Tuesday, August 16, 2011

Where There's Smoke, There's Fire

Contest Winner!! Angela MacIntyre!

Angela, contat me at christie (at) Christie-Craig.com to claim your prize.

Where there's smoke, there's fire.You know that statement really isn’t true. Sometimes there’s smoke. but no fire. Sometime there’s even sparks, and no fire. But it’s almost a guarantee that when there’s smoke, sparks, and flames, there’s gonna be a fire. I know what I’m talking about. You see, hubby has taken up welding.

Now many of you have read the blog about his plumbing attempts. To summarize: The destruction of numerous sheetrock walls, only to realize that it was a leaky faucet. Yeah, I’m not letting him forget that one.

Anyway, I’m here to tell you that he’s not quite as good of a welder as he is a plumber.

Let me set this story up a bit. My office has French doors and two large French windows that face the garage. And my desk faces the French doors. So I can see my dear hubby as he tinkers around in his garage. His recent tinkering involves his new toy: A welder.

Now, you’ve also heard me mention that my husband is a very frugal man. (And this will come into play again in this story later on.) This new toy was going to save him money. He bought the welder, in lieu of paying someone to weld in the floorboards to his much loved antique Falcon that he’s restoring. Personally, I have this image of him driving down the freeway when the floorboard literally falls off. But that is another matter, and possibly a great blog later on.

Anyway, I’m working at my desk, writing some really hot, smoldering scene and all the sudden I’m seeing sparks. Literally. I jump up to check on hubby. He’s down on his knees resting on a three-foot by three-foot piece of thick form padding.

“It’s nothing,” he assures me. “It’s normal.” Sparks are supposed to dance around him like flies on speed as he welds.

“Don’t they burn you?” I ask.

“Not much,” he answers as I see the little brown soldering spots on his shirt.

Now it took some getting used to, seeing the sparks, and occasionally seeing the smoke. But I trained my eye not to focus on it. After a few hours, I’m back into my story and out of the corner of my eye, I see sparks, I see smoke, but this time, I also spot some flames. Then I see hubby high-stepping it out of the garage, holding his foam knee supporter out as far as his arms can reach, as the flames shoot up a good two feet higher than his six foot frame. He tosses it on the concrete and runs for the water hose.

I step out and say, “I suppose that’s normal, too.”

“It’s nothing,” he assures me. “Happens all the time to welders.”

I just send him an evil eye.

Two days later, I’m back at work and we’ve avoided fires, so I’m feeling pretty confident.

I see hubby on the concrete without his foam knee pad, welding on the lawnmower. Now, I thought he was welding his floorboards. I step out and he tells me that his $89.99 lawnmower that he bought two years ago has lost another wheel. (Yes, this is where the whole frugal issue comes in.)

“Why don’t you just go out and buy another one?” Now, we’re not rich by no means, but I can guarantee you, we can afford a new lawnmower, especially the cheap-ass kind he’s going to buy.

“But I can make it last through the summer”, he says and I see the challenge in his eye. “My welder is paying for itself.” Not that he paid a lot for it; it was just like the lawnmower, the cheapest one he could find.

I step back inside and relax. I’m just about submersed back into my story when I see more flames. At first, I worry that the big ball of fire is my husband. But nope, it’s just lawnmower.

Now, I know my husband. He was a safety engineer and surely he wouldn’t weld on a lawnmower that still had gas in it? Would he?

I run to get a box of baking soda. Of course, I look pretty silly running out with tiny box of soda when an entire lawnmower’s on fire.

“Get back,” he yells at me. That pretty much tells me that he hadn’t removed the gas.

He shoots the water hose on the lawnmower and puts out the fire before we have to call 911 or before the dang thing explodes.

I wish I could tell you that’s the end of the story, but oh, no. It gets better. After the lawnmower cooled off, he finishes his welding job and with pride, he takes the charred cheap-ass lawnmower and mows the lawn. I wonder what my neighbors think? You gotta’ love this man.

Now in my next book, I don’t know how fire is going to come into play, but you can bet it’ll show up somewhere.

So how are things going at your home front? Any excitement? Is your hubby frugal? Are you? What do you do to save a buck that might make me feel my hubby isn’t so bad? Don’t forget that today I’m giving away an ARC of Don’t Mess With Texas and a DMWT-inspired necklace to one lucky commenter. So make sure you leave a comment.

