...I tell ya, sometimes I think he's the smartest man on the planet. Maybe that should be the most resourceful. Or most diverse handyman.

There is NOTHING he won't attempt "fix-it" wise. Sometimes this is a good thing...and sometimes it's not so good a thing. Right now, it's a very good thing.

We got a new gas stove to replace the 20-year-old electric one that came with the house we bought almost three years ago. It was supposed to be delivered AND installed; I have it in writing. Lot of good that did us, 'cause when the guys brought it yesterday, they hiked it up our very steep driveway and set it in the middle of the kitchen floor. And left it there. "Umm, ma'am, sorry about that--we install everything BUT slide-ins 'cause that might mean cutting your countertops and we can't be responsible for that...".

"But IT'S IN WRITING...!" At this point, I'm kinda begging, because I've been ovenless all week and I'm ready to play with my new toy. I've missed a gas cooktop since we left SC. The delivery guys obliged me with the phone number of their boss. Perhaps this was a kind of punishment for them not being able to drive the delivery truck up our hill. I called my "boss" instead (lol, now THAT sounds like something I'd say.................).

Tad's response? "Well, good, I wanted to try that anyway." Ai yi yi, gaslines and my husband under our house, and, well, I can see the bad kind of fireworks going off. OF COURSE, I didn't say that, his track record would prove me wrong. All I'm saying is this is one of the many areas I did NOT "marry my father" (I'm not sure daddy knew there were tools beyond a screwdriver and hammer).

Anyway, my women's group met last night, so Tad wasn't home when I left. When I walked in the door afterwards, Idol was blaring on two televisions (although the wrong two people were competing for the title) and Tad had every tool we owned scattered throughout the kitchen. The GREAT thing was he wasn't losing his religion over this stuff...he looked like he was having fun (???). AND, to add insult to injury, the stupid thing DIDN'T fit the space of the previous oven, he DID have to cut the countertops (the very thing the delivery guys didn't want to get into). He talked to the folks at Home Depot and they said it was a piece of cake...and he looked on-line for further instruction.

Again, I'm thinking "But we have solid surface countertops...!" and I cringed at the thought of having to buy new ones. Then again, Tad's an engineer and he usually finds a way to work it out. I did cringe again when he began dismanteling the back of our cabinets with a crowbar, in addition to sawing through and ripping out the baseboard behind where the oven would sit. My job is to vacuum the mess he makes and watch him while he works. I'm not kidding, he likes an audience.

But guess what? Ladies and gentlemen, we have ignition. He checked the gaslines, connected the power and I'm back in bidness. COOKIN' WITH GAS--WAHOOOOO! Of course, Thomas has elementary graduation tonight, so once again, I won't get to cook on it...and we're headed to the beach for the Memorial Day weekend, but next week, buddy, I'll be having tons o' fun. I'm looking forward to the long drive, because then I can read the manual (don't think I've ever actually READ an appliance manual, but this one has "features" so it would probably serve me well to learn how to use 'em).

So, hat's off to my yardboy-ceiling fan wiring-tile laying-bookshelf building-plumber-painter-moulding putter upper-GAS STOVE INSTALLING husband. He has saved us thousands of dollars through the years, but oh, my, he is paid well ;).