The Water Shut-Off

At the complete risk of completely humiliating myself, just to entertain my Big Sister and a few others who actually enjoy reading this blog…

Yesterday, our water was shut off. Not because the construction workers building the home across the street hit some sort of water line, not because I had a plumbing problem, but...for non-payment.

Yep. It turns out, if you owe the water company money, they can choose to cut your water off. Even if you only owe them $27.

Look, it wasn’t that I didn’t have the $27 in the bank to pay the bill. I most certainly did and the minute I realized my oversight, I obviously paid the bill.

It’s just that in a world where I’m trying to juggle a 3rd grader, a 6th grader, a crazy fireman husband, additional graduate classes, a full time job and an obsession with songwriting and performing, some things get forgotten. Sadly, the water bill was at the absolute dead-last-bottom of my priority list.

Thankfully, Hubbit, who has been telling me for about two weeks to “slow it down” and “you’re doing WAY too much these days”, was completely asleep during the entire fiasco. I have to admit, I did breathe a sigh of relief when after I humbly called to admit my oversight and pay the bill, they turned the water back on...before Hubbit woke from his nap.

Little did I realize, since Flea was home sick from school and witnessed the “Water Shut-Off”, after we picked up Bug from school, he revealed our little dirty secret. Flea also felt inclined to tell my parents, who then quickly called me to be sure I didn’t need money. Not a bad problem to have really...parents who are forever trying to give me cash! But, since I’m the world’s best daughter, I did not take their cash and simply admitted to my mistake. ;)

While we’re a family who likes to have no secrets, the problem with telling Bug ANYTHING is...he has zero ability to keep it to himself. He’s definitely not the kid to reveal anything to.

Not Chrismas present purchases. Not that you REALLY dislike his coach. Not that you secretly passed gas.

Because, he WILL tell.

So, ultimately Hubbit did find out and I got the exact response I knew I would get...”slow it down” and “you’re doing WAY too much these days”.

UGH. Doesn’t he know SuperWoman can do it ALL? Geez. Such a hater.

Side Note: Last year I made a bold statement that people over the age of 21 should NEVER use the word “hater”, by the way. In fact, my declaration REALLY ticked off at least one person. (giggle) But, in all fairness, it really does fit nicely in this context...so eat it up!

Anyhow, what no one knows...

I had already taken a shower before the big “Water Shut-Off” event, so the only thing I was genuinely concerned with was finding water to use for hand washing after using the bathroom. I searched the pantry and successfully found two bottled waters.

We were home free! Or so I thought...

After feeling confident we would “survive” this aggravation, I went to a few appointments and took Flea to the doctor. When I returned home, the water still hadn’t been cut back on.

No big deal. I settled down to do a little work, when I remembered I hadn’t washed Bug’s football pants and socks.

Since he didn't have practice until a few hours later, I knew there was still time. However, I had to act quickly, because I was scheduled for a studio session and had to leave 35 minutes later. I threw the clothes into my handy-dandy front loader, added detergent and turned it on. It started making a crazy noise and wouldn’t start.

My immediate thought was that our washer was broken and I started cursing the evil-too-expensive-not-really-worth-it machine. In my defense, since our dryer broke last week, I was a little paranoid about another broken appliance.

Knowing I didn’t have time for a “broken washer”, I did exactly what I do whenever I forget to wash things and have less than an hour to deal with it. I grabbed the clothing out of the washer, ran to the boys’ bathroom, tossed them in the sink and BEFORE THINKING, added a ton of liquid blue laundry detergent to the WHITE pants. Just like always, I twisted the water knob, fully prepared to see water come out so I could do my quick hand-wash.

ONLY...there was no water. How could I have forgotten about the “Water Shut-Off” and made such a big mistake. I looked at the clock and had absolutely NO time to run to the store for a gallon of water.

So, I panicked.

I looked at the bright white pants, covered in bright blue Tide. I looked at the remaining small amount of “hand washing bottled water” I had left. And, I almost started to cry.

Where on Earth was I going to get enough water to rinse out all of the detergent, so I could throw the pants in the dryer and hit the road to my session?

Just then, I got an idea. I’ll admit it wasn’t an ideal plan. In fact, if presented the chance again, I’m not sure I would do the same.

But, when your water has been shut off and you’re in a desperate situation, as I certainly was...