82 comments:

Anneliese said...

Christie, I just wanted to say THANK YOU for introducing me to all your amazing characters. People ask me all the time why I read "Romance Novels" well, I don't know about them, but I certainly do not get enough of that in my own life. Between 2 jobs, 2 kids, 2 English Mastiffs and a husband who hasn't grown up yet... I need all the fantasy I can handle. However, don't give me a heroine that sits around biting her nails when danger threatens... give me one who will grab a toilet tank lid and bash heads in right along with the leading man. If she loves animals too... that's just a plus. My kind of woman! So Christie, you keep writing them and I will keep reading them. Best thing I ever did was pick up a Christie Craig novel. Can't wait for "Don't mess with Texas"!

Virginia C said...

Wow--great contest! Fabulous book--pretty jewelry set : ) I recently quietly celebrated my fifty-third birthday. 53! Me! What happened to that awkward thirteen-year old...the naive and still hopeful twenty-three year old...in other words, what happened? Well, life happened, for better or worse, and that's the way it's supposed to be. It's OK, really. I still feel like a kid in a candy store, looking at the wonders of life with big eyes and savoring a taste for sweets and treats. I am still an "inappropriate laugher", a characteristic passed on to me by my mother. I love to entertain people, make them laugh, and lighten their life load, even if it's just for a little while. My philosophy of life is simple: "If you laugh, you'll live". I know this for a fact--it's the reason I'm still around.

My computer recently got zapped by lightning, just as I was leaning very close to the screen. I thought that I had been shot at close range, my hair may have been fried, I could have been blown out of my chair and across the room, or my PC was about to explode/burst into flames. We both survived, but it has been a tricky recovery! Some people would be discouraged at coming so close to a fiery fate, but if you read my post today, then you know I never look at things the "normal" way. Even though my life did briefly flash before my eyes, I remain undaunted. I still have things to say, books to read, and chocolate to eat. I'm not done yet ; )

I am slowly recovering from incident #1, and also now recovering from incident #2. When I was working on my computer trying to catch up on everything, I had a floor fan going beside my chair. I started to smell an electrical burning smell, and as I reached down to turn off the fan, fire and black smoke shot out from the fan motor. I was able to unplug it from the wall, and everything seems OK. I remain undaunted (sort of). That's my story and I'm sticking to it! The only thing is, Mama always said "things come in threes", so now I await incident #3!

gcwhiskas at aol dot com

Anonymous said...

Just another day in the Craig household. :-)

That is hilarious, Christie! I can only imagine mowing the yard with a charred mower. By now, I'm sure the neighbors hardly give a passing thought to the Craig family. Either that, or they are in a constant state of fear.

Thanks for the laugh this morning.

Jenn!

Christie Craig said...

Anneliese,

Thank you so much!! You won my heart with two English Mastiffs. My grandpuppy is a Mastiff. I have slobber streaks on my ceiling. LOL. She's one messy dog, but I've hardly met a dog that sweet.

And yes, when you're in harms way, you use what you can to protect yourself. A tampon, a toilet seat, or toilet brush if need be.

We gotta laugh.

CC

Christie Craig said...

Virginia C.

I think we must be cousins. Crap like that only happens in my family. LOL.

I was in the shower once when the house was hit by lightning. I saw sparks going from nail to nail in the house.

Scary stuff!

Thanks so much for stopping by.

CC

Christie Craig said...

Jenn,

You can't be no wimp to live in my house! I swear, between heating pad accidents, hair balls, burning lawn mowers, it's crazy.

But as long as I can laugh at it, I think, I hope, I can live with it.

Thanks for stopping by.

CC

Anneliese said...

Oh yes Christie, Mastiffs are the biggest BABIES of the dog world. The slobber and drool not withstanding, they are the most loveable dogs ever. Both of mine are named after bears. We have "Winnie the Pooh" and "Grizzly". Grizzly is an apricot Brindle and has got to be the cutest and most loveable dog in the whole wide world. However, he doesn't realize that at 2 years old, he weighs 200 lbs and is definitely NOT a lap dog. He will crawl on your lap and expect you to let him stay right there where he is happy. He kisses and talks up a storm. As much as I hate having to wipe the walls, celing and my pants off constanly... I wouldn't trade him for anything else in this whole world. Glad you understand the love of a good Mastiff! Makes me like you even more ;0)

Diane Kelly said...

