Rotorooter owns my ass
So, I got home from my trip to the U.K. a few weeks ago, and the morning after, I stuck a load of laundry in the washer. The water flooded my basement floor when it drained. Yeah, welcome home, Joan.

So I called trusty Rotorooter, hoping they'd get it open, but they couldn't. After they put down their nifty little camera-thingy, they discovered that our main drain from the house to the street had been broken up by tree roots and had to be replaced. I sat at my kitchen table and cried when the poor guy gave me the estimate. Imagine a low, five-digit figure...





This was a ten-foot deep trench, just outside my living room window.



Lovely view of our investment from the street

My husband and I have often said that if it weren't for cars and plumbing, we'd be rich. Oh, yeah, and kids--college educations, etc. Not that I'm complaining about the kids. And hey, I shouldn't really complain about anything at all. We have a roof over our heads, clothes on our backs, and food to eat. So much better off than most of the world. So, shut up, Joan.


On a happier note, I recently noticed several large, flowering vines in my front yard, close to the walkway. I thought they might be watermelons, from when I made my husband and daughter eat their watermelon outside last summer and they spit their seeds into the yard. But then I figured it out today. There was a little rabbit that I fed all winter (named Mr. Goodbar, because I was always looking to see if he was still around), and the plants are in the exact location where I used to feed him rabbit food and pumpkin seeds. So, yeah, these're pumpkin plants! When I think of all the years I tried to grow them and never managed... Now it looks like I have an 'accidental' pumpkin patch!