We just celebrated the two month anniversary of our arrival in St. Louis this past Wednesday by clogging and overflowing the hall toilet. It was very exciting--I would love to hear the children's take on what I looked and sounded like. We are now resolved to eat all our vegetable portions and consult with a parent before questionable flushings. While I had plenty of cleaning up to do and lamented our own culpability in the big mess, (in my panic to lift the ball float, I failed to recognize that our tank does not have a ball float, and pulled up the flapper letting even more water into, or rather out of, the bowl), I did experience for the first time the joy of home non-ownership! The maintenance department came along with a "Ninja" to vacuum up the water that we hadn't soaked up with every towel in the linen closet, and also to check behind the molding and under the cupboards for water and dampness. They drilled holes in the sheetrock behind the molding and checked the subfloor for excessive moisture. Then a professional water damage control company was called in to spray anti-microbial chemicals and thoroughly dry the kitchen and bathroom. They are very serious about preventing the growth of mold and mildew. We were left with four extremely powerful and strategically placed fans, and an industrial dehumidifier that was the size of a large dorm fridge. The house sounded like an airport runway for 48 hours. We all slept very soundly except for Charlie who was in the middle of midterms.
In other news, we also celebrated having added all subjects to our homeschool day by going to the zoo and by signing Paul up for piano lessons.
Now that I'm ready to give up on running, Elise has the racing bug, and is always ready to take me out for a training run!
Charlie has outpatient ear surgery this Friday morning.
Madeleine observed that this year we have met people named Summer, Autumn, and Winter. All this in a year with no spring! (we had autumn in Peru and now in Missouri, although the temperature was 84 yesterday)
Struck by the image of Darth Vader hurtling through space after the destruction of the Death Star, Thomas was able to articulate with dread and awe, "Darth Vader got away. He's still out there..."
A photo of us on campus in St. Louis
The Gibsons
July 7 near the citadel of Acre (Northern Israel)
March 2007 in Trujillo,Peru
Our Church in Trujillo
Playtime in the Parque
2 comments:
We experienced a backed up toilet last week as well. Since we own our home, David had the joy of pulling up the toilet (as it was a loose bolt that caused the issue) and his favorite, the wax ring. It's still sitting in our living room as we were out of town this weekend. Hopefully we'll get it all back together this week.
Glad things are going well and happy 2-month-a-versary!
Molly found your blog and this is the first that I have read it. Toilets overflowing are messy but a time to learn to be a plumber (sort of). I can't believe yours didn't have a ball float; is that a new kind of toilet? We're praying for you all! Hang in there with the studying, Charlie!
Peggy Sumpter
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