For Better or For Worse by Lynn Johnston for July 21, 2010

Gee, I wonder what his first clue was?

No, it’s the couch from three strips ago burning, John. :-)

must be rough for her to know when to “turn off” the stove without a smoke alarm…heh.

Hey, shouldn’t Jon and Mike be bringing home the supper?

I think it is a wood stove…… and if Ellie isn’t used to one she would make a lot of smoke trying to get it going. But it looks like Mike is having fun! (and he is wearing the old PDF)

PFD, you mean.

Anyone think I should print this for SHE WHO MUST BE OBEYED?** Anyone got a spare room I could uses for a week?

LOL! My husband usually grills the steak, but sometimes I put it in the oven. Obviously, I’m not doing it right because the cooking fat turns on the smoke alarm almost every time. (The meat isn’t burnt at all.) The kids and I laugh about it. :-)

John should get back there as quick as he can! The cabin is burning down!!!!!

Reminds me of the early days of my marriage. Today, my wife and I joke about the days when the smoke alarm did double duty as an oven timer.

Maybe Elly forgot to open the thing inside the pipe that connects with the wood stove for letting the smoke goes up in the air, before she went ahead to use the wood stove to cook something. John, quit laughing about the smoke coming out from the cabin while Elly is inside the cabin. GO and help her to clear up the smoke from the cabin. Oh sheesh! John is idiot! sighhhh!

Come on out to North Carolina, Lew. My own “she who must be obeyed” will have us cook and clean for a few days.

I was just wondering why Elly is not getting much of a vacation. She works just as hard as anyone else and would probably like a break from the constant cooking and cleaning as well. It’s not much of a vacation for her.

but John isn’t wearing a PFD at all - shouldn’t that have been corrected? an adult can drown every bit as well as a child.

you can always use the kid as a personal flotation device if the craft overturns, RinaFarina. ;-D

Has anyone ever noticed that “vacations” like this are only vacations for dad and the kids???

For the working wife and mom (whether she works inside or outside the home), it’s exactly the same for her … the only difference is the location!!!

I agree GretchensMom. She’s still doing the same things without the comforts and convenience of her own home.

Smoke on the water… and fire in the sky… smoke on the water…. dun dun DUN dun dun DUH DUN dun dun DUN duh DUUNNNNNNNNN!

I agree that Elly’s not getting a vacation. If anything, she’s working harder. I finally had to accept that a family vacation really means a vacation for everyone except Mom. And a rustic “vacation” is even worse. My husband was shocked that I volunteered to fly to CT to pick up a car he bought on ebay, and drive it back to KS. I enjoyed the trip - first time in years that I could stop when & where I wanted, and not worry about anyone’s needs except my own. I don’t know if I would have done it before cell phones, but between the GPS & the cell phone, it was fun.

My personal vote is for a nest in the stove pipe from longtime disuse. Anyway the cabin has become less habitable. However maybe the skunks have moved out as well.

The canoe is a flotation devise, at least in calm water. If you swamp it, you just roll it over and climb on top. We used to do that on purpose, in scouts…but it doesn’t work as easily in fast water.

heh well - if there’s proper balance in the family it will be as much vacation for the mom and the others! I don’t complain when we go on vacations, everyone takes their turn, kids were as little as 5 or 6 when they started washing dishes and cleaning up. Husband’s at least as good as I am with chores. Better, probably.

John can probably swim but Mike not - I remember the rules being life jackets for kids and ppl that don’t know how to swim. Different now, though.