Our cheap thing is our electronics. We don't replace them until they are totally kaput. We don't have a single flat screen TV, they're all the old box kind. Two of our TVs are on digital converter boxes, which means we get to watch shows that pixillate and freeze up. So fun! The DVD player in our bedroom is on the fritz and we have to turn it on and off a dozen times before it will eventually work. But it will always eventually work, so nope, not replacing it yet. We also have the only remaining fridge on the planet without an automatic ice maker. It's lasted 18 years and is still going fine, even if it is a bit small.

The welding thing makes me think of Flashdance. Of course if your husband catches on fire, he'll probably be dancing like the girl in that movie. : )

Colleen Thompson said...

LOL on your DH's welding, Christie. You better steal and hide that toy before he really does set himself ablaze!

Christie Craig said...

Anneliese,

I had a Mastiff in my book, Divorced, Desperate and Dating. And I think I'm going to have one appear in another book soon. I didn't get nearly as much mileage on the slobber as I should have. LOL.

Oh...and the wiping it off your clothes. Duh, we should bottle that stuff and sell it for glue.

But seriously, I have a two year old granddaughter and that do is the sweetest I've ever known to that child.

CC

Christie Craig said...

Diane,

I can so relate to your electronics. But let me tell you, the DVD players are $29.99 at Wal-Mart. And we do have flat screen now. But only because he finally signed up for cable last year and our TV were so old he had to buy stuff to make them work.

Thanks for stopping by.

CC

Christie Craig said...

Colleen,

I might just have to do that. Scary stuff, I'm telling you.

Thanks for stopping in.

CC

Susan M said...

Ah, Christie. And I thought I only had to worry about my safety from the neighbors on either side of me. You know, the one whose son threatened to blow up their house and the bomb sniffing dogs had to come out? I’m sorry, but I don’t have much faith in the Harris County bomb dogs. These are the dogs that flunked out of the Houston PD and the Texas Rangers. My eleven year old lab could do a better job. Made going to bed that night a little scary.

Then there’s the neighbor on the other side who is into dogs and traveling. Guess who feeds the dog when she’s gone? The dog is so mean I can’t go in the yard. I have to feed it by angling a plastic pipe over the fence and pouring food down it while the dog grabs the chain links in his teeth (about level with my crotch) and shakes till the whole fence rattles.

Now I have to worry about danger from across the back fence? I don’t know about you, but as long as your hubby is into welding, I’m keeping a fire extinguisher handy.

Of course, you have no complaints about my side of the fence. I hope you weren’t looking out your window when my hubby decided to trim some trees. He climbed up on a ladder and started cutting above his head when his pants fell down to his ankles. He just left them there and kept cutting. I wasn’t home. I hope you weren’t either.

Christie Craig said...

Ahh Susan,

Darn! I missed seeing your hubby with his pants down around his ankles? LOL.

And I promise when the fire department is called, I'll give you a heads up.

Thanks so much for stopping in.

CC

krisgils33 said...

two things my hubby would never be allowed to own: a blow torch and a chainsaw. he's mildly handy, but i have to draw the line at ridiculously dangerous toys. i'm glad your story was funny and didn't end up with any injuries or exploded lawnmowers. :-)

Bet Lantaff said...

Can you send your dh to my house to repair our 4 (yes, 4) lawnmowers that are all broken? My dh will keep broken mowers forever but won't fix them. As much as I love him (and I really do!) I call him a procrastinator and a hoarder. Maybe between the 2 of them, we can get a lawnmower that will work! Even if it is a bit charred. LOL... love your blogs and books.

Christie Craig said...

Krisgills,

Oh, I have a chainsaw story I could blog about. It involves a neighbors fence and a tree. LOL.

Thanks so much for stopping by. Our husbands sound similar. He's handy, but crap happens. LOL.

CC

Christie Craig said...

Bet,

I love it!!! He would have a blast as long as he could bring welder. LOL.

Thanks for stopping in.

CC

Terrid76 said...

That is so great. Got to love those husbands and their quirks.

Anna Kathryn Lanier said...

