The First House Party

It was so exciting to plan Christmas in our new home and not "under" it. That Monday at work I was so excited, I invited all my female co-workers to a party. Someone thought it would be a good idea to have our gift exchange at my house instead of the office. It was a hurry up, last minute, group planned event. We were all within 10 years of each other in age, and though I was still the new girl, we got along fine. Even the C.E.O.'s secretary was "just part of the gang."

The only thing I didn't take into account was the simple fact that we hadn't yet used the fireplace, and we were both unfamiliar with it's quirks. Remember this was an open through to two rooms affair. You can't have a winter Christmas get together without lighting the fireplace! W set it up for me and lit it. But, without previous experience, he used big long logs that reached all the way to the sides of the Heatilater. Then he took J.T. off to his folks for the evening. Shortly after the women had gathered, it was burning up a firestorm, and it got so hot in the front part of the house, we were roasted like chestnuts. So, naturally, I opened the back door. Ooops. That messed up the draft. Now smoke was sucking back into the house and our eyes were stinging and we were coughing. (Did I learn nothing from the apartment stove in Germany?)

Thank goodness for youth and high spirits. Laughing and teasing me, my party ended up shut away in the master bedroom. With snacks on the hope chest, and ladies sprawled on the king size bed, we opened our exchanged gifts in a sorority party frame of mind. So much for impressing my co-workers. Though of course, we did blame the man of the house.

Believe me, from then on we used much smaller pieces and a lot less wood when we used our fireplace. And the doors, even the door to the basement, had to stay closed.