Two Days that Felt Like Two Years (Part II)

Jay and I were a little lost on Friday morning. We have our morning routine down to an exact science, but with no water we weren't sure what we were supposed to do. Needless to say, it didn't take us long to get ready for the day. I brushed my teeth at the hose, put on some clothes, and pulled my hair away from my face. Jay packed up his clothes and travel kit and headed off to school to shower in the gym (and try to come up with a lecture for his 9:00 a.m. class since he'd been crawling around under the house until 1:00 a.m.).

In the midst of all of this I realized that I did have a lot to be grateful for:

1. I was sure glad we bought the home warranty. Even though it turns out they don't cover the service we required, it was reassuring to know that someone was going to be on the case first thing in the morning and I wasn't going to be stuck calling plumbers.
2. I was relieved that I had done every smidgen of laundry in the house earlier in the week so that there was one less thing to worry about.
3. Another thing to be grateful for? Six acres of bathroom property.
4. It would take two hands to count the number of friends/neighbors I could've called to watch my kid and let me borrow a shower. I wasn't grody, but showering is a mental health issue for me. I need to shower first thing in the morning in order to feel human. Otherwise I function at about half capacity. I survived without the shower, but it was touch and go for awhile.
5. It took me until well after noon to tell Joshua I was going to have to throw him out the window. With all that stress (and no shower) I was a little surprised I lasted that long.
6. Once our water was working again, my responsibilities were over. Our Friday evening event was student-planned and student-executed, so when they arrived they were in charge. All I had to do was make sure my house was somewhat presentable.
   

Our home warranty company called by 8:00 and we were promised a plumber by noon. He actually showed up at ten! There were a few hitches. First, he didn't seem to be aware that we were on a well and septic despite the fact that our warranty company is supposed to have all the information on our home. Second, he wasn't prepared for the fact that we didn't have a "clean out" on our septic tank, meaning that there was virtually nothing he could do to help us from the get-go. Third, I practically had to go meet him downtown and lead him out to the house because he was pretty clueless on the whole "reading a map" thing.

But, once he determined that we needed our septic tank pumped, he called a local company, explained the situation in detail, and got us a 1:00 p.m. pumping appointment. I added my own plea to the septic guy, put on my best Southern accent, and begged him to come as soon as possible since I was having a houseful of guests who would start arriving at 3:30!

Oh yes.