Here's a few little clues to the last three days.
We got home late Tuesday from our last trip. I'm not usually a homebody, but I was so excited to be home. There's just something about your own home. Our house doesn't have central heat and it actually got down to the single digits here in Alabama, so it was pretty cold, but I didn't care... I was just happy to be home.
We bundled up warm and got busy right away doing all the stuff that needs to be done when you've been gone a while. We got the wall heaters and the space heaters going, and then POP! We popped one of the breakers because of the space heaters. So, my hubby went out to flip the breaker and found that the hot water heater wasn't doing so...well, hot. It was leaking all over the floor.
The next few minutes were spent finding the valve to shut off the hot water, and cleaning up the water, then calling the landlord to let her know the issue, and she set up someone to come check it out. The guy couldn't come till the following day because it was after 6:00. But even after all of that, we were home so I didn't care. So, we would have to wait a day to do laundry. So, we might have to get a late shower the next day. No big deal.
Later that day the guy called to say that he actually couldn't come until Thursday to fix it. So, on Wednesday we went over to some friends house in the afternoon so that we could get a hot shower before church. I just have to say, you know you have true friends when they let you come to their house and you've been 24 hours without a shower.
So, yesterday was Thursday. We didn't know exactly when the guy was coming to fix the hot water, and I couldn't just sit and wait. Plus he had to walk all the way through the house to get to the hot water heater. So I decided to try and get a few things done. I started by boiling some water to wash the few dishes that we had dirtied the day before. Then I cracked up a little at the thought that this was a little insight to how I might be doing dishes in Brazil. When we there for our survey trip, you had to have a heating element on the faucet to have hot water. So usually just the showers have hot water. So you either wash your dishes in cold water or you boil some water to wash them in. Note to self... keep short accounts with the dirty dishes in Brazil, because letting them stack up isn't going to be as easy to deal with as it is here.
The guy showed up around 10:30. He looked at the tank, said it was an easy fix, and left to get the parts. He came back an hour or so later to fix it. I was taking a nap with the kids, but when I woke up, he was gone and my hubby said we should have hot water. I was getting all ready to throw in some laundry and go take a hot shower. But my hubby turned the kitchen sink on and went out to check the tank and it was leaking again. I was a little disappointed, but the guy had also mentioned that his pipes had been frozen for four days. Then every time I felt disappointed about our situation I told myself to quit moping because at least we have water and to flush our toilets and brush our teeth.
By the time we got back in touch with the repair guy, he couldn't come back till Friday. Which was fine, but I was not waiting till Friday to be clean. So, I decided I would boil some more water for a bath. A very small bath because there's no way to boil enough to fill half the tub. I learned that when the tub is freezing because there has been no heat touching it for the past several day, boiling water doesn't do a whole lot. My plan was to boil some water, then add a little cold water, just enough to soap and rinse. Ya... it was freezing. But, I was clean. Just very, very cold.
After cooking dinner, boiling more water for dishes, and cleaning up from dinner, I thought that was the end of it and we'd have hot water tomorrow. It hadn't been a bad few days and we were home so I planned to relax for the evening. Well, turns out my 18 month old had other plans. He came in the kitchen while I was washing dishes, seemed totally fine just chatting away to me, but then he burped, and again, and then started throwing up all over my feet and his feet and the floor. Oh yay! He was grossed out that it was on his feet so he kept moving and, you know, throwing up everywhere he moved. When he finally stopped, we stripped him down, boiled more water for a sink bath for him (which ended up being a nicer, warmer bath than mine), and cleaned up the floor. He threw up two more times last night, but I managed to catch those before they became a huge clean up mess.
I didn't realize how much I used hot water, but go a few days without it and you'll realize it's value. It made me think how here in America, it's a problem and a few bad days if you don't have hot water, but in Brazil, aside from hot showers you don't really use hot water. Guess I have some adjusting to do. 😜 It was more of a prep for Brazil than I was planning right now, but an eye opener. And quite the interesting three days.
The pictures at the top are of my little girl in her nightgown, leggings, socks, slippers, robe, and hat. That was right after we got home and it was still quite cold in the house. Then the picture of my little boy sleeping on his cot in my room so that I can hear him overnight if he throws up again. I really do not want to be scrubbing puke out of his toddler bed in the morning. 😷 Then lastly is our laundry that has been piling up. That was before the puke incident so there's quite a bit more added to that. I know I can do laundry in cold water, but especially with puked on stuff, I just prefer hot water. But if for some reason we don't get hot water today, then I'm gonna need to do some laundry or we'll have other problems. Momma always taught me to make sure you had clean undies. 😂
So, how was your first week of 2018???
