Sunday, November 16, 2008

Our Weekend

Well, it's been a busy weekend. Wait, I take that back. It was a busy Saturday. So far, Sunday has just been church, lunch, and naps.

Friday night our hot water heater went kaput.

I used a lot of hot water that day stripping my diapers, but several hours after I did the last load, there was still no hot water for Jason's shower. He flipped the breaker switch, thinking maybe I had overloaded it, then went next door and took a shower.

After dinner, we checked again, and there was still no hot water. We emptied out the closet and he pulled the cover off the space where the hot water heater is. While there, we discovered that it was only a 30-gallon heater, which would explain why we could never take more than one shower in 12 hour period.

He uncovered it all, and pushed the reset button. After about an hour, he checked the water, and it was hot.

Jay went to put the insulation and the cover back on the heater. When he put the insulation against the heater, one of the wires sparked. Well, that kind of freaked us out. He checked the water again, and it was REALLY hot. Hotter than normal.

We decided, because of the sparking wires and all, that we better just turn the power off to the heater.

We called his grandparents, and they called their plumber friend, who told us to turn off the power to it, and he would come out first thing in the morning.

By this time, it was 9:30. But, since we already had the closet half-empty, we just kept cleaning. This was one of the things on my To Do list for Friday anyway. We cleaned out our totally over-full closet, throwing some stuff away, putting some stuff in the garage for next summer's Valley Wide Yard Sale, and putting some stuff out there for storage. By the time we were done, it was close to 11:00.

So, Bill the Plumber shows up at about 8:30 the next morning. He goes into our newly-cleaned closet, takes one look at our hot water heater, and tells us we need a new one.

He said the thermostat was wide open (whatever that means), and that normally when something like this happens, it will start a fire. So, PRAISE THE LORD that nothing like that happened. And hey, I'm not complaining that we need to get a new (bigger) heater.

Jay called around and found a 55-gallon heater at the Lumber Yard in Fort Jones. He and Grandma went down to pick it up. When they got back, he and Bill started installing it.

They turned the water off, so I was forced to find things to do all day that didn't involve water. I paid bills and did some other desk work. Wonder why I didn't post yesterday?!?!

They finished up the install around 1:00, and then we all ate lunch.

Now, did I mention that while all this water heater business was going on, Papa, Denton, and Steve were working on an overhang for our front steps? Our cement steps get pretty wet and snowy and icy in the winter months, so they are building a little roof over them. I am taking pictures as they go, and I will post them later.

So after lunch, Jason went outside to help them, and the kids laid down for naps. I had nothing to do (except a sink full of dishes!), so I decided to rearrange our room (also on Friday's list). I made so much extra space with the way we decided to arrange everything that I was able to bring this out of the garage:



Look familiar? I thought so! I'm so excited to have a comfy chair in our room. I'm hoping to get up early and read my Bible in the mornings. And if I can sit in my room and do it, there is less chance of the kids waking up before I'm done.

So, after that, everybody woke up from naps, and we had dinner over and Grandma & Papa's house with Denton & Dora and Steve & Chris (tri-tip, roasted potatoes, beans, and salad). Jay went to a friends house to watch the UFC fight, and the kids and I came home and hung out. Zeke got a bath. The boys were in bed by 7:30; Sierra by 8:30.

Today has been a simple day. We got up, took showers, went to church, then came home and ate lunch. Zeke laid down for his nap, and Jay and Sierra are sleeping too. Sierra actually took a nap yesterday (her first in over a month, I think), but she had a temperature of 101* after church, and she was really tired, so she laid down with Daddy.

Not sure what we are doing for dinner. Probably just leftovers next door

Anyway. I hope you all had a good weekend. And I hope you have an even better week!

1 comment:

Heather said...

wow busy exciting day. Yea I think our water heater is a 30 too. way to small living with the King of Hot Showers, I would love to get a bigger one too.