I am thankful for

Today I am thankful for

• running water
• Gregory
• Parker Wheatley
• Brother Scott
• My father in law
• Answers to prayers.

Let's start at the beginning: In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth...ok we won't go that far back but it feels a bit like God has been building up to the last few days for months now.

Greg and I have been looking to buy a house near Uptown Charlotte since August or so.  We looked at several that I just LOVED but just didn't feel right.  Then Greg decided to start his own business, which led him to a new job in Concord (45 minutes from Uptown).  Good on God, glad we didn't buy in or near Uptown.  So we start looking at houses in downtown Concord, which is a lot like the love of my life, Provo.  And then in December a guy in our ward said he was interested in buying the house we currently live in.  Greg and I decided/were inspired by the Spirit to just rent.  Greg's current job is not permanent--2 years tops, after which Greg is hoping to really get a business going with his near-Seattle brother.  Buying just doesn't make sense as we could be anywhere (*Provo*) in two years.  Renting feels right.  So I picked a weekend in May that fit in with me and Rex's school schedules and started looking at rentals just to see what we should expect price wise.

Last Wednesday, my mother in law watched the kids so Greg and I could both go to mutual.  We came home to rain in the house.  For the first time in his life, Rex flushed the toilet and Libby didn't know the magic trick to make it stop running, also Rex had earlier in the day flushed an entire roll of toilet paper.  Libby said it was Heavenly Father telling her to clean out the basement as we mopped up the gallons of water soaking through the ceiling.  I thought, we should just move now.

Sunday morning, I wake up to just a trickle of water.  I brushed my teeth and called the city to come fix the problem.  I then pack a bag and we head to the in-law's house to shower.  We get home 4 hours after my initial call and still no water.  I take the kids to church and Greg investigates.  Working with the guy from the city, he discovers that the problem with the water is somewhere between the mailbox and the house--about 500 feet, and because it's on the property, we have to fix it.  After church, we buy 6 gallons of water, a ton of paper products, and almost simultaneously say, let's just move.

There's nothing like no water to let you know it's time to move.  I'm not usually a big one for signs from the Heavens, but this was definitely a sign.  An exploding toilet one day and less than a week later, no water?  It's time to move on. We've been praying to know what to do, where to go, and when to do it.  I told Heavenly Father I'd like an email with the house we should move into.  Apparently, the God of all Things doesn't haven an email address, but He can break water pipes.  (On a scale of one to ten, how irreverent was that?)  Never the less, our prayers were answered.  We'd be out in less than a week.  And this week would be perfect because I don't even have class.  Good timing God.  Now to pack and find a place to live.

Monday morning, we still have no water.  I start packing.  I make a few calls to look at a few houses.  I keep packing.  Rex takes stuff out of the boxes as I pack.  I yell at him.  I keep packing.  We meet Greg to look at a few houses.  One is beautiful and I love it; the other smells like smoke.  While the one could work, we decide to keep looking.  We still have a few more days to hit the weekend deadline we'd set for ourselves.  Meanwhile, my mother-in-law had a plummer come look for the leak.  He couldn't find it.  He said the best option would be to tear up the old line and put a new line down.  $5,700.  She was not happy. And she still had to pay him $50 for doing nothing.

Tuesday morning.  Day 3 of no water.

 Let me just explain for a minute the implications of not having running water or neighbors--no showers, no washing hands, no flushing toilets, no washing clothes, no washing dishes, no drinking, no cooking.  All meals must be 100% microwaveable  because no dish washing can occur.  We did buy some water.  Enough to drink.  I even used a few gallons to wash the dishes in the sink from Sunday morning's breakfast--back when I thought the water problem would be solved in a few hours.

I take Rex to Joy School and run a few errands with Alice.  Then I get a text from Greg.  He found a house.  The PERFECT house at an amazing price.  Only catch--it's at least 30 days before we can move in but it could be up to 90.  Awesome, but I don't think I can handle a possibility of 90 days--3 months--with no water.  Greg said he was on his way home.  He'd talked to some people at work and had a few ideas of how to find the leak.  Mostly, it involved digging up the line and looking for a leak.  I went to pick Rex up and, being the good wife that I am, recruited the brother of Rex's Joy School mate, Parker, to come help.  Parker's grandpa, Brother Scott, who is a handyman extraordinaire decided to come along too.  Brother Scott assured Greg and my father in law that digging up the line would not be necessary.  There would be water somewhere showing the leak.  So they began looking.  Not too long later, 15-year-old Parker finds the giant 10-foot-wide, bubbling puddle.  Good job Professional Plummer.  They start digging and sure enough, there it is: the broken joint.  That right.  It's just a joint.  Not even the pipe. They don't even have to dig up the whole pipe or cut the pipe, they just have to get a new joint and stick it on.  An hour later, I flushed all the toilets.  Hallelujah!  All in all, including the 2 new shovels Greg bought and the "labor," it cost $110 to fix--but we get to keep the shovels.  The actual part was only $20.  Thanks Professional Plummer.

the hole with broken pipe protruding

And then the water pressure drops again.  Greg replaces the joint again (he decided not to fill the hole back in just in case).  I do a load of laundry and we head out to check out our new place and get dinner.  We come home, the joint had popped off again.  Greg is trying one last time for the night.  So while I have flushed the toilets and done a load of laundry, I still have a dishwasher full of dirty dishes and I still haven't showered since the brief rinse-off I got in between bathing the kids and running to church on Sunday.

Now that we aren't moving this weekend, I've slowed my packing.  I also built a fort for the kids out of the boxes I did pack--I'm not unpacking those just to repack in a month (or so).  We'll just have a sick fort in our living room.  You know you're jealous.  (Also insert comment about how much stuff we have that we don't use/need because it's going to sit in boxes for a few months and we won't miss it--it's mostly baby clothes and holiday decorations).

Our box fort--more pictures coming as I improve it/pack more

Sorry blurry--remember Rex broke my real camera leaving me with just a phone.

All(most) our prayers answered--we (almost) have water, we have a house, we know(ish) when we're moving.

So today I am grateful for

• running water--though I may still be using your shower tomorrow Becky
• Gregory
• Parker Wheatley
• Brother Scott
• My father in law
• Answers to prayers.

(oh wait...I hear water.  I may just yet get a shower today.  *cross your fingers*)