All's Well! (pun intended)

We have water!!!! I’m thrilled beyond words because originally, the well pump people weren’t going to be able to come out at all yesterday. In even better news, our pump was still under warranty and it cost $500 (ouch) instead of upwards of $1200. The guys that came out weren’t at all creepy. They were very nice. A man in his forties and a young, curly-haired apprentice named Charles. They worked efficiently in the blaring heat. They were surprised and relieved that I told them to just drive around back to the pump. “You mean you don’t mind?” They were surprised. I pointed to our brittle grass and asked if it looked like we minded. Besides, they only had a pick up truck with some equipment in the back. I wondered what all the fuss was about. Once they pulled around back, they probably wondered the same thing! I get the feeling that not everyone parks the mower behind the house… under a blue tarp… like we do. I don’t think they cared. They were grateful

I stuck my head out the kitchen window to watch. They had this apparatus (I so wish that I had taken a picture of it.) that they used to pull up the pump. It was a square metal frame with three tires facing each other and, somewhere tucked in there a small mother to run the tires. The three tires gripped the pipe to pull it out. I started to laugh because it looked like something Amos’ grandpa and uncles (the Zollingers) would have rigged up. I knew Amos would have gotten a kick out of it too. So, I asked Mike “Did you make that or can you actually buy it?” He very seriously assured me that you can actually buy them and they are about four grand apiece. Who’s laughing at who?!

The kids hung around wanting to know all that they were doing. For a while, Jack and Ava made themselves a nice little spot at the end of the table by the kitchen window, which sits right next to the well. They watched comfortably from the “stands” as they ate Teddy Grahams. Mid chomp, Ava says, “That guy curls his hair.” Mike and Charles were really interesting guys. It turns out that Charles has 3 brothers and they, along with their dad, have a bluegrass band called the Stockdale Family Band. They’ve played at the Grand Ole Opry, in Nashville. I thought that was pretty cool. We talked about our kids and it turns out that Mike is a Christian. He and his wife have a desire to adopt even though they have children already. In fact, their youngest son has spina bifida occulta. SBO is the mildest form of SB and most people with it don’t even know they have it. His son does experience pain from it, unfortunately. You just never know whom you’re going to meet in the course of a day. It’s always so interesting and turned out to be a blessing.

When the work was done, Mike & Charlie packed up and shipped out. I ran around all the bathrooms and flushed toilets as fast as I could! It was something I’d looked forward to since three in the morning when I lay in bed unable to decide if I should actually use the bathroom knowing I couldn’t flush. Jack made the decision for me. He was the one whose kicking brought my attention to my bladder in the first place. I asked him if he had to pee. “Yeah.” He said sleepily. So, he went and I followed suit. “Come on!” I told myself, “People live all over the world without running water!” I reasoned with myself “but then again, those people don’t go to the bathroom in their houses either.” True that. I got over it eventually and fell back to sleep.

So, we ended the day going to Grandpa and Polly’s house for dinner. That was nice because we had no dinner plans when we’d thought there would be no water that day. Bonus! I didn’t even have to cook! When we got home, though, I felt so overwhelmed (and grumpy). The kids didn’t clean up what I asked them to. I had a pile of laundry and dishes that materialized seemingly out of thin air and I had no excuse now for not doing it! Furthermore, I didn’t want anyone in my bed kicking me in the rear all night and I made it clear that I didn’t want a repeat. I feel kinda bad now. I want to take them to a water park, but I don’t want it to look like I’ve gone soft and they’re getting away with being irresponsible. It’s gonna rain tomorrow. Though I feel like a total sucker for saying this… There’s plenty of time to clean when it’s raining! Off to the park!