Lifting the back cover on your toilet, MIGHT OR MIGHT NOT be your magical-hear-angels-singing solution...

And you MIGHT OR MIGHT NOT be able to use the back of the toilet as a mini washing machine...

And if you are blessed to have three toliets with backs full of water, you MIGHT OR MIGHT NOT have enough clean water to rinse out a ton of blue liquid Tide from bright white youth football pants.

I guess, Hubbit doesn’t call me the Redneck Martha Stewart for nothing.

Whitney

We never know the worth of water, until the well is dry. (Author Unknown)

happy. 1st. day. of. school. seriously.

Today is the first day of school here, which means several things…


1) I might…JUST MIGHT…be able to blog more regularly now! Woot!! Woot!!

2) I gave THE performance of my life this morning, (in hopes of being nominated for a “Best Actress” award, of course) fighting back tears and pretending it didn’t bother me for a second to send my big boy to his first year of middle school (…gasp…) and my little bug to his first year at a new school, after being diagnosed with Diabetes (…double gasp…).

Thankfully Hubbit took off for a few hours this morning to be my ever present “Emotional Rock”. Last week when he mentioned he was taking off a few hours for the first day of school morning ritual, I was a little surprised. At that point the reality of this morning was far from my conscious, as we were trying to soak up the last little bit of summer break, laying poolside.

Our convo went something like this…

Hubbit: I’m taking off for a few hours next Thursday morning, just to help you get the kids off to school.
Me: Um, ok. I’m sure I’ll be fine though, seeing I’ve been getting at least one kid off to school EVERY day for the past six years. (Eye-Roll-I-Am-Woman-Hear-Me-Roar-Look)
Hubbit: (Totally aggravated at my eye roll, since he swares it’s the non-verbal equivalent to saying “FU”.) Well, maybe I just don’t want to miss their first morning back.
Me: Ok. (Thinking he is such a great daddy.)

What Hubbit knew then and I was simply too blind to realize is, I TOTALLY needed him this morning. While I’m sure he did love seeing the boys off to school this morning, he is one of those rare finds (AKA Soul Mate) who sincerely knows me better than I know myself. I always joke, he knows when to put his arms out to catch me, even before I know I’m falling and today was a prime example.

When Bug started crying at his desk, after we said goodbye in the classroom, I immediately shot Hubbit my “Please-Rescue-Me-Before-I-Totally-Lose-It-And-Bawl-Like-A-Crazy-Lady” look and he swooped in to fix everything. After a few minutes with his Daddy, Bug was tear-free and ready for a wonderful day! What would have happened if Hubbit hadn’t taken off this morning? Um, I would probably have laid my head down on that desk, right next to Bug’s, and wept too.

What can I say? I’ve said it about Hubbit before and I’ll say it again. He’s a keeper!


3)Hubbit and I were reminded that while we THINK we’re the hippest and coolest parents EVA…we are sadly as dorky as Flea constantly reminds us of being.

Here’s the scoop…

Hubbit and I both rode along to drop Flea off for his very first day of middle school, the thought of which brings me complicated and diverse horrors on many levels. I was feeling cool and confident as we properly navigated the potentially insane drop off route, with absolute ease. (Big thanks to EJH Middle School for providing an advanced copy of your car dropoff map I could actually decipher and understand.)

When we pulled up to the drop off point, Flea got out of the vehicle and started walking away from us, toward the school’s door. Hubbit and I looked at each other, in complete awe of the fact we now have a 6th grader.

Hubbit: Wow, it’s unreal he’s in 6th grade already.
Me: (Again, holding back those Crazy-Mom tears) I know. It just kills me. He’s like a little man.

Just as we were wallowing in our ridiculous sorrow, Flea looked back, smiled the biggest smile ever and waved. Shocked, surprised and ridiculously OVERJOYED at the fact our pre-teen son who typically only claims us as his biological parental figures when he needs cash or food, actually waved to US on his first day of school, we FRANTICALLY waved back and blew kisses, with Giant-Almost-Psychotic-Smiles on our faces.

However, our joy only lasted a moment when we glanced behind us to see a group of Flea’s best friends waving their arms in the air and yelling...

“Hey Flea! Wait for us!”

...and the embarrassing realization washed over us, as we realized he was indeed NOT waving to us.

Once a dork, always a dork. (Author Unknown, but I'd be willing to bet it was a teenager!)