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My Cup Runneth Not at All
We worked hard to scare my poor sister away from Indiana this week, but none of it was on purpose.
Monday was a day of trying to ward off the coming Tuesday because the two oldest would have to go back to school. Naturally, it rained all day so that we couldn’t do much outside. One of our little outings was going for a few staples at the local grocer. As I pulled into a spot, a woman was sitting in her car, expectantly looking over in my direction. She hadn’t been there waiting for the parking spot, so I was puzzled as to why she was there. I got out of the car, got Merritt, and she pulled up and commented on a sticker I have on my window and the style of license plate I have (which supports a cause I like). I offered to talk to her about it, but it turns out that she just wanted to spout off some political talking points. When I countered with some facts and truth bombs, she turned to insults, and we both got angry until we parted ways. It was one of the most bizarre exchanges I’ve ever had – what kind of person follows a stranger around to try to lecture them on topics of which they barely have a grasp?
At some point over the early week, I finally finished off the upstairs bathroom. It was a hideous dark brown, and the cupboards were just natural wood, so after my painting was all done, we got a classy looking place to do our business, if I say so myself.
Tuesday saw the kids off to school, and then later in the day we found that the water pressure was low, and then it stopped entirely. We checked around the house to try and troubleshoot, and we checked with the neighbor before getting a notice from the water company that there was a main break or something, and that we would need to boil our water for the next 24 hours. Hey, that’s fantastic. We complied once the water was back on, and were glad to have it over the next day. Hannah, my sister, went to institute later that night and ran into someone she knew a little from one of her wards at BYU. What a small world!
For Wednesday we got a notice from the water company that they were going to do more repairs on Thursday, needing to shut off our water from about 8:00 a.m. until as late as 3:30 p.m. Nice. Kira saved some water for us for Thursday, and I showered at about 7:40, but then the water stayed on. She finally called the water company to learn that the water would not be affected in our area, even though the notice we received did not specify any areas. Thanks for the headache, anyway!
Of course, later on that day, the water did shut off unexpectedly and we got a notice that emergency repairs were underway, and we would have to boil our water again like cavemen for the next 24 hours. At least now everything seems to be fixed, and none of us got sick from it. The things we take for granted…
We’ve been stuck indoors for days, too, while the weather turned ridiculously cold. At least it snowed gently most of the day on Saturday, making for some good times in the yard.
Carver complained of a sore throat on Friday night, but was doing better on Saturday. He’s still pretty stuffy in the nose, but his throat is tolerable and he’s sleeping well.
For Saturday, Kira worked on the last touches for her talk she gave today, and prepared for music time for her primary calling. Hannah and I tried to keep the kids from eating each other, and I cleaned. Hannah, Avey, Carver, and I all left around 4:20 to head into Chicago to try again to see the play version of Fantastic Mr. Fox that my student was in. The roads were fine, so we made it in good time. I was a little disappointed to see that her part was relatively minor in the program, but then she played at least 5 different instruments like a pro as part of the on-stage pit orchestra. We were all very impressed at her versatility.
Today has been a pretty typical Sunday, in that the children have been at each other’s throats, pushing every button they can find. Kira gave a great talk at church, and then Merritt and I hung out in the nursery waiting for everyone else to finish (he’s the only nursery-aged child in the branch).
The snow seems to be slowly clearing up today, and the sun is shining. In any case, we’re just happy to have the stupid water back on.
I’ve got one more week of working from home to prepare for my courses, though I have to go into the city on Tuesday for some meeting [gag]. Hannah’s got a job interview lined up this week, and otherwise we’re all just trying to keep our heads above water (which is somehow easier when there’s water pressure).