So, yesterday was Thursday. We didn't know exactly when the guy was coming to fix the hot water, and I couldn't just sit and wait. Plus he had to walk all the way through the house to get to the hot water heater. So I decided to try and get a few things done. I started by boiling some water to wash the few dishes that we had dirtied the day before. Then I cracked up a little at the thought that this was a little insight to how I might be doing dishes in Brazil. When we there for our survey trip, you had to have a heating element on the faucet to have hot water. So usually just the showers have hot water. So you either wash your dishes in cold water or you boil some water to wash them in. Note to self... keep short accounts with the dirty dishes in Brazil, because letting them stack up isn't going to be as easy to deal with as it is here.
The guy showed up around 10:30. He looked at the tank, said it was an easy fix, and left to get the parts. He came back an hour or so later to fix it. I was taking a nap with the kids, but when I woke up, he was gone and my hubby said we should have hot water. I was getting all ready to throw in some laundry and go take a hot shower. But my hubby turned the kitchen sink on and went out to check the tank and it was leaking again. I was a little disappointed, but the guy had also mentioned that his pipes had been frozen for four days. Then every time I felt disappointed about our situation I told myself to quit moping because at least we have water and to flush our toilets and brush our teeth.
By the time we got back in touch with the repair guy, he couldn't come back till Friday. Which was fine, but I was not waiting till Friday to be clean. So, I decided I would boil some more water for a bath. A very small bath because there's no way to boil enough to fill half the tub. I learned that when the tub is freezing because there has been no heat touching it for the past several day, boiling water doesn't do a whole lot. My plan was to boil some water, then add a little cold water, just enough to soap and rinse. Ya... it was freezing. But, I was clean. Just very, very cold.
After cooking dinner, boiling more water for dishes, and cleaning up from dinner, I thought that was the end of it and we'd have hot water tomorrow. It hadn't been a bad few days and we were home so I planned to relax for the evening. Well, turns out my 18 month old had other plans. He came in the kitchen while I was washing dishes, seemed totally fine just chatting away to me, but then he burped, and again, and then started throwing up all over my feet and his feet and the floor. Oh yay! He was grossed out that it was on his feet so he kept moving and, you know, throwing up everywhere he moved. When he finally stopped, we stripped him down, boiled more water for a sink bath for him (which ended up being a nicer, warmer bath than mine), and cleaned up the floor. He threw up two more times last night, but I managed to catch those before they became a huge clean up mess.
I didn't realize how much I used hot water, but go a few days without it and you'll realize it's value. It made me think how here in America, it's a problem and a few bad days if you don't have hot water, but in Brazil, aside from hot showers you don't really use hot water. Guess I have some adjusting to do. 😜 It was more of a prep for Brazil than I was planning right now, but an eye opener. And quite the interesting three days.
The pictures at the top are of my little girl in her nightgown, leggings, socks, slippers, robe, and hat. That was right after we got home and it was still quite cold in the house. Then the picture of my little boy sleeping on his cot in my room so that I can hear him overnight if he throws up again. I really do not want to be scrubbing puke out of his toddler bed in the morning. 😷 Then lastly is our laundry that has been piling up. That was before the puke incident so there's quite a bit more added to that. I know I can do laundry in cold water, but especially with puked on stuff, I just prefer hot water. But if for some reason we don't get hot water today, then I'm gonna need to do some laundry or we'll have other problems. Momma always taught me to make sure you had clean undies. 😂
So, how was your first week of 2018???
Wow, you handled that much better than I would have! And with such a positive attitude 💗 you will be rockin’ it down in Brazil after your prep week! God bless!
ReplyDeleteHaha! Thanks!
DeleteWow! What a week! Way to handle it like a champ!
ReplyDeleteThanks! It's been an interesting one!
DeleteWow, that was a series of unfortunate events. Way to go with the flow. I remember taking cold showers when I was in the Philippines. Not fun.
ReplyDeleteThe Lord is preparing you already for the mission field.
That's an interesting week, I'll be praying for you 😉
ReplyDelete