How $1 Averted Disaster

I know we shouldn’t take things for granted.

I also know we sometimes need reminding.

I just wish those reminders weren’t so drastic.

Tuesday I wanted to make venison roast. I had the venison, the soup, and the seasoning – or so I thought. When I got up at 5:30 in the morning to put it all in the crock pot and go to work, I found I didn’t have the right dry soup mix.

So, into the pot went the packaged meat and the can of soup and I carried it all with me to work, stopping for onion soup mix on the way, and alternated between the low and warm settings, slowly cooking it all day so it’d be done by six-ish when Krystal got home.

My coworkers complained I was making them hungry all day long.

I got home, plugged in the crock pot, and sat down to work on a 76-page document that needed to be sent to the publisher on Wednesday. It was the school yearbook.

Anyway, I’d just gotten into a groove when I heard a noise like  breaker switching off. About the same time I noticed a foul-smelling smoky air coming from the kitchen.

All the smoke alarms started buzzing and Smokey ran into the bathroom and hid in the tub.

I ran into the kitchen to find my crock pot in flames. I yanked the cord from the wall and grabbed the pot, forgetting it was in two pieces. I nearly threw the stew out the back door.

Instead, I set the ceramic dish in the sink, grabbed the smoldering heating element, and chucked it out the door.

Thankfully, there was no damage other than a destroyed crock pot.

Turns out not having soup mix probably prevented a devastating house fire and saved Smokey’s life.