Great story. My husband is much more frugal than I am. The thing that embarrasses me the most is his car. It's a 1993 Ciera, which really isn't so old, but it's held together with rust, a girl backed into him and damaged the area near a headlight, he replaced that fiberglass area himself, it looks terrible. The doors are a bitch to open, did I mention it's held together by rust? He got stopped one early morning driving to work, because a license plate light was burned out. I can just imagine the look on the cop's face when he found a middle aged man in the car and not a punk a** kid! Because this car looks like it belongs in ther ghetto. I hate having to drive in it! Oh, yeah, there's no a/c, either. I tell him, you make enough money that you can afford a nicer looking car! At least he lets me drive a nicer looking car!

Christie Craig said...

Terrid76,

You know they all have quirks. I know I have a few, I'll be honest with you. I'm glad my husband hasn't taken up blogging. Paybacks can be hell and he'd be reporting some pretty funny stuff.

Thanks for stopping in.

CC

Christie Craig said...

Anna,

You should have seen his falcon before he had he restored. And yes,he drove it around. Let's just say it matched his lawn mower.

Thanks for dropping by.

CC

angela said...

Very funny story Christie! Reminds me of my hubby, not so much the frugal part but the diy part. Everytime he's ready to buy a new man toy, i roll my eyes. Most times it's not going to end up pretty and someone (the hubby) is going to get hurt lol. I swear they know us on a first name basis at the emergency room lol! Love your books!

Hubby said...

This thought is from the Hubby with the welder
The good news is that no damage was done while welding on the mower. It is working fine today. The repair ( securing the 2nd wheel) is just so so but it is working. The 3rd wheel is not looking to hot but that may be another day.
But, does anyone care to wager on if the mower will make it thru this season, say until Sept. 20? Any takers. Remember it is not raining much and grass likes water to grow, so no water no growing, and no mowing needed

Christie Craig said...

Angela,

Too funny. They can be quite a chore watching out for, can't they? Ahh, but most of the time they are worth the trouble.

Hubby had been cooking for me, and his cooking skills are better than his welding skills. I just hope he's not using the welder to cook. I'd been check on that. LOL.

Thanks for stopping in.

CC

Christie Craig said...

Okay, Hubby! Get off the computer and go weld something. LOL.

Love ya!

CC

Sandy said...

Christie, my hubby is frugal, too. Quiet often, I get to tell him, "I told you so." lol

Men!

Unknown said...

What a great post. My husband is fugle when it comes to buying things for the house like new flooring and things like that but when it comes to buying stuff for his computer its top of the line. Gotta make that computer faster. The only thing he uses the computer for is surfing the internet and it only moves as fast as the internet will let you. Most of the time when he's surfing the internet its for faster parts for the computer, never have figuired that one out yet. As far as the lawn mower goes around here it takes me forever to get the darn thing started but that doesn't matter as long as we have a faster computer.

Christie Craig said...

Sandy,

"I told you so" is almost the Craig household motto. Of course, I have to admit, hubby uses it on me quite often. LOL.

Thanks for stopping in, girl.

CC

Christie Craig said...

Virginia,

Thanks for the laugh. The lawn mower doesn't have to go as fast as the computer, don't you get that? LOL.

CC

catslady said...

Oh thanks so much for the laughs (everyone). Of course it's not as funny when you're the one that it's happening to. My husband actually can fix stuff when he finally gets around to it. At the moment we have a gutter the whole length of our house sitting under the porch held up by old tires and when it rains it sounds like it's WWIII. He made the mistake of having a friend "help" with the roof because it would be "cheaper." It leaks more now than before and we ended up paying more with all the extras like a humongous bin to collect the trash - it was so big our whole neighborhood used it for a week. And then there's my '93 Honda that is being held together by duct tape until he can get to it. I'm so glad he doesn't weld lol.

Sarah S. said...

Thanks for the great post! That brings back so many memories. I love my husband dearly, but he has such delusions of grandeur that our house is full of some half-a**ed attempt at "fixing" the place up, that it might be better to just start over at a new place. :)

lucy0326 said...

Christie, I love hearing about the things that happen at your house. It must be exciting never knowing what to expect lol. I still remember how hard we all laughed when you came to visit our book club here in Pasadena.
I cant wait to get my hands on this book. I cant even remember the number of times I've read "Shut up & Kiss Me" or the number of times I've had to go get it back from a friend who liked it so much she/he didn't want to give it back :D

Brandie said...

