Michael preordered an Xbox game (Gears of War) at Best Buy yesterday and got a free tshirt. It was vacuum packed into a little rectangle (kind of like those magic washcloths you have to soak in water). I told him I would iron it for him.

I use the iron about once a year. Last year was a record three times (two funerals and our own wedding). I haven’t used it at all this year. I always forget how to use the stupid thing. “Why isn’t this thing heating up? Doesn’t it heat up when I plug it in?” I think. No, it has auto-off. You have to push the little button to turn it on.

I don’t have an ironing board, so I always put a folded towel on the toilet seat and iron that way. Well, apparently the last time I ironed, we had the old toilet seat. The regular hard kind. Which Michael replaced with a nice, squishy, pillowy one.

Can you tell where this is heading?

I started ironing, the towel slipped and I melted a big hole in the toilet seat. I got up, walked into the office and told Michael “Something bad happened.” Pause. “Not to your shirt. I melted the toilet seat.” He followed me into the bathroom, said “Holy cow”, then started laughing. “I’m not mad at you.” No, but I’m kind of mad at myself. I told him we could just put duct tape on it. He wasn’t amused.

I moved my ironing towel to the floor and crouched over it. As I started to iron, I called out, “Well that was a first!”

Seven years together and I can still surprise him in new ways.