Positives and Negatives - Yes ... Something Else Broke and It's a REAL Mess

My life is a series of ups and downs. Yesterday was exemplary for that description. After awakening and getting dressed for Renaissance Festival, we had enough time to play LOTRO on the computer for an hour before loading into the car and heading out. Our goal was to actually be at the gates for opening this time, so we left earlier than we had last week, and remembered the revised route for us to find the Festival grounds (we also didn't get delayed by a freight train - always an improvement for efficient time management). 

My shirt is seriously oversized, so it doesn't 
look great with the corset, but the corset itself 
looks pretty good. At least from the front. I 
really liked it - a lot more than previous years. 

We spent a lovely day at Fest. I made semi-wise food choices - not horrible, but also not sterling. Still, I was pretty happy with them. Once again I was looking for a new corset - those I already own are for the me at least 20 lbs (or more) over my current weight. My usual go-to had four (4) in my size and we didn't like any of them enough to even bother trying them on. Eventually we decided to check out Artemis - full leather, swing-clip fastening, lifetime guaranteed, but expensive and a style that I'm hesitant about because getting it properly fastened and tightened on my own could be challenging (if not impossible). 

I wasn't as fond of the back view, although the laces 
could still be tightened another 1-2 inches. What 
I didn't like was the increased width at the butt, 
but if I actually ordered, rather than bought off 
the rack, she could add some triangular panels 
at the back to make it a straight run, instead of 
the increased gap at the hips. I think I'd like 
that better. 

I told them what size I was looking for and tried one on that actually surprised me with how good it looked. We decided to take photos (shared above) since I'll have "my girls) with me next weekend and I can get opinions straight from both Chickie and Sharon. I didn't bother asking the price - I won't need to know if I don't buy one, and I won't buy one if it doesn't fit the way I want and I don't feel like I'll be able to live within the laces and clasps. I can buy off the rack, but I can also order custom - colors/leathers I want in the style I like. I like that flexibility and option. 

I haven't ordered from Chipotle for more than two years. 
I was a bit bewildered, but managed to get my bowl 
with a single spoon of rice, probably too many black 
beans, no guacamole, salsa and absolutely no cheese. 
It was quite good, though, and I'll have a second meal 
from it for tonight. 

We had a lovely day at Fest, returned home in time for a relaxing drink on the patio, and I picked up Burrito Bowls from Chipotle for dinner (minimal rice on mine, but probably too many black beans). It was delightful. We settled down for a couple of hours, but the bathroom sink in Sharon's bathroom was backing up, and after a look, DH told me to call our plumber. Yes - I have our plumber on speed-dial. So, I called Jack, left a message, and hope I'll hear from him today because ... 

You've heard of the Three Strikes, I think we're 
now into our second set of three strikes, and I'm 
really hoping we don't have anything else 
happen. It's really getting on my nerves. It will 
take a month or more to go through the wet 
boxes, retrieve what we need, and toss what 
we don't or what can't be saved. What a mess! 

Remember my recent history? Broken garage door (fixed), broken refrigerator (replaced), broken wall oven (new one on order, old one still broken)? Well, to that we can now add plumbing that needs some serious work, and a broken/cracked toilet tank. I discovered the toilet tank at 10:30 pm when I went into the bathroom and discovered my feet were in a 1/2" of water, the toilet was running, and it wasn't stopping. I woke up DH, after some effort we turned it off at the pipe, mopped up the floor, and realized that the floor had leaked into our lower "attic" storage space - under the stairs where some of the HVAC stuff is. We use that room for storage. We cleaned it a few years ago when we started setting up a heater to keep our pipes from freezing in sub-30 degree weather, so it wasn't as bad as it could have been. 

The problem with getting a new toilet is making sure it 
will fit the bolts and braces from the floor below. Also 
that the actual pipe will fit properly. DH doesn't want to 
rush out and buy one until Jack and he determine what 
will fit properly. This could be a problem. 

But ... it was still bad - very bad. DH was handing soaked boxes out to me and I was stacking them anywhere I could find space in the craft room, the laundry room and the den. We burnt the motor out of our wet-vacuum, and had to resort to buckets, sponges and cloths. We finally finished dumping the last of the water outside in the garden at 12:30 am. I decided to screw my morning treadmill and allow myself a bit more sleep, reset my alarm from 3:15 am to 5:00 am. So, my blog is late today - good reason. 

I figure I got a lot of exercise last night as we were hauling 
boxes out from the attic and stashing them. We were working 
hard for two hours, and finally got back to bed a bit after 
12:30 am. Letting myself get more than 2-3/4 hours of 
sleep seemed a wise decision. 

So, now we need not only the pipes cleaned out, we also need a new toilet. Before Thursday night, because Sharon arrives then and right now I have two unusable bathroom sinks and one unusable toilet. What a mess. It's going to be a very eventful week. LOL Have an excellent day and please, be kind to your plumbing - LOL. I'll be back tomorrow.