Here’s a funny, entertaining story:I recently hosted a party in my backyard for my husband. It was in celebration of his book, No More Christian Nice Guy. Sixty guests arrived, some from out of town, the live jazz band was playing, and our kids and their friends were walking around and serving appetizers. Everyone was having a great time and the weather couldn’t have been more perfect.
The mood was set, it was a beautiful evening, and the guests were going through the buffet line filling their plates. When the last guests were through the line and the rest of us were already seated, my husband and I heard an all-too-familiar hissing sound.No! It couldn’t be, we thought. Not the sprinklers!
Yes, the sprinklers!
I’ve never seen my husband run so fast. He flew in the air, jumping over bushes and flowerpots, over to the sprinkler setting. His workouts with his soccer team paid off! All he needed was a soccer ball at his foot. He stopped the sprinklers, but a little too late.
One table of eight got soaked, but guess what? It happened to be the kids’ table! The sprinklers hit that table first, and just started in on the next table, when Paul shut them off. My friend Jenny “got it,” but she handled it well. The rest of us lucked out and remained dry.
Paul and I caught each other’s eye, smiled, and gave a big sigh of relief! What could have been a disaster turned into great conversation and laughter! The kids got a big kick out of the whole incident.
I did ask myself later, what would my reaction have been if we hadn’t gotten to the “box” in time, and all the guests had gotten drenched--what would I have done? I guess we all would have been wet together and the story would go down in history. I’m not sure, actually. I think I would have been so embarrassed and mad at first (see my prime rib story here), but then would have gotten over it.
Maybe you don’t have a sprinkler story, but perhaps you’ve had another type of entertaining disaster?
I’d love to hear about it!
We got home from vacation today and sitting on my kitchen counter were these beautiful blossoms (thank you Hoppi!). Spring has definitely arrived here in the Rogue Valley!
Next post, be watching to see how you can win a Happy Coughlin Box, to be delivered to your front door! All you will have to do is comment on the next post and your name will go into the drawing. Stay tuned …
16 comments:
I can just picture him leaping over bushes and obstacles. These are the kinds of stories movies are made of. WHEW.. close call!
My entertaining disaster? I had decided to host Christmas dinner at my home. My children were still babies, but I could do this.
We had invited family and friends alike. It was cozy but we were all excited about just being together.
My kitchen was not very big at all, but we had all pushed in to get the dinner on the table... when it happened. My kitchen sink plugged and backed up. Here I was, a house full of guests,many in the kitchen trying to get dinner on, turkey and all... and no kitchen sink.
To make matters worse, it was backing up and filling the sink quickly to be on the floor. We had no choice but to plunge it in an attempt to stop the backfilling... yes... we had to use the bathroom plunger.
Can you say majorly gross and embarrasing all at the same time?!? Of course my nurse brain was sent into major panic at the thought of the mass contamination and infection control issues we were facing here.
We finished preparing the meal by using the bathroom sink for our water needs. And you'd better believe once we resolved the kitchen sink issues... I bleached the daylights out of it. :-)
Thankfully it was family and the friends were like family so they were all very forgiving!! We laugh about it now... but at the time I was completely and horribly mortified! So there you have it, one of my entertaining disasters.
(another novel... sorry)
Oh and by the way, you know I'll be here for the drawing! :-)
I love hearing these stories. We all do. It is good to hear about people making mistakes and surviving them!
My husband light the table on fire once. We've all survives that one, even the table! And it is a story that we often tell/hear with our friends.
Cheers! LA
My story happened a year ago this week... my son's 17th birthday dinner. He loves shrimp... I'm a farm girl, I know nothing about shrimp. But I buy lots of shrimp! Well, while we are waiting for my daughter-in-law to come over and help get the shrimp prepared for grilling... I make my kids eat some shrimp. Well, it was raw shrimp! I thought all shrimp was pre-cooked! We are still laughing about that one!
Love your story Sandy!
The first breakfast I made as a new bride for my in-laws ended up on the floor when the table leaf collapsed. Of course that is where the food had been set!
haha, aww! Well at least it didn't hit all the tables. ;) Is that your backyard?? If so, it's absolutely beautiful. I haven't had any entertaining mishaps yet but I've been close on many occasions. Those blossoms look great, the picture is beautiful...I love the pool in the background, wow how far is your country from my country? ;) Send some Spring my way! =)
Thanks for stopping by my place earlier & taking the time to comment. I'll definitely be back. Have a great rest of the week! =)
Sandy,
Your sprinkler story was hilarious...cuz I wasn't there getting soaked.
I can't think of any embarassing entertainment stories. Which leads me to conclude that we don't have people over nearly often enough.
We recently attended a fundraiser for our youth group. We bid on (and won!) an authentic home cooked Chinese meal from a wonderful woman at our church. Maybe something whacky will happen then...
That is too funny! At least it turned out well! I bet you and your husband were so relieved that he was in such great shape :)!!
Sandy -
Thank you very much for your kind comments on my blog. I had to check you out and I love the concept. My husband and I love to entertain together (cooking in the kitchen is fun). I will be back to check up on your posts - I love new ideas.
My first dinner party after being married only a month story is as follows: We have my brother and his wife over and they bought their daughter also. We thought it would be just the four of us. Even though the food was good unfortunately there was not enough. To make matters worse there was a piece of chicken left over. I know they went straight to McDonalds because they were starving. This has never happened again.
Let's see...we burned the bread in the oven (on broil) the first time we had company over after we were married...in an effort to accomodate two large families we had a cookout, but the weather was too cold for such an event...Oh, I love to entertain, but with my little ones, I just need to slow down and enjoy them while they are little - and let people have us over!!
OH my.. so glad he was able to jump over those bushes and save the day.
Thanks for stopping by my blog.
Thanks for stopping and leaving a comment.
Great story! My hubby and I love to entertain and probably have several good stories to share. Right now I'm thinking of a couple involving pets and one when I couldn't find the little bag of giblets and such in the Thanksgiving turkey...but my MIL found it when carving! :-)I try not to remember the embarrasing moments...:-D
I plan to be back by. I like your theme of hospitality!
Sandy, what a story!! You tell it so wonderfully that I can just imagine Paul flying through the air and jumping over bushes - LOL! And I am sure the children hardly minded the excitement :-)
PS - you asked if I had read Paul's recount of the father/daughter dance. Indeed I did - it was beautiful!!
MISS YOU BUNCHES!! My site is just not the same without you :-(
Great story! Where did you get those fabulous lights around the yard?????? Please share!
Tracey
Hey--I think I have seen your husband (or heard him) interviewed because I recognize that title. My story, in a nutshell, is that I was making a soup, an embarrassingly easy soup, for my church cell group to enjoy. One of our members is a gourmet cook who owns her own chocolate company. I thought I had done everything OK, but when people started to eat, our gourmet was first in line, and she scooped out the lid from one of the cans I had opened. Aargh! True Story!
What an intriguing book title!
Back in 1990 I rewallpapered the dining room right before we had everyone over for the weekend for our daughter's dedication. On Sunday morning we were all sitting around the table eating yummy pancakes my hubby made when the border started peeling off the wall. By the end of the meal it was hanging off of all four walls like curling ribbon. I was so disappointed! But we lived and I stuck it back up using border adhesive after everyone left.
You have a wonderful blog here!
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