What to do when your pipes freeze

Life is Good: even on the most rotten of days

I know that I am all about "keeping it pleasant", but I am also all about keeping it real. So here goes.

Yesterday was a rotten day. If I weren't a wife and a mama, I would have taken to my bed with a pint of Ben & Jerry's and watched movies as I felt sorry for myself. Okay, that's a bit dramatic. But so am I.

I slept horribly. I had some major things on my mind and they kept me awake and inhabited my mind when I did find sleep for moments at a time. I awakened to a frozen cold water pipe in the kitchen. The hot water worked, but the cold was completely absent. The dishwasher would not turn on (and all handy types said this had nothing to do with the cold water pipe being frozen.).  I had all of the contents from under the sink strewn about my kitchen cabinets. And clutter makes me nuts. I mean, crawling out of my skin, blood pressure-raised nuts.

But I had two little curly-haired dudes ready to party. So I had no choice. I rose to the occasion. We played super heroes, legos, castle, and cars. We made art. And more art. And more art. We played "red light, green light" and "Simon Says". We sang and danced. And though I try not to wish days away, at 7 PM, I thought to myself, "I am so ready for this day to be over."

This morning, I awakened to the sound of the cold water in the kitchen sink blasting away. Though it faintly sounded like the hallelujah chorus, I flew down the stairs to turn it off. Then I threw caution to the wind and turned the dishwasher on. Why not try? The worst that can happen is that it won't make a noise. But it did make a noise!

And there you have it...a new day, a fresh start, smiles and cheers.

I just sent the big kid off to school for the first time since December 20th. School was canceled on Monday and Tuesday because of extreme cold. I mean, extreme cold. And while I was sad to see him go (cue sounds of sighs and gasps from some of my mama friends who are really ready for their kiddos to go back to school!), I know that he is happy to go back. And he needs to learn and run around and play with his friends. And we need to get back to our regular schedule and routine. I loved having both little boys home together and I lovvvvvvvvvvvvved sleeping in a little later in the mornings, but it is time. Time to go back to reality.

I have a few minutes before the littlest will awaken. So I checked email and pinterest. A new friend who feels like an old friend had sent me this graphic (yesterday).

          
                                                                  from indulgy.com

How did she know? How did she know that yesterday was a rotten day? How did she know that I was doing some heavy lifting not to feel frustrated, broken down, even sorry for myself? How did she know that I needed some words, just a few, inspirational words?

Maybe she knew? Maybe she didn't know. But she acted. She thought of me and she wanted me to know it. And that is the most important piece of this all. The words are great, yes, indeed. But it was the thought that warmed my heart.

So let us all take the time to stop and let someone know that we thought of them. It might be a great quote or a text with a smiley face or a phone call. It might be a link to a sale on kids clothes or something else. Whatever it is, do it. Because the clock is ticking and time is going by oh, so fast.

One more graphic from my Pinterest feed. From the same, thoughtful new-old friend...

I like what this says, in general. But when I read it this morning, it reminded me of yesterday. Yesterday was a rotten day in many ways. But the cold water pipe was going to be frozen and the dishwasher was going to be stopped whether I stomped my feet and cried like a baby or whether I hiked up my big girl panties and strapped on a smile. I'm glad that I chose the latter. Besides the fact that my children would have been in shock & awe at mama throwing a tantrum (I think they might have laughed!), it wouldn't have been a good example. Instead, I told them what was going on. I told them that we might have to pay a lot of money for a new appliance. I explained that the pipes might break and it might mean a big mess and a lot of money. And then I showed them how to manage through it. We prayed, we put on insulated tape (shout out! great stuff!), we got an appointment with the plumber (for today...waaaah), and we went on with our lives, happily. Because time was going to pass anyway, so we needed to enjoy it.

There will be rotten days. And great days. And days in between. There will be ups and downs. But I hope that you enjoy these days, no matter what. You might as well, right?

 (or anything...like frozen pipes or dishwashers!)