Well, I think your story trumps all :-)

I have a frugal husband and I'm trying to convince said husband to buy a new vacuum. I don't mind sweeping, but majority of my house is carpet and we have a dog, two kids, and my daycare kids. The other day he saw me sweeping the stairs and mumbled to himself that he forgot about the vacuum. I'm guessing he thinks that if I can get it done with a broom, he's fine.

Wrong. I'm dying here. My arms are starting to look like a body builder.

Help!

Christie Craig said...

Catslady,

Your house sounds like my cousin's in Alabama. I love it. Love the duck-taped car. If my husband was there, he'd offer to weld it for you.

Thanks for the chuckle and for stopping by.

CC

Christie Craig said...

Sarah,

I could send hubby over with the welder and he might accidentally burn it down. Then you could start building from scratch. LOL.

Guys we gotta laugh at this stuff, if not...we might cry.

Thanks for stopping by.

CC

Christie Craig said...

Hi Lucy,

Thank you so much. I had a blast talking to the bookclub. I'll bet I told a few hubby stories then, too. Poor fellow. He claims I married him only for the blogs.

CC

Jo Anne said...

Another funny hubby story, Christie. The men in your life give you lots of good grist for the writing mill, that's for sure. :-) Keeps us laughing!

Christie Craig said...

Hi Brandie,

Hmm, I'll bet there's a least a dozen women out there who grabbed a broom and are right now working on their arm muscles. LOL.

Here's a suggestion. The next gift-giving holiday go out and by the man vacuum cleaner. I'm considering giving my hubby a lawn mower.

Thanks for stopping by.


CC

Christie Craig said...

Jo Anne,

I'm never low on grist around here.

Thanks so much for stopping in.

CC

Francyne said...

Hello, Steve? You have my heartfelt sympathy. I'm not all that good with a welder, either. Oh, I forgot. I've never tried to use one and THAT'S BECAUSE I DON'T KNOW THE FIRST THING ABOUT THEM AND DON'T HAVE TIME TO LEARN!!! I couldn't top this story with a 10 foot ladder, a can of whipped cream, and a jar of maraschino cherries.

Jacki C. said...

Any time a man says that he needs a new tool (aka toy) to "save" money - he is either lying or delusional! And in our house, it's usually buying electronics for our 15 yr-old. It's a miracle he hasn't been electrocuted for putting a pair of needle-nose pliers into a VCR player (yes, we still have one) to pull out a tape because the eject feature has worn out.
I can't wait to read Don't Mess With Texas!

Meb Bryant said...

Once again, the Craig boys like it hot! Must be a pyro DNA thing.

I would love to live by you and Susan~there's never a dull moment. What with her husband trimming in his loincloth, and yours creating fire, it could be the next Kevin Costner movie, Dances With Fire.

My husband (owner of a lawnmower shop and firestarter himself) chuckled at your blog. His eyebrows did grow back, but his clothes were destroyed....

Christie Craig said...

Francyne,

That whip cream and cherries sound nice. LOL.

Thanks so much for stopping by.

CC

Christie Craig said...

Jacki C.

I love it. Your husband isn't named Steve Craig is he? LOL.

Thnaks for the chuckle and for stopping in.

CC

Christie Craig said...

Meb,

Pryo DNA. I LOVE it.

My hubby lost his eyebrows once too. That was during the huricane and when he nearly caught the house on fire. LOL.

Oh, good, men do keep us amused, don't they?

CC

LauraOB said...

I LOVE this blog. My husband is an engineer as well, and as smart as he is, he breaks things around the house in the most insane way! I thought his life was ending when he bought himself a Mitre saw 2 years ago!
Kudos on the books Mrs. Craig. You're writing style makes me smile, and that is worth much more than the price of your books!

Loretta Wheeler said...

Lordy. My hubby's always looking for a bargain, so yeah, he falls into the "cheap" category. He's also a safety inspector...but you can't tell it when he's at home. I've warned him about doing "serious" things when I'm not here, but Mr. Safety doesn't listen. I came in one afternoon to find him looking a bit frazzled, sitting on the back deck, having something cool to drink. I started to ask what was wrong, but I've learned to let him tell me at his own speed. He finally shared he'd climbed up the ladder to cut limbs from our 30ft palms over the jacuzzi (with a hand saw, thank God) lost his footing, and fell head first onto the jacuzzi. The cover was on and somehow held. I bit my tongue, trying like mad not to yell the "I told you so, thing."
After listening to your horror stories, I don't think we should EVER let these two boys meet. It's bad enough corralling them one on one. I don't think we'd have enough duct tape, baking soda, fire extinguishers, or bandages, to begin to cover the situation!

