Fire Update

The fire alarm goes off in our house frequently--usually monthly. We have to change batteries often--which is good.

The latest fire happened last night. I was cooking french fries in hot oil. I put too many fries in and the oil started to boil over. Not good. I turned the burner off, removed most of the fries and pulled the pot off to the side. Mom ran to get some paper towels to soak up the oil. Good. The oil was soaking up in the paper towels and things were under control. I asked Mom to turn on the burner on the other side of the stove away from the oil and paper towels so I could continue cooking while she finished up soaking up the oil. Well . . .. . . . .. . . . .. . . . . . Mom turned on the burner where the paper was and poof! The stove burst into flames. Her first reaction was to go get the camera?????!!!!!!!!!! to take a picture.

There was smoke. Fire alarms went off. I was able to scrape the oil-soaked burning paper towels onto an old cookie sheet. They continued to burn. Mom picked up the cookie sheet bare-handed and headed outside. The fire burned her hands and arms (slightly-just enough so she threw the cookie sheet down. Fortunately it landed on the counter.) She then got a hot pad and carried it out onto the patio. THEN SHE WENT AND GOT THE CAMERA! You'll all get to see the photos. I'll make sure she sends them. In the meantime, the children and I opened up the windows and tried to get the fire alarms to stop shrieking.

I love when mother helps me cook. I guess I don't have anyone else to blame but myself. What happened one week after we were married in our small Dallas apartment at 5AM when she burned the bacon in the oven should have been enough of a warning so I could have annulled the marriage at that point. But, noooooo. I thought it was just a fluke. I mean after all, she is a Home Ec Major. She's an expert chef.

I guess my singed hair and eyebrows are going to be permanent. Do you suppose those can be restored in the resurrection with something that's not flammable? Note to self. Include that in future prayers. My second wife in the celestial kingdom will be a trained professional fire fighter. Sorry Mel.