Life is Good When Your Plumbing Works!

It's been a tough week at our house. We've had plumbing problems galore.  It started last Saturday when our hot water heater sprung a leak.  We took  ice cold showers all weekend long until our plumber could come first thing Monday morning.  $675 later we had hot water.

Then we heard a bizarre shaking sound coming and going from our crawl space.  We called our water filter guy, since we had narrowed the problem down to that system.  But naturally he could find nothing wrong when he arrived and the noise just mysteriously disappeared. 

On Tuesday, I was filling my pasta pot with water and suddenly felt a cool wave hit my ankles.  I opened the cabinets to a mini- flood and discovered more plumbing problems.  I have to admit that I'd reached my limit on plumbing issues and simply broke down and cried after bailing all that water and toweling it dry.

My daughter gave me a big hug and insisted I not make the pasta.  But I had a really great pasta dish planned:  bowties with artichokes, tomatoes, spinach, and fresh mozzarella.  Determined to finish what I'd started, I forged ahead to the enjoyment of all.  

I'd like to tell you that this was the extent of our week of plumbing challenges, but not so.  On Thursday, my daughter took a shower right after her soccer game to find that both her face and shower walls were covered with a gritty black unidentifed substance.  As she stood there crying, all I could do was run the water clear, scrub out the shower, and give her a huge hug and some encouragement to get back in there.

In the meantime, I went downstairs to prepare her dinner.  I have to admit there wasn't much in the frig.  We had grilled some hotdogs earlier and so I warmed hers up and placed it in a bun. My daughter loves spinach salad, so I made her a big plate of it with crumbled bacon, Roma tomatoes, and sliced mushrooms.  I hand grated this special horseradish cheese that we all really like. I dressed the salad with a bottled vinagarette.  Not one of my best dinners, but as Tim Gunn of Project Runway says,  Make it Work! 


I really wanted to make my daughter a special treat to go along with dinner since she had such a rough day. Again, there wasn't much to work with. Then I remembered, we had some Yoplait yogurts.  And I always keep fresh frozen blueberries in the freezer for muffins and pancakes.  I let the blueberries thaw out a bit and  quickly blended the ingredients together with some ice and a little water for a refreshing smoothie.

She finally came downstairs and sat at the table.  She went right for the spinach salad and ate it with delight.  She gobbled up her hotdog with her usual squiggle of ketchup on it.

She said that the spinach salad was the best she ever had, especially with the horseradish cheese grated on top.   She loved the dressing and asked what it was.  It was Harris Teeter balsamic vinegar I told her, while showing her the bottle.  Nothing special, except that it was on "special."    

I asked her about the smoothie, but by that time she had finished the entire pitcher.  It was so good, Mom!

I'm not big on cliches. And I'm not a particular fan of those "Life is Good" t-shirts and mugs.  But at that moment, I couldn't help but think that life was good.  Very very good. 

And it's especially good when you don't have plumbing problems.