Christmas Plumbing....

My house has been Holiday Central for many years.  It's big enough, and has a big table. We had the most kids, and it made sense for people to come here:  That way they could leave the chaos behind any time it got overwhelming.

Wanting to get some idea of exactly HOW overwhelming, I posted this on Facebook:

"I failed to send out the engraved invitations at Thanksgiving...So here are the Christmas Invites:

December 23rd will be kids' day. Come over any time after 1 PM for cookie baking. Make a gift for Mom and Dad if you need one! Dinner will be Lasagna (in honor of Great Grandma's birthday!) at 5 PM, with cookie decorating to follow. Adult beverages available..

December 24th: 
11 AM church service includes a kid's program (come and watch Boo and Sunny!) and a Cantata.

Dinner (adults only*PM me if you think you or your kid should be an exception LOL I may agree) at 5 PM. Adult beverages available 8-10 PM

Services at 7 and 11 PM, I'll be singing for both.

December 25th:
Gifts opening at 9 AM for those "sisters" who can't be apart for the event LOL. Quiet time at grandmas house noon to 4 PM.
Dinner at 6: Roast beef, mashed potatoes and whatever you all are bringing (let me know so I can fill in the gaps!).

RSVP! or just show up for the cookies!"

You get the idea.

The 23rd was delightfully chaotic.  There were 6 grandkids and four sisters, lots of flour and frosting and some early gifting, and a LOT of sugar buzz.

Christmas Eve was sweet.  Seeing little children in sheep costumes escape their shepherds and crash the bell concert during the morning service:  Priceless.  The two evening services, lovely.  

The quiet time between?  Well.

Sometime during the Cookie Crazy the downstairs bathroom sink stopped draining.  My granddaughters are notorious for putting things in pipes that JUST. DON'T. BELONG.  So, on my list of things for between noon and 5 PM (in addition to making dinner and making sure our ice and Adult Beverage supplies were adequate) I had a sink to unstop.

Overnight Drano had not solved the problem.

I figured out how to pull the vanity drawers, and got down to removing the trap.  No clog.

I tried the 'twist and lift' that usually removes the plug device from it's anchor, and the plug.....sank into the drain.  Pushing the drain lift did not make it move. 

Up to this point I'd managed without hubby, but I called him in for a consult.  He's a genius - he handed me a pencil, which was long enough and narrow enough to push the plug back up.  The clog was entirely on the plug, but the device that moves the plug up and down was broken.  Well, honestly, how often do you actually need to plug your sink anyway?  I put it all back together without the plug, after cleaning a LOT of nasty, mentally apologizing to my granddaughters for blaming them for the problem.

The Holidays proceded apace, and a good time was had by all.

Christmas Night, when all the guests had departed, Hubby and I played a new Christmas game, finished a bottle of wine, and went to bed.  

About 3 AM MY plumbing went crazy.

My gut hurt all the way through my ribs to my mid-back. Being sick was a brief, blessed relief.  The word "pancreatitis" flashed through my head a couple of times before the pain let up after about an hour.  Well, not 'let up' so much as 'spread out all over my body.'

I am not terribly susceptible to stomach bugs, although the past two years might argue differently. 

But I AM a baby about being in pain.  I took some Tylenol (the only over-the-counter painkiller my kidneys will tolerate).  I felt better.  Well, then, this sure-as-crap isn't pancratitis - NOTHING makes that feel better. 

I called in sick to work, and slept 12 hours between 'plumbing emergencies' for the rest of the day.  I worked half a day today.

I suspected it was handling whatever was in that damned drain, but then I discovered that about 1/3 