We Will Survive (Hey, Hey)

You ever had one of those days? That one where you just want to climb back in bed and stay? Well, Aaron and I have had almost 2 weeks like that.

It all started Thursday. Not last Thursday, but September 26th Thursday. Aaron came home from work late that evening, walked in the house and said, “I smell gas.” As soon as he said that I immediately realized that I smelled gas as well and had been for some time. We searched the house and finally decided that our gas heater must have gotten bumped. We aired the house out and went to bed.

The next morning, I woke up around 5 a.m. and smelled gas again. I woke Aaron and we began the search. Aaron called the gas company and they came out and turned the gas off after determining that we had a leak in the wall or the floor of the laundry room area.

Did I mention that my hot water heater is gas as well as my oven?

I sucked it up and we made it through the weekend with cool showers. I love my daughter too much to torture her to that extent, so she has been taking showers at Grandmommy’s house.

We finally were able to get a plumber out to the house that next Tuesday morning. Sadly, he did not give us good news. After much climbing under the house, taking part of the deck off and then putting it back, it was determined that the gas line from the house to the alley was bad. He was also not able to pinpoint the exact location of the gas leak in the 2nd bathroom because he was not able to get under that portion of the house but did inform us of 3 other small leaks.

Basically what it boiled down to is we had to dig a trench from the alley to the house. To do that we had to rent a trencher or ditch witch, drain the above ground swimming pool… that I had just spent hours cleaning… move it out of the way, dig the trench, then bust a hole in the 2nd bathroom to allow the plumber to be able to have access under the house.

Did I mention that my washer had to take up residence in my living room so they could gain access behind the hot water heater?

Taking several deep breaths, I sucked it up again.

Wednesday rolled around and I headed off to work. Aaron had plans to work out in his shop until he had to go to work. Around 9:30 that morning he called me.

“Did you pay the electric?” He asked with a sigh.

“Ummm… yes, I did. Why?” I asked.

“We have no electricity.” Aaron replied with a touch of frustration in his voice.

“Are you kidding me?” I responded.

I quickly shot off a text to my neighbor to see if they had electricity. They did. But he let me know that theirs had flickered. I then called Oncor to find out that we did in fact have an outage.

When Aaron left for work, our electricity was still off. Thankfully, by the time Kiera and I got home we did have power.

I decided to move the washing machine back into the laundry room since the plumber was not scheduled until after the weekend and Aaron’s back was out. Let’s just say, moving the washer, entailed a trip to Weakley-Watson Hardware for a new washer hose after I was done moving it.

Fast forward to Thursday. This is the day we found out that the power outage killed my refrigerator and we had to buy a new one. I’m not sure whether Aaron or I wanted to cry more at this point.

Thankfully, Friday was a normal day.

Saturday and Sunday involved Aaron digging a trench with the trencher, then Grandmommy, our oldest daughter, Moriah, and I lay on the ground digging out the dirt that had fallen back in and making sure that the trench was 18 inches deep. After we completed the back yard, Moriah and I swung a sledgehammer to bust up the bathroom floor and Aaron finished it out with a saw.

Now, we just wait until Wednesday for the plumber to come back… and hopefully everything will go smoothly from there on.

It’s been a rough 11 days at our house and we are tired. But you know what? We are ok. We have been blessed with wonderful people in our lives.

We have had several people give us the option to use their shower or washer. Thank you to each of you for the offer. Thank you to our awesome neighbors and friends, Truett and Marie, for making room in your refrigerator for our food when our fridge bit the dust and thanks for helping Aaron drain the swimming pool. Thanks to my Mom for letting me bring Kiera over every night to give her a warm shower, for feeding us, and for working your tail off helping us dig trenches.

Thank you, Moriah, for coming and spending the weekend with Kiera, digging in the rock hard ground and swinging a sledgehammer. Never thought I would tell you thanks for demolishing my bathroom floor, but thank you! Thanks to our friend, Dustin, for helping me figure out crazy insurance terms and letting me complain.

Thanks to my work friends who have listened to me and supported us during all the craziness. To everyone who has helped us see the bright side of our craziness, came by and checked on us, given us a hug or made us laugh, thank you. You have each been a blessing to us. Thank you for being part of our crazy life!

Rowonna McNeely works as the Communications Manager for the Brownwood Area Chamber of Commerce. She and her husband, Aaron are regular volunteers in the community, and have their hands full with their daughter, Kiera, along with three dogs and one cat.

Thank you for sharing in our weekly journeys. If you have missed any of our past stories, check out our blog page at www.lifea2k.net or drop us a line at lifea2k@yahoo.com.