Burned and Broken Blessings

We were stumped.  Upon returning from Thanksgiving in TX, we found our dryer would not dry.  We were so thankful for the absolute beautiful sunny weather we had the two weeks - fabulous for hanging clothes out on the clothes line!  Love the way they smell - like summer in the winter.

We researched and figured out what we thought   needed to be fixed, ordered the parts, and still, it would not dry.  Not wanting to sink anymore money into our ancient dryer, we looked at a Dint and Ding store that some friends told us about. Found two basic dryers online that fit what we needed, but upon looking at them,  they were either hard to open or just didn't seem right.  Slowly drifting over to the other dryers, we spotted this baby, a  Maytag Maxima® Steam Electric Dryer with Large Capacity.  It was certainly not what we were looking for, but honestly, I loved the controls on the front and the totally top surface was flat.  It's the simple things in life. It's taller than our washer, but we know it's not going to live forever.

Barely making it home before the rain storm, Honey got it all ready, I ran to Lowes to get a longer connecting hose (I'm sure there is a more technical name, but this is all you get with me) for the steam feature, and plugged it in.

burned out dryer outlet

Old dryer plug 

NOTHING... Nada... Zip... Not working... Grrrr!  Being the resourceful guy he is, Honey decided to test the outlet and said it wasn't working.  Ugh!  Taking it apart, he discovered a horrible burned mess.  Some how, at some time, we either had a lightening strike or something and it was so scary!  Do you see it?  So back to Lowes for a new dryer outlet and tah-dah!!!

Threw a small load of shirts that needed to be ironed (but I didn't want to), put it on Refresh for the steam function, and oh, I'm LOVING this!!!  Wrinkle free! Oh, and it sings a little simple tune.  I'm so excited about the new dryer, that I put another load of clothes in the washer so I can dry them.

So, in the end, we are so incredibly thankful for God watching over us in the broken dryer, which lead us to the burned outlet, thus preventing a huge fire and loss of home.

Oh Honey Honey, Ah Sugar Sugar!

"Did you see it?" Honey casually asked minutes after he came home.

"No, See what?  as I'm pulling another steaming Belgium waffle out and stacking it with the rest.

"You didn't even notice!  I can't believe you didn't notice!"  Okay, this man is starting to annoy me, but he is rarely this excited about much. I start looking and thinking he's a little touched if he is referring to the ice and snow we'd been receiving all day.  Or maybe he brought me something, or was combing his hair to the other side possibly.

Then I catch him looking at a paper hanging on the cabinet behind me... Now there were TWO papers, a newer updated one taped over the previous one that made to the Cabinet Wall of Importance.  Last week he brought home the first one and taped it in a spot of importance - right where I look each morning as I'm getting the girls things ready. It had a few places that had yet to be determined, so I waited, but it did say he was in Group 4, which was the highest group he could have attained.  So I look a bit closer and notice there is one tiny difference.  It's that small line in the last section: Overall Rank in Group:  1.  Wait!  Wait! NO WAY!  NO WAY!!!   I'm screaming and hugging his neck, kids come running,... I'm so incredibly proud of the man I married 23 yrs. ago, because it has been 23 years now at the same Ford Dealership performing the same job as Service Advisor. 

This year Honey has an Overall Rank in his Group of 1.  That means he is the number ONE Service Advisor for Ford Motor Company in a 4-state area (TN, MS, AR, LA) over all other Ford Service Advisors!!!   Can you hear me jumping up and down and screaming??? 

What does this mean exactly?  It used to mean a trip to the Main Ford Headquarters, but that stopped a few years ago. So when I really know what this really means, other than he's the BEST, I'll have to update this.  I'm very thankful  that he has persevered in a position that is very difficult. If you would like to read more, please visit my post from last year when I posted about this: 

Honey is the #4 Ford service advisor in a FOUR state area group

 I'm just going to say it here and loud for the world to hear:  I AM PROUD OF MY HUSBAND!!!