Thursday Toilet Triumph!

Well, after a very long and challenging week with our household plumbing system, we are finally back in business! I have never been more relieved, literally! Yes, a 4 foot by 4 foot hole in the front yard, cutting a rectangle into the main line pipe, and several (and I mean several!) dollars later...solved all our plumbing problems. You know, I most certainly value the simple things in life even more now and I also have huge respect for plumbers!

Oh, we even got the keys back.

(yes, it is very very disgusting. But fortunately, I work in a hospital and when Jeff's brother got sick, I busted out the Lysol spray and Lysol wipes so Jeff disinfected this sucker like nobody's business.)

Cheers!

Gizmo Flushes

Well....at least I don't have this problem!

Wednesday Toilet Turmoil Update

Well, wouldn't you know the darn thing worked just fine when the plumber came out this morning! He said that it is probably toilet paper getting hung up on the keys and when the toilet starts to act up just give the toilet paper time to break down and flush again. Hopefully, the keys will find their way out to the sewer soon. He said that if it gets worse then he would need to come out and put a "clean catch" on the pipe but this would require digging a big freaking hole in the front yard. So, we wait.

Well, we did not have to wait too long. I came home from work, did a bit of laundry, and heard a "glug glug glug". I ran to the bathroom and saw water backing up into the toilet, with a touch of coffee grinds, corn, and onions (probably from last nights meal). I ran to the washer and turned it off just in time before it over flowed. Hm...I think we are about to get to know our local friendly plumber really really well. :-)

And the saga continues, stay tuned!!

Tuesday Toilet Turmoil

This morning we took it easy. We were still relishing in Jeff's graduation glory! I made Dutch babies, the Fannie Farmer recipe.

3 eggs room temp

1/2 c. milk

1/2 c. all purpose flour

1/2 tea. salt

2 tbs. butter, melted

2 tbs. lemon juice

confectioners' sugar

Preheat oven to 450. Butter a 12 in skillet or four small skillets (with oven proof handles) or pans (you can use small pie pans or cake pans). break the eggs into a mixing bowl and beat until thoroughly mixed. Ass the milk and blend well. Sift the flour and salt onto a square of wax paper. Lift the wax paper up by two corners and let the flour slowly drift into the eggs and milk, whisking steadily. (Or slowly sift the flour an salt directly into the egg mixture, while whisking to blend and smooth.) Add the melted butter and mix briskly so the batter is smooth. Pour the batter into the pan or pans and bake for 15 minutes. If you are baking small pancakes, then they will be done after 15 minutes. If you are making just one big pancake, reduce the heat to 350 and bake for another 10 minutes. Sprinkle the lemon juice over the pancake (or pancakes) and dust the top(s) with confectioners' sugar. Serve at once while hot and high and mighty.

This cookbook is a must have! Good ol' home cookin' recipes!

After breakfast, we continued to take it easy. Jeff played video games, I spun some, and cleaned a bit.

Then, I used the toilet (gasp!). I noticed the water level was low and there a bit of an issue with the flushing process. Hm, go figure. With the way things have been going, of course this is a problem again! Seems as though the first plumber trip to the house did not quite do the trick. The main line appears as though it is still clogged so, the toilet is out of commission again! Argh!

We will make the call to our local friendly plumber first thing tomorrow morning!

All in all, it was a good day (minus the continued toilet turmoil).

Cheers!

Oh Happy Day!

After many many many years of hard work, my soon to be "husband" finally graduated! He is now degreed! Congratulations Jeff! You deserve it! We had a graduation party for him on Saturday. It was a lot of fun. Friends and family gathered to celebrate all his hard work. I am very proud of him and I know that he is very proud of himself.

After the party some dear friends of ours came back over to our house to hang out in order to continue our celebration. Jeff's little brother was staying with us this weekend too, so we all hung out for a few more hours. He is a good little house guest.

So, have you ever heard of anyone flushing keys down a toilet? Well, if not...neither have I, until recently. I have actually dropped my phone in the toilet 2 times and some co-workers of mine have dropped their pagers in the toilet at work. Maybe this is more common than one might thing? Now, for me, this raises the question, what is the strangest thing that has ever been flushed down your toilet?

