I Will (I Did) Survive!

Wow! What a week our family went through. And it's not even over yet. This is going to be a long story so just bear with me. We have needed most of our water pipes replaced for a long time. We finally had the money put back to get it done. And that was planned for this past Monday. No big deal......until........I was down in the basement and felt the need to take a look at the water heater. Why? I don't know, but when I did I found it had a leak. Not good. :-( So lets just add more onto the bill. I had no idea how we were going to pay for it, but God did. Little did I know that the Lord had already blessed us with a way to pay for the water heater. (Beloved informed me that God provided money for the water heater...after I had a freak out session ;-)

Anyway, so I had no water for majority of the day on Monday while they replaced the pipes and water heater. Since it was cold I couldn't just spend the day at the park or on a hike. Thankfully my Father-in-love said it would be okay to stay at their house for the day. We arrived home late afternoon hoping the water would be turned on soon. I am not sure what time it was turned on to be exact, but it doesn't matter. I received a phone call close to 6:00 pm from Beloved informing me that he wouldn't make it home. The car (which is a standard) wouldn't shift. He was able to pull into the parking lot of Subw@y. At least he wasn't stuck in the middle of the intersection. Anyway, I loaded up the children and headed on down to Newark to pick Beloved up. We had the car towed to his sister's and headed on home. We arrived around 10:00 pm I think.

As soon as we walked in the door we were hit with the smell of natural gas.We figured it was the new water heater and went down to test it with soapy water. As soon as we sprayed the pipes there were bubbles everywhere. So they came back to fix the pipes. After he left I thought, "what the hay" and decided to spray the old pipes around the meter. As soon as I did that huge bubbles formed. I ran upstairs as fast as I could and called the gas company. Then I called my Mother-in-Love and asked her if we could come over for the. After I left with the children a worker from the gas company came by to test (Beloved stayed home to wait on the worker). We obviously had major leaks in the house and he also tested the line coming to the meter from the main line at the road. It also had major leaks that they needed to fix. So I came back to pick up Beloved about 1:30 am to take him back to his parents house. Turning off the gas meant no heat in the house and it was a cold night.

Tuesday the gas company came out and dug up a large portion of our side yard and put in a new pipe and new meters (for the house and apartment).Then we played phone tag for the majority of the day trying to find a plumber that did pipe work to come out and run new pipes in the house. We were finally able to get someone here in the late afternoon. He ran the new pipes and then the gas company came back out to turn the gas back on to the home. Of course the new water heater wouldn't relight so the guy that ran the new pipes in the house came back out to help us get it lit. So we were finally back in our home around 10:00 pm Tuesday night. 

Wednesday we were happy to be home. Nothing major was going on. Just trying to get caught up on laundry. But when they hooked up the water lines to the washer they switched them. So I had to work to change the hoses on the back of the washer. Not a huge deal just and inconvenience. But the cold water valve is leaking a little bit now. So it's going to have to be replaced. Anyway, when the washer started draining I noticed a gurgling noise coming from the kitchen sink. I remember that noise from a year ago. So I immediately call Roto-Rooter to see about having someone come out. Usually someone is able to come out the same day. Not so for me. They couldn't come out until the next day. So, to prevent a mess like we had last year I needed to stay out of the house. 5 people needing to use the restroom with a clogged drain is never a good thing.

But remember, Beloved had the van because his car had to be towed to his sister's. So I call my Father-in-Love again and ask if we can stay at their house again and he would have to pick the children and me up. Surprisingly (figured he would quit returning my calls. ;-) he came and got all of us and Beloved just met us there. When we went to church that evening a wonderful family offered the use of the pick-up truck until we could figure out what we were going to do about the car. What a blessing! This means that I can have a car to run errands during the day and can still take the children to the homeschool co-op!

So, on to Thursday. They were running behind but Roto-Rooter was finally able to make it out. He left around 1:30 pm and he had cleared the drain line the best he could. There was something still in there blocking it. So an inspector has to come out with a camera to see what exactly is blocking it. I am not looking forward to finding out how much work has to be done. But it will be nice to know what we are in for and can hopefully prevent this in the future.

Finally, today (Friday). I woke up late and had to rush around getting the children ready for our co-op classes this morning. But first I had to run by the bank. And wouldn't you know it....the teller shorted me $20!!!! So I had to go all the way back around (one way streets) and get back in line. Then to prove she shorted me she had to count down her drawer. So I was running late to begin with and this just made it worse. But we made it to co-op and everyone had a good day. So I am going to head to bed now and get some rest. There are still some things that need taken care of, but my family is safe and that is what's important. 

It was a very rough week, but God provided in so many different ways. Every person (from the tow truck driver to the plumber) were all very nice people to deal with and somehow we were able to pay for all the expenses. We can't afford anything anytime soon, but we somehow had enough funds to cover everything. Praise the Lord! So that's the story of my week. I am actually praying for a boring weekend. HaHa...I know...it seems crazy. I guess it won't be to boring. We are renting a dolly (or whatever it's called) to tow Beloved's car back into town and it's just going to have to set in the driveway until we can figure something out.

I pray that you all have a great and uneventful weekend! ;-)