Lo

Brandy said...

Your hubby cracks me up! And now I have a welder to add to the list of things my husband is not allowed to own. (Like another poster, chainsaw is already on the list.)
My hubs is semi-handy. Which is helpful. What is not helpful is when he decides to be FUNNY. Like when I'm holding the ceiling fan he's installing so he can locate the wiring. And then he says things like "ouch!". Prompting me to freak out and ask if he's okay and he says "Kidding!". Yeah, should have remembered he shut off the power to the room first.

Of course he did get a bit of comeuppance recently. On the Fourth of July we set off fireworks. He decided to use a 2 little bottle to hold a roman candle instead of actually holding it-thinking it would be safer. The bottle fell over and my hubs along with my FIL (both really smart men-no common sense whatsoever) had to run like crazy because the roman candle started shooting at them! It was funny and scary then, now it's just funny. *g*

Christie Craig said...

Loretta,

You are right. Get those two together and they might be as bad as you and I trying to find our way somewhere? Of course, with you and I, if we ever do make it to our destination, we won't be blown up or bleeding.

Thanks for posting.

CC

Christie Craig said...

Brandy,

The welder is for sure a must NOT get. LOL.

I can just see someone dancing away from a roman candle. Too funny.

I love hearing that other women have the same issue with their husbands.

Thanks for posting.

CC

Jane said...

We are frugal around here. I get it from my mom. She will walk an extra few blocks to save a couple of dimes. One thing we don't save on is repairs. We don't know how to fix anything so we just call in the professionals. My cousin's husband likes to try to fix things, but he never finishes the job.

Pamela said...

My dad's sight is getting questionable as he's getting older, but it is a point of pride for him to be able to keep his lawns neat and trim. No hiring out for something like this!

Let's just say the lawnmower makes a great projectile shooter (in this case a dog bone) and the poor glass sliding door never knew what hit it.

Christie Craig said...

LauraOB,

Don't get me started on engineers. LOL. And thanks for the kudos. I love my job!

CC

Christie Craig said...

Jane,

Calling professionals is a very smart thing! And my dad was a contractor and plumber and let me tell you, I never lived in a house that was finished, so I know all about living with things half done.

Thanks for stopping in.

CC

Christie Craig said...

Pamela,

<>

I love it. Thanks for the laugh!

CC

Sherie said...

Love It! My hubby is frugal too but when it comes to video games. It hates fixing things, so that he usually splurges. Last week, he traded in 20 video games so he can buy a new one. That is right ladies my husband is 5. To prove my point we are going Disney World instead of Vegas on vacation in a few weeks! I married a kid!

Alison said...

LOL Christie! I love your blogs!

Thankfully my hubby knows his limits when it comes to fixing things! He is a little frugal which is why I NEVER tell he how much I spend on books :-)

I can't wait for "Don't mess with Texas"!

Christie Craig said...

Sherie,

Too funny. Hubby doesn't swap out video games, he doesn't play video games. But if he did . . . However, Disey World should be fun.

Thanks for stopping in.

CC

Christie Craig said...

Alison,

I got in trouble for my book budget years ago when he realized I could take them off my taxes. I had to give him my receipts and I thought he was gonna have the big one when he realized how much I spent. Yikes.

Thanks for stopping in.

CC

Johanna R Jochum said...

My hubbie is very frugal! I'm the opposite! I like to spend, spend, spend! Luckily for me Grandma like to spend, spend, spend too! So I like to go shopping with my kids with her!


evjochum[AT]aol[DOT]com

Refhater said...

OMG, That was the funniest! I haven't laughed that hard in a long time. Thanks for sharing it!

Barbara E. said...

Loved your story, it was so funny. I too am frugal, I like to economize as much as I can, but I draw the line at doing things to save money that will set things on fire, LOL.
I get complaints about where I keep the thermostat on the air conditioning, just because it's at 80, that's comfortable isn't it? I kept my old refrigerator for 30 years before I finally bought a new one, hey it still worked even though it was avocado green. I don't usually replace appliances or electronics until they don't work anymore, it seems wasteful otherwise. Can you tell I was raised by folks that grew up in the depression?

