Last week, the kids' Christmas Break ended (on Tuesday--the teachers' break ended on Monday). The kids had a four day week, last week, and I got quite a bit actually done that I hadn't managed to get done while they were off (Mom-ing is a full-time job, especially when the weather's awful, and the kids are stuck inside, and leaves no energy of any type for anything else).
Sunday, I made chili, and had the imp's godfather, and the godfather's new girlfriend over for supper. She's very sweet, but I really think it's not going to work, long term. The imp's godfather is a conservative leaning libertarian Christian, and the girlfriend is a hard-left leaning pagan feminist that's so open minded she's in danger of losing her brain. The cats and kids liked her, and liked her kids, so she's not totally a lost cause, but...yeah.
And Sunday through Monday...it snowed. A lot. We got an inch or so on Sunday, then four and a half more on Monday. And school was cancelled on Monday, and the local PD declared emergency road conditions (rightly--the salt trucks and plows couldn't stay on the road). And through the course of the day on Monday, the temperatures plummeted.
Monday night into Tuesday, it got down below zero. We broke a long-held record for low temperatures. Tuesday, we also broke a long-held record for coldest high temperature (mid single digits). And local schools remained cancelled, but I had hopes for school being in session on Wednesday, so cut off the imp's TV viewing, and sent him off to play after lunch.
I got them both chased through the shower and put to bed on school night time, and then collapsed. Checked my email. Cussed. Because school was cancelled for Wednesday, and they announced it while I was chasing the kids through bedtime routines.
So, yesterday morning, I was trying to sleep in a bit, whilst Odysseus was getting ready for work, and Odysseus uttered an expression of shocked dismay.
Our hot water had frozen overnight.
Finally got that thawed around a quarter to 11:00 yesterday morning, then realized I was hearing water running under the house.
I don't know where the house shutoff valve is, assuming we have one, but I do know where the breaker box and well breaker is. Flipped that off, and have been trying to avoid needing to use the bathroom.
The plumber is supposed to get to us sometime today.
Needless to say, I've gotten very little done this week. Life has very much happened, and continues to happen. And all of this has been going on while the weather has my joints hurting enough that I'm dreaming in shades of more and less pain in my hands, knees, ankles, hips, and (as of last night) one shoulder.
I'm about ready to give up and do my best to get drunk tonight (after the plumber has been here and fixed our water issues). Works better for pain management than most of my other options.
5 hours ago
Things always get thrown at you at the worst times. Hope the plumber was able to get all that taken care of. Who would have thought to leave your hot water taps dripping?
ReplyDeleteWe're on a well. I figured if the pressure tank lines didn't freeze, the rest wouldn't, and there was no sign of the tank having issues. Unfortunately, there's a vent into the crawl space right next to where the lines split for the washer and the kitchen/rest of the house, and it got opened somehow. The hot froze, but the line for the cold is what split.
DeleteThere is now a bale of hay in front of each of the vents on the exposed side of the house near the plumbing.