Plumbing.

First of all, *Sorry* for not posting very much lately! I will try to get better. I guess it just seemed like I didn't really have much to update you guys on. Life had been pretty quiet for us.... well, except for the 3 floods this summer and my trip to the Emergency Room. But other than that, we've just been going along day by day!

So I guessI'll start with the first flood. This story begins on a day in the beginning of June. Man and I had just got a new puppy that he had been wanting for ever. We currently didn't have a kennel for her yet so we decided to keep her in the bathroom while we were at work. 

(We figured it would make for easier clean up if she had an accident on the bathroom floor)

So I left that morning and when I returned 4 hours later for lunch, 80% of my house was 2 to 3 inches under water. I walk into the guest bathroom to see the faucet on full blast, the mirror shattered on the floor and our boxer sitting in the bathtub only glancing at me with a look of "I didn't do it!" Oh. Yes she did. She had somehow managed to get up on the counter, knocked a roll of toilet paper into the sink, turned on the faucet while scratching at herself in the mirror. The roll of toilet paper then clogged the drain causing the water to spill over everything, yet not before she managed to break the mirror and have it crash to the floor. Needless to say, I was not happy. We had to call our insurance, get a cleaning company out and suck up all the water. I don't know if you guys know this, but here in Louisiana, its humid. Water does not just dry up around here. Not like in Utah where if you open your windows and turn on some fans, everything is just fine. Oh no. They brought in over 15 giant fans, and 3 large heaters that put off 115 degree heat. They call them de-humidifiers. Our home was not very live-able. I couldn't get in the kitchen to cook, do dishes, and the noise from all the fans was incredible loud. Luckily, we had some wonderful friends who took us in for the 3 days all the fans and everything were in our house. Not too many problems, we came out a little ahead of our deductible so we could replace the vanity and floor in our guest bathroom that the water warped and that was the worst of it. First flood, check.

A week later, I went into the hospital for severe pain in my right side, and after lots of testing and poking and prodding, they gave me a huge dose of pain medicine and sent me home. They said it was not my appendix and if it got worse, come back later. 

Well, the pain never went away so I had Dr. appointment after Dr. appointment and the best they could come up with was endometriosis. (just an FYI, going through Tri-Care for all of this was so extremely frustrating and infuriating, I almost tried to find a Tri-Care office and storm in there myself telling them how ridiculous their process is. All you military people out there can back me up)

I finally got what I wanted after months and by that time, they didn't really care to do anything about it. Just wait and see what happens. I don't know why, but that phrase makes my skin crawl when it comes to my health. I mean hello! Why wait for something to go wrong when you could fix it before?! Okay, I understand the whole wait to see if it really is what it is, but I had already been waiting and waiting even longer was NOT what I wanted to hear. *sorry, rant over*

Then flood number 2 came a week or so after my first trip to the ER. It was small, our toilet had overflowed because it never quit running and was easy to clean up. Not bad.

Then flood number 3 came a few weeks ago when a pipe to our water heater burst and even though our water heater is in our garage, it somehow leaked in our house. Were guessing through our washer water line or something. That one we cleaned up ourselves again because I did not want to go through the whole process again since it was mostly on our linoleum. No carpet, no mold. That's how I see it.

More recently, we've had even more plumbing adventures. Our water reserve out front kept over flowing. At first we thought it was just from all the rain we had been receiving, until our toilets wouldn't flush. Man and I called a guy in our ward who knows a thing or two about plumbing and asked what we could do. (He used to be a plumber) he said we could rent a snake. So we did. And it failed. We tried for all 4 hours we had the snake and nothing. The extra reserve was still full and there was no real difference. So we decided that was a waste of our money and actually called a plumber. (learn from me my friends, when it comes to snakes, just call the plumber) They got it clear and told us how our plumbing runs directly under the two 40 foot trees in our front yard and that the roots lovingly crushed the pipe. He said we'd be lucky if we got 30 days before it jammed again. He so kindly gave us the estimate for root removal (mind you, we'd have to get someone to cut the trees down first) and re-routing the pipes of $4,800 (Seriously, an outhouse and a well are looking pretty good right now). I just want to know what idiot decided it would be a good idea to plant Pine Trees right over the plumbing system? 

So I have no idea what were going to do because getting people out to cut down two 40 foot trees is expensive. Please pray for us, that this plumber was somehow wrong, and that nothing is wrong with our pipes. 

*Please note that the above stories are not intended to make me sound like I'm complaining or say my life is crappy, I love our life and merely wanted to update you all on what has been happening around here lately :)

Now on to the good news!!! My parents are coming to town!!!! Literally they will be here in 2 weeks and 2 days. They booked their tickets last night and I could not be more excited. So I will end on that happy note and say good night!