CelticAmazon said...

Loved the story. My hubby is actually quite handy around the house, but there was the time he built me a dining room table, but forgot it was green wood. We have a fireplace insert that has a fan on it to help heat the house and once the wood dried, it split down the middle with a very loud bang. The table is now the gate to the garden.

Kristi said...

Sorry Christie, your husband is one of a kind so you're on your own.

The only cheap thing I do is use coupons to shop with.

Angela MacIntyre said...

LOL.. your hubby sounds very familiar. Are you sure we aren't married to the same man? Thanks for the laugh today. The last time my hubby decided to "save money" by painting the house. So he takes our son (then 14) outside to wash down the house and remove the shutters. My son is on the 20 foot ladder so he can reach the second floor. Hubby decides to stand on the top of the 5 foot ladder. You know the place where it says SPECIFICALLY not to stand? Yeah, he lost his balance and fell. My son sees this and JUMPS off the 20 foot ladder. The ladder starts sliding toward my husband missing him by just a couple feet. Son (thankfully not hurt at all) runs inside... Mom, you need to go outside right now. I'll watch the kids. (younger brother and sister) I go outside to hubby on the ground. Call 9-1-1, my leg is broken. Broken? Oh that would be nice. It was SHATTERED the knee cap, tibia plateau and broke both bones in his leg and his ankle. We have to wait 10 days while he's hyped up on drugs for the swelling to go down for surgery. Bring him home after surgery and promptly hire painters to paint the house while he was down. He moved from room to room in the house "supervising" them and grumbling the whole time. ;).

Angela MacIntyre said...

Oh, and I forgot to add... I LOVE your books!! They always make me laugh and bring happy to my days. Thank you for the many hours of entertainment!!

Christie Craig said...

Johanna,

Then you two make a good pair, you even each other out. LOL.

And it's always good to shop with grandma. LOL.

Thanks for stopping by.

CC

Christie Craig said...

Johanna,

Then you two make a good pair, you even each other out. LOL.

And it's always good to shop with grandma. LOL.

Thanks for stopping by.

CC

chey said...

Our excitement is that there are forest fires in the area. Hopefully the rain today put some of them out!

Christie Craig said...

Refhater,

Girl, we all need those kind of laughs. Hey...did you know we tons of calories when we laugh?

Thanks for stopping in.

CC

Christie Craig said...

Barbara,

We have an old refrigerator story, too. I'm gonna have blog about it.

And hubby is hell on the thermostat. I make it cooler, he nudges it back up. LOL.

Thanks for sharing.

CC

Christie Craig said...

Celtic Amazon,

I love that story. That is something my hubby would do. And believe it or not, he is quite handy around the house, when he's not trying to burn it down. LOL.

Thanks for stopping by.

CC

kmannrn said...

Can't wait to read this book. I have been waiting for it

Christie Craig said...

Kristi,

Nothing wrong with coupons. And yup, my hubby is one of kind. I'm gonna keep him.

Thanks for stopping in.

CC

Christie Craig said...

Angela,

Oh my goodness. Men and their crazy ideas. I have to say so far hubby had hurt himself too bad.

But darn, wouldn't you have loved to shaken him if he wasn't so hurt. But I'm glad he's fine now. And I'm glad he hired the painters and didn't decide to go outside, cast and all, and attempt it again. LOL.

And thanks for the kudos. I love writing my funny and heartfelt stories.

Thanks for coming by.

CC

Christie Craig said...

Chey,

Yikes. I'll keep my hubby and his welder far, far away. LOL.

Thanks for stopping in.

CC

Christie Craig said...

Kmannrn,

Thanks girl. I can't wait for it to release. Fingers crossed it flies off the bookshelves.

CC

MiaMarlowe said...

Once you said your hubby had taken up welding, I knew this story had disaster written all over it!

Christie Craig said...

Hi Mia,

How did you figure that out? LOL. Men!!

Thanks for stopping by.

CC

Donna Marie Rogers said...

Great hubby story, Christie. I really hope one of these days you get him on video...LOL

My hubby has his moments, like the time he forgot to put the ladder away (he'd been hanging Christmas lights on the house), and the ladder fell on my car. *sigh* But you, my friend, have hit the funny hubby jackpot. *grin*

Christie Craig said...

Donna,

You're poor car! Ahh, we gotta laugh at these men.

CC