WILL IT EVER STOP?

Sunday afternoon, about 45 minutes before church, it was discovered that the east wing of the house was flooding. We quickly turned off the water to the sink, toilet, water heater, etc. I am just a lone single girl and am not too savvy on what to do when a flood occurs. I quickly noticed that it seemed to be coming from under the water heater. I determined the water heater had leaked, so Ginger and I began the steps necessary to empty the water heater as well as prevent it from filling back up.

As if that wasn't bad enough...all 3 toilets stopped working at the same time. This is not a good thing with seven people living in this house. We went to church, came back and had a delicious lunch at my Uncle Clarke and Aunt Jill's home, and then we returned home hoping the problems had resolved themselves. No luck!

So I called my cute plumber Scott. He rushed over, even though it was a Sunday night, and went to work trying to fix the problem. No go. He was mystified. The next mornig he returned with help. By this point, I had a "revelation" that the water heater had not actually leaked, but that the main line had backed up under the water heater making it appear as if it was the problem. Come to find out...this was exactly what had happened. Drains were backing up all over the house.

Once this determination was made, the men started coming. From the city, from the sewer company, from the home warranty plumbing company, etc. The handyman and landscaper were also there. Everyone wanted in on this action...except me...I just wanted out! After many long hours, the clog in the street was dislodged. Rumor is, in this town, you are responsible for your own pipes until they reach the main city line. Cameras were threaded down clean-out pipes (new vocabulary word for me) and problems were discovered. In the end, there is a "belly" in my sewer pipe where debris will settle over time. I was given instructions on how to manually flush it with the water house and a "jet ball" so the belly of the drain can stay clear and this will not happen again.

During the chaos of it all, I snapped this picture. The thought occurred to me, "What happens when a damsel is in distress? All the caring men come out in their white trucks to rescue her. Too bad when they leave they take all her money."




This was an expensive inconvenience. Not only were checks written out to these rescuers, the hall laminate will now need to be replaced because of the flood damage. The perils of being a homeowner. I think that is another reason it is not good for woMAN to be alone, this kind of stuff should be a man's concern. I should be in making all the men lemonade! However, as time goes on, I am recognizing that I can do hard things...I can do MANY hard things....and with a smile.

A Full Plate

Something about too many things happening at once, puts me in survival mode.

On July 25, my son Justin, had his missionary farewell and going away party. After feeding and entertaining about 100 guests, the mad rush began to have him all packed for Nicaragua, and the rest of us all packed for our new home La Verkin, Utah. My goal was to drop Elder Moore off at the Missionary Training Center, and keep driving South. I did not want to return to the house I had called home for the past 17 years. I was ready for my new start.




Brooklyn and I arrived in La Verkin on the evening of Wednesday, July 28. We had a couple of days to just rest while waiting for our trailers to arrive on Saturday. How one person can have so much junk remains a mystery to me. I will forever be grateful to my boss and his wife, Mike and Heather Fronk, for driving 3 huge truckloads of important and not-so-important crap to my house down here. They blessed my life incredibly by their willingness to help me with this monumental task. To add to their generousity, when I told Mike I was moving, he asked me to work remotely from home. I couldn't be more blessed in that area of my life.




The trailers (a big one and a small one) arrived on Saturday and the unload began. Many people contributed to getting my stuff down here as well as getting it out of the trailers. I am thankful for the service they provided. I believed that when I finally got here things would settle down for me and I might be able to find the peace I have been seeking the last six years.

On Sunday, I received the phone call that my Granny, Mabel Florence Lindsay Pennington, had finally entered the next life after several months of illness. She was 95 years old. The funeral was planned for the following Saturday. We made preparations for the 25 hour drive to Tyler, Texas. My parent's expedition was loaded with luggage as well as 8 people...Papa, Grandma, me, Brooklyn, Ginger, Bailey, Laynie and Lori. We had four people who could drive. We made the drive straight through taking turns at the wheel. When people weren't driving they were sleeping.





What a beautiful weekend it was as the descendants of my Granny gathered to pay tribute to her life. All 28 of her grandchildren were there...travelling from California, Utah, Arizona, North Carolina and other places. It was the first time I had felt whole in a long time. Many of her great-grandchildren were there as well as her great-great-grandchildren. After the funeral in Tyler and the burial next to my Papa, Hugh Smith Pennington, in Longview, we travelled back to Tyler for the luncheon. It was a beautiful time. Family pictures were taken. One was taken of the cousins with all 28 of us lined up from oldest to youngest. I am the fifth oldest.



Afterwards, we went back to the hotel where we all were staying. We had fun getting reaquainted, swimming and sharing stories. The men cousins decided we should all meet out at my cousin Byron's barn for a party that night. So off we went to another amazing event. My aunts and uncles barbequed sausages, made homemade peach ice cream, and just loved us. There was so much happiness and love that was felt this weekend. I cannot imagine Granny could have been any happier.

My granny left a wonderful legacy. She was honored in the newspaper the following day as a faithful member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints who was instrumental to helping the church grow in East Texas. I am proud to be called her grandaughter.

So many wonderful things. But even wonderful things can be stressful. I have a trick to survive mortality. Tunnel vision. I only take one step at a time, looking to the next thing to be accomplished. If I look anywhere else, I become so overwhelmed and feel as if I will crush under all the responsibilities. Life is hard, but life is also meant to be lived. I for one am living life...hook, line and sinker...even though it is not my choice !