Remodeling from the Crawlspace Up

This has been an unusually confusing week:  Sunday evening the main floor bathroom started flooding repeatedly.  After we'd tried to mop up with every towel I own, Star made an anxious call to our friendly neighborhood plumber.  He'd just visited the day before to remove a plastic cup from the master bathroom toilet, and seemed in remarkably good spirits for a Sunday evening (we'd rather not imagine the stories that he brings home from his many trips to the Hall bathrooms over the last several years).  He was quick to assess the situation and asked to check the crawl space for any leak.  Now that area of the house is only accessible  by way of a little door in the floor of a cozy closet we lovingly call "the Harry Potter room." And it fills up with any stray toy that escapes the playroom. To empty it, the Hall children formed an assembly line and took 65 million urgent trips with plastic grocery bags. The homemaker @ the Hall home regularly requires that the space be cleared, but each time our plumber has visited, we look as though we have real organizational issues...

The root of the problem was recognizable in short order when the pipe exploded, and our friendly plumber suggested we call in Rescue Rooter. It was a long evening for Star, Zach, and the professionals down in that crawlspace.  I was sent to Aunt Mieka's in SLC for dinner and distraction for the children.  By the end of the evening it was discovered that our new-fangled-top-of-the-line potties, with extra large drainage holes (installed last November in order to reduce that flooding phase we'd endured for a season with help from our 2yr. old) had encouraged the creativity of our now 3 yr old.  He'd flushed a bra and several pairs of underwear, along with some baby wipes, and they seemed to be holding things up a bit along the pipeline.

Our house has been exposed to so many repairmen over the last week, that I sense it feels violated.  The carpet we installed last March was cut out, sheet rock and tile torn out, and anti-bacterial potions applied.  The amazingly loud fans were finally shut off today, and then while I was out, my entire kitchen floor was removed, leaving a very thick and sticky residue that makes it impossible to walk on.  After the workmen left, we heard back from the flooring place: they should have our order in by mid-next week (Oh boy).  The homeowners insurance will cover much of the reconstruction (of walls, vanity, paint, carpet, and vinyl) after we've met our deductible...  But I guess I won't pull out the Christmas decor for a while.

Since we returned from our hotel stay (where Max tried valiantly to flush a plastic "Do Not Disturb" sign down the toilet) that creative child has force fed the sink his corn dog, and used the toilet brush to smash up his waste.  I'm afraid I lost my patience at that point, and used my "outside voice."  The bathrooms are now locked each day, all day, and I carry a long nail in my pocket in order to access those areas.  I understand that this may slow down the unremarkable progress we are making in our potty-training efforts, but I can better afford more pull-ups, than more re-modeling.

Because of the tougher week, Star suggested I go to WalMart this afternoon --to see what Black Friday was all about, while he did some projects around the place.  I had a nice time, found a few bargains, and had just started the van when a woman rapped at the passenger window and shouted, "You have a very flat tire."  I didn't roll down the window to thank her (that window no longer rolls down) I just smiled and nodded -- why not, right?

Did you know that if you've purchased new sets of tires for each of your tired vehicles in less than a year's time, they'll take really good care of you at Discount Tires?

Yes, sir --just ask me about budgeting, effective parenting, or being full of faith, hope, and charity..."I'm master of all I survey..."