Busy, Drama, Busy, Drama
Today I was busier than a one-legged man in a ass kicking contest. I slept in until noon which was nice. After I peeled my ass out of bed, I sat down to relax with my cup of coffee, checked my email and was getting ready to tackle my day which should have consisted of re-painting my french doors and window frames in my living room. But then, lo and behold, who walks into my house? None other than my mother-in-law. Unannounced might I add. I just knew my day was fucked right then and there. The woman would not leave me alone. At least Rick had an escape plan...he had to go to work. I was stuck with her after he left. And she stuck to me like white on rice too.
As Rick was heading down the basement stairs to leave for work, I heard him exclaim "Holy shit!". I jumped up from my chair, almost pushed my mil out of my face and ran down the stairs to find my laundry room flooded with about 2 inches deep worth of water from the washing machine. Ugh. I knew what this meant as this happened once before. A pipe was blocked.
We sopped up 3 buckets full before the area was cleared. Lucky for me, the uncle under the stairs helped and Rick stayed a bit longer to chip in too. My mil was oblivious to the whole affair, talking her ass off the whole time about her woes. I wanted to smack her upside the head with a soaking wet towel.
Right before Rick left me to take care of our pipe problem, we formulated a plan to get the pipe fixed. I was to call Home Depot to find out if they rented pipe snakes. The non-customer-oriented dude I talked to on the phone said "yeah, we have 'em." and promptly hung up on me. Asshole. The other alternative was to call a plumber which would have set us back about $300. My next task was to get a ride to the store and rent the damned thing but I had to wait for my father-in-law to leave work and drive a normally 45 minute trek to pick me up and assist me with the pipe snakage (sp?). That 45 minute drive turned into 2 hours. He got lost. We finally got to Home Depot only to find out that the store had closed early due to Easter. We missed it by 10 minutes. Just as I was going into meltdown mode in the parking lot, my fil had an epiphany. He called a former co-worker who just happened to have the machine we needed and he graciously let us borrow it. All for free, and the blockage is no more!
Before I left the house, I forbade everyone from using the toilet. I wasn't sure if we'd get the problem fixed and I didn't want everyone doing their thing, not flushing, and having that stinking up the house so I set up a big plastic bowl (we now affectionately call it the pee bowl which has been for obvious reasons thrown away) in the downstairs bathroom to pee in and consequently dump it out in the sink. I should have been more specific because when I got back home and walked in the front door, the malicious odor eminating from my house was overwhelming. Naturally, I went to investigate. My brilliant son Jake made a number 2 in the bowl. At first I was practically speechless, then I was mad and after that, I had to laugh it off. He was following my directions after all.
I now know why plumbers make such good money. What a nasty job! We pulled stuff out of this pipe that was, well, let's just say, really, really gross and smelly. As my fil and I were having a celebratory beer, my lovely daughter asked me if she could go to the movies with a friend. As it was already past 8pm and a school night, I said no. You'd have thought that I slapped her in the face by the way she reacted. I honestly don't think I've ever seen her behave so rudely and disrespectfully. She tried to bait me into an argument, but I calmly walked away, leaving her with this one thought - "Just wait and see what happens the next time you ask me for a favor...".
I am frikkin exhausted and still stressed out. It just hit me as I sat down to type this entry. I think I might take a long hot bath and read my book. Since I don't have my own private masseur, this is my next best option to decompress. If this doesn't work, meds will be my next alternative.
As Rick was heading down the basement stairs to leave for work, I heard him exclaim "Holy shit!". I jumped up from my chair, almost pushed my mil out of my face and ran down the stairs to find my laundry room flooded with about 2 inches deep worth of water from the washing machine. Ugh. I knew what this meant as this happened once before. A pipe was blocked.
We sopped up 3 buckets full before the area was cleared. Lucky for me, the uncle under the stairs helped and Rick stayed a bit longer to chip in too. My mil was oblivious to the whole affair, talking her ass off the whole time about her woes. I wanted to smack her upside the head with a soaking wet towel.
Right before Rick left me to take care of our pipe problem, we formulated a plan to get the pipe fixed. I was to call Home Depot to find out if they rented pipe snakes. The non-customer-oriented dude I talked to on the phone said "yeah, we have 'em." and promptly hung up on me. Asshole. The other alternative was to call a plumber which would have set us back about $300. My next task was to get a ride to the store and rent the damned thing but I had to wait for my father-in-law to leave work and drive a normally 45 minute trek to pick me up and assist me with the pipe snakage (sp?). That 45 minute drive turned into 2 hours. He got lost. We finally got to Home Depot only to find out that the store had closed early due to Easter. We missed it by 10 minutes. Just as I was going into meltdown mode in the parking lot, my fil had an epiphany. He called a former co-worker who just happened to have the machine we needed and he graciously let us borrow it. All for free, and the blockage is no more!
Before I left the house, I forbade everyone from using the toilet. I wasn't sure if we'd get the problem fixed and I didn't want everyone doing their thing, not flushing, and having that stinking up the house so I set up a big plastic bowl (we now affectionately call it the pee bowl which has been for obvious reasons thrown away) in the downstairs bathroom to pee in and consequently dump it out in the sink. I should have been more specific because when I got back home and walked in the front door, the malicious odor eminating from my house was overwhelming. Naturally, I went to investigate. My brilliant son Jake made a number 2 in the bowl. At first I was practically speechless, then I was mad and after that, I had to laugh it off. He was following my directions after all.
I now know why plumbers make such good money. What a nasty job! We pulled stuff out of this pipe that was, well, let's just say, really, really gross and smelly. As my fil and I were having a celebratory beer, my lovely daughter asked me if she could go to the movies with a friend. As it was already past 8pm and a school night, I said no. You'd have thought that I slapped her in the face by the way she reacted. I honestly don't think I've ever seen her behave so rudely and disrespectfully. She tried to bait me into an argument, but I calmly walked away, leaving her with this one thought - "Just wait and see what happens the next time you ask me for a favor...".
I am frikkin exhausted and still stressed out. It just hit me as I sat down to type this entry. I think I might take a long hot bath and read my book. Since I don't have my own private masseur, this is my next best option to decompress. If this doesn't work, meds will be my next alternative.