Day 8: "It's Roots, Not Poop!"

Things in the Queen's City took off without a hitch!  For two days, at least...as I mentioned earlier, The Kids were out of town when I moved in, so I was to call with any questions/concerns. 


Thursday: the internet was down
Friday: the A/C wasn't working
Saturday: I started a load of laundry and the toilet overflowed...not because I flushed it, just that once the washer started filling up, so did the toilet and it spilled over the bowl, onto the floor, into the hallway.  We're talking a HUGE mess.

But I didn't fret, I just started cleaning up the mess, informed The Kids, and headed up to Lake Norman for the weekend.

Lake Norman is a man-made lake north of Charlotte which is a popular spot for many North Carolina folk to head to for a weekend of fun & relaxation.  Here we swam, rode jet skis, cruised on the speed boat, played board games, ate many delicious meals, and were "well served", as the Halford's say!

I'm on a BOAT! (pictured with Angie and Kevin)

We spent two nights here, which was good for quality bonding time with the Charlotte folk, and also because there were no working facilities at the Hough residence.  We had planned for the plumber to come 8am on Monday morning, so that morning I anxiously awaited his arrival....for three hours.  And he spent another three hours here working his way through the pipes into the main sewer line to try to figure out what and where the blockage was.  

At the same time the The Kids were headed home, about 20 minutes away, Hurricane Lee was draining it's remnants on the city (heavy rain and strong winds) and I decided to head up to the local Starbucks for a quick use of the facilities.  Things were finally getting back to normal: the internet was working, we'd figured out how to get the A/C back on, and I was excited to finally see my cousins!  I ran through the downpour back to my car and...it wouldn't start.  

This was my limit; I broke down and cried.  

After a frantic call to The Kids and to AAA, the car started up (once the rain died down) and I headed back home.  Good news!  The plumber had identified the blockage as roots (not poop!) so I had been vindicated.  I wasn't actually destroying The Kids' house, it was just happening to break apart while I was there!

This was all the silver lining I needed!  I took it and ran.  Things were tough for a bit, but overall I've had more great experiences here in that time period that outweigh the bad for sure.  And I feel confident that it will stay this way for a long time.