It's Like Little House on the Prairie

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Let me begin by saying that I was always a huge fan of Laura Ingalls Wilder's Little House books growing up. I used to imagine what it would be like to ride in a covered wagon, shop in a general store, and share a cozy bed with my sister on a cold prairie night. Well, scratch that last part because I shared a room with my sister for 7 years and it was pure torture most nights because she found great joy in making me miserable.

This week has come about as close to life on the prairie as I want to get. We have some kind of BIG, unfortunate clog in the pipes under our house, which resulted in some major backing up in the downstairs bathroom. Ick! So T declared that we must not use the showers or the toilets (except for Natalie because it's impossible to ask a three year old to hold it) until the situation is resolved. He seemed to think that it would be okay to use the dishwasher and the kitchen sink because those lines weren't affected. Wrong. Whatever clogged the pipe blew the kitchen pipe apart, so all the water we were using went under the house. Great.

So I've really felt like Laura or Mary Ingalls as I get in my (covered) Chevrolet Trailblazer and drive to WaWa to use the bathroom. And showering at my mom's house has sort of been like camping out in the wilderness...her mood can sometimes swing and she'll go all Comanche on you. Dangerous.

Today is Day 5 1/2 of "The Great Plumbing Debacle of 2008." The plumber sent his guys over last night, and they tried to run a monster snake down the line, and even that wouldn't go through. They asked if someone might have flushed a toy down the toilet...meanwhile, Natalie is standing at the door wearing a red scottie dog dress, pink fairy wings, and pink dress-up shoes with flowers on them. They must have been referring to T.

Yes, I am sure I've seen him sneak his He-Man action figures into the bathroom. It couldn't have been Michaela Byrd--she prefers playing in the dog water. But just to be safe, we asked her, and the look on her face was priceless. Her mouth dropped open in shock that we would even consider accusing her of such treachery. "No! I di'int!"

Well, okay then. Back to square one. Looks like they will have to replace the entire line under the house if their magic balloon trick thingie doesn't work tonight. I honestly don't care anymore. I just want to be able to shower at my house! I am PRAYING that they can just fix the darn thing tonight...and let the record show that if they take the pipe out and discover a Fisher Price Little People car, or a My Little Pony, or any sort of toy a 3 year old might find fascinating to flush, there will be a very unhappy little girl on L Avenue. And that someone isn't me.

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