Anyhoo, our very very dear friend who partied with us on Saturday night, accidentally flushed her hubbies keys down our toilet. She was well, pulling up her pants as she hit the flush. In the process of the flush, rather tragically, out came her keys from her back pocket and down they went. I guess I have a really powerful toilet.

We were all actually sitting in the living room sharing a rather hilarious story about her when she shrieked. We thought that maybe she heard us telling this embarrassing story but, when she threw open the bathroom door and said that she flushed the keys, we all soon realized that she was oblivious to this story we were telling. She felt absolutely terrible but, I mean, most things flush out to the sewer anyway so the toilet would be okay...so we all thought. On her husband's key chain was a rather special Disney World key chain she got for him during their first wedding anniversary vacation. So the chain has a lot of sentimental value to the both of them. They have been married for 5 years and together for 11!

Then, since they only had one set of keys with him, came the brainstorming on how to get them home and in their house! But, we figured all that out.

So, continue this graduation weekend saga, Jeff's little bro became terribly sick early Sunday morning. I guess he had some bad fast food on the way up here (they are from Kirbyville) because right before we went to bed on Saturday he mentioned having a stomach ache. Then, right about 6am on Sunday morning, I woke up to a "splat" in the hallway. He was really really sick! After about the 4th time he vomited, I called his mother and she came by to take him to CareNow. They are fantastic! They have a web check in so, when she got to the house we helped her check him in. Then, when they were ready to see him, they called her on her cell phone. They ran some tests and found that he had food poisoning. They gave him a pretty stiff shot of phenergan. This shot literally knocked him out for 16 SOLID hours and it is a good dang thing because late Sunday afternoon the toilet turmoil began! Jeff finally had to wake him up at 8am this morning to make sure he would be able to make it to the graduation! He did and he was a trooper!

Back to the toilet turmoil. It started to back up Sunday afternoon. So we called our friendly local plumber and left a message and requested a return call this morning. They called at 7:40 this morning, now that is service! They were out about 10:45, flushed out our mainline, and now we are back in business!

We all met up at my place this afternoon to go over to the graduation together. I am so proud. It was a lovely graduation and I am so happy for him!

After graduation, we went to Buttons for dinner. The food was amazing. I tried to get some good shots of the yummy food but did not do so well. I had the pot roast, delicious! I really was a lot better that this picture gives it credit for.

After dinner our dear friends, (yes the one that flushed her keys down the toilet and her husband) Jeff, and I continued our celebration. We all had a great time and Jeff was able to relish in his glory. Tomorrow I will be off of work to re-coup. I can't wait!

Happy Graduation Jeff, You Did It!!!

Cheers!

Who Doesn't Like Make-up And A Bit Of Tweezing...Well, I Do Anyway

Ok, I love her, Kandee the Make-up Artist. She is fantastic. I happened across her while searching for a good eyebrow shaping tutorial. Yes, I admit it. I searched for an eyebrow shaping tutorial but...don't judge me. :-)

She has great ideas and pretty good youtube videos, all around good style. So, thank you Kandee for broadening my horizons. When I need a good make-up tip, I will turn to you.

And yes, I did just purchase this lip gloss. Oh my...I am so easily influenced ;-).

Cheers!

Viva Cinco De Mayo!

Today is Cinco De Mayo. It is pretty big here in Texas and people celebrate! Unfortunately, it is a week night so I can't go out and party. Booo. Instead, I stayed home and made chili to celebrate. It really was just an excuse to use the new Fiestaware gusto bowls that I have procured through a bridal shower.

Cheers to Cinco De Mayo!

Lizards, yarn, and columbines

I have a little lizard friend. He likes my kitchen window garden but it seems that he also likes my patio! He was just chilling out on the patio today. He is really big too! This picture does not do him justice.

I have been spinning my roving stash. This is the Sangria on the Huron roving that I purchased a while back. It has been a bit challenging to work with but...I am getting the hang of it. This is all apart of my secret spinning project which will be revealed in October!

My columbines have been blooming. They did not bloom last year but it was worth the wait! They are really beautiful!

Happy Sunday! Cheers!