that for free, don't they? they don't want you to blow up either...
ReplyDeleteDurn those pilot lights anyway! Last house? I just kept it lit year-round, so I could flip a switch when I wanted a fire. But then, I lived near Seattle and that just sorta made sense there. Our fireplace here? It's been turned on once, when the gasman showed me how to do it. Now I just tell the kids to put on a sweater and a hat!
ReplyDeleteMy husband once decided I needed to share the joy of his toy he was so ecstatic over, his gas grill. (If I'd had any idea how much of the cooking he was going to take over, we'd have gotten it much sooner.)
ReplyDeleteI had no desire to touch the thing. He insisted. You do this and this to start it.
I did. Nothing.
THEN he says, did you push the start button? Oh, this? WHOOSH!!! Fireball in my face and an impromptu haircut and thank goodness I wear glasses!
I'm with you: fire is the guy's job. I never touched that grill again. Hold out, I'm right behind you backing you up.
Oops, before I get called out - I'm not from Illinois either, and I don't spend hours here, but I have been popping in from time to time lately.
ReplyDeleteLike tchrbev, I can't recall how I found my way here (Lemony Life, maybe?), but I enjoy reading your blog.
I'll be back. :)
My question-
ReplyDeleteWhy did almost every house in NC have a fireplace, but not so here in frozen WI? Go figure. I don't really know how it works, but I gave you an award today. Somehow I got the authority to do that. So come on over to my blog and and consider yourself officially Excellent in my eyes!
Over the summer I had an unfortunate incident with the gas grill. I'm afraid my eyelashes will never return to their prior lengthy loveliness. And I have someone Googling regularly from Wasilla, Alaska. I'm dying to know who...
ReplyDeleteI know where Glencoe is - but it's not me - I come up as your Wheaton Illinois person - although I'm not in Wheaton, but a different suburb - so your Glencoe person may not really be from Glencoe, but another northern Chicago suburb.....
ReplyDeleteGas scares the poop outta me. Wait...
ReplyDeleteyou know what I mean.
Hubby swore we did not need the heat on yet. It has only been below freezing a few evenings. He would light a fire in the small woodstove in the dining room on nights when it feltt chilly. I woke up this morning too hot. I had a blanket and a flannel sheet over my sheet. Hubby woke up cold and turned the boiler on. If he was that cold, why didn't he attempt to remove any of the 6 window acis that still need to be put in storage for the winter? I'll have to do it tomorrow, after I make apple crisp to use all the apples the littlest rascals took one or 2 bites out of and then left somewhere. I don't have time to make pie crust in the morning and sort laundry before I leave for work. I still have to sew the elastic in Anne's Halloween patterned skirt and hem it, plus cut out and sew her medeval dress for her costume. She took over the washing everyones laundry so I would have time to sew for her. My new (used) sewing machine works okay, though the computerized one works better. If only I could find the game boy and cartidge that control it. The disappeared when hubby left his workshop unlocked...
ReplyDeleteOh, but it's always HIS mother/sister/family. Men just don't care about such minute details because we are there to pick up the slack.
ReplyDeletewe had a gas fireplace, it looked nice when we looked at the house but proved way too impractical and possibly a cause for divorce. So we ripped it out.
ReplyDeleteGuilty as charged...found your site through Dawn, was sick at home on the couch & found myself cracking up over your blog. Kudos! I have to admit I am a *tad* creeped out by the shout out...but nice to "meet" you anyway. I'm current now - I can drop back to a normal level of blog-checking. Also helps that I can get off the couch again. ~Girl from Glencoe
ReplyDeleteI apologize - I didn't mean to creep you out, and I swear I don't even know where Glencoe is. I just like to tease people. And I'm flattered you enjoyed my blog that much.
ReplyDeleteHee hee! Okay, I've already tried to post a comment once but then I got distracted and then I sneezed really hard and hit some important buttons that took me off your page and then there was laundry and lunch and some homeschooling and an ortho appointment and then more schooling and dance and soccer and then bath time and now I'm back.
ReplyDeleteGreat post--if I remember correctly. Oh, yes, great post! You always make me laugh...or think...and sometimes both. I really like that about you...
Blessings!
Ohhhh, the gas issue! I am so freaked by gas appliances. I am sure that if there ever is a chance to blow up a gas appliance, I will blow it up! We, in fact, have a gas grill that I won't light anymore after I heard that my sister-in-law's mother forgot to lift the lid on their grill..she turned on the gas, then ignited it, and BOOM! The top blew clear off the grill..I mean OFF, ripped off its hinges. Now I know that it's common sense to open the lid but what an innocent oversight, with those grave consequences? Not for me! We got a fun bonfire pit/fireplace thingy (looks like a square stone chimney with a fire spot in the center). It also has a grill you can lay over the top. That's where I grill! It's wood burning, nothing to do with gas at all!!!! Made for me!
ReplyDeleteMy wife , Lynners, Turned the camp stove on and didn't know how to use the lighter. A few eyelashes less later she returned to the house to cuss me out. Pretty funny though.
ReplyDeleteOh, I'm also Bonnie's Brother.
ReplyDeleteHi there from Connecticut. I too have probably appeared as a lurker for a while. To be honest, I have no idea (giving it a try here for the first time) on how to "post a comment". I tried on Grosgrain Garage's blog a while back and when I hit "post comment", the whole computer freaked out and I never tried again. I do agree with Glencoe though....love reading and empathizing with your escapades. Ain't motherhood and home ownership grand?!
ReplyDeleteMichele from Connecticut
Choosing a plumber, especially one who is dedicated and efficient, can be a very daunting task. While there are some legitimate trained professionals, there are just as many who do not have your best interests at heart.
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