A Fitting End to a "Perfect" Week

Whoever said weekends were for relaxing and resting from the previous week obviously did not see our household this week! I substituted three days this week, while up until now I have only subbed twice the whole school year. Teaching an unfamiliar first grade class is tiring, especially when the children delight in telling you each and EVERY thing you have done differently than their teacher! Nothing like a 6-year old to make you feel incompetent, thank you very much! Anyway, I know that working 3 whole days sounds so nice to those of you who actually hold full-time jobs, but it was a lot for me. When I finished my teaching, I came home to piano students sitting at my door for the next 2 hours. And then, we had commitments almost every night. So, the kids were up late and everyone was cranky. To top it all off, Dave has been having to work overtime the last few weeks, trying to finish a kitchen for some clients by Thanksgiving. Did I mention that until this week, the kitchen had not even been framed in?? No pressure there!

So, we all looked forward to this weekend for a little R & R. Oh wait, that's right, we had decided to have a garage sale!! No resting yet! My mom and I held down the fort while Dave worked more overtime, and we actually did pretty well. So we got home in the early afternoon, for our much needed rest. "Oh, I'll just do some dishes first...why is there no hot water??" That's right, the hot water heater has finally met extinction. This is not really news to us, since we have been sensing its demise for some time now. Every time we have some extra money, we say "we should probably get a new hot water heater." But, you know, there are just so many more FUN things to drop $400 on, and it's still working OK.... Well, apparently the heater reached its 25th birthday and gave up the ghost. (That's right, the tag on it did say 1982!)

We weren't really worried, because Dave's a construction guy and all, so it should be easy right? (Hear that shrill, evil laughter in the air?) We went to Lowe's with our 12-months same as cash coupon in hand and picked out the cheapest model we could find. At the checkout, there is one cashier, and she has evidently not ever seen this particular coupon. She tries to scan our items, punches a couple of buttons, and then informs me that our total is $10,680! After Dave picked me up off the floor, we explained that this could not POSSIBLY be the right total, and she seemed a little miffed that we didn't just pay up. 15 minutes and approximately 4 manager visits later, we left Lowe's with our hot water heater and without bankrupting ourselves. However, anyone who knows Garrett knows that he spent that 15 minutes running up and down the checkout lane, trying to jump over the water heater box, and just generally being a 4-year old boy with nothing to do. Oh, and it's 7:00 pm and no one has eaten dinner, so we're all very cheery too!

To cut my saga short, I will say that the old water heater did not want to come out without a fight...and Dave is really strong! After much banging, pulling, and probably swearing inside his mind, Dave finally wrestled it free and then informed me that I needed to empty it out using some pans. 1 hour later, I finally finished my circuit of "put the pan down, empty the other...return and repeat...over and over, and over...." The new water heater was officially operational at 12:00 midnight, when I, being the supportive wife that I am, was asleep under my warm, cozy covers.
Today we are all resting, but don't tell anyone, because who knows what might happen? I think I'll go take a nice, hot shower....

Dave checking out 25 years of rust!

The dinosaur meets its match!

The 150th pan of water...or was it the 175th? I lost track 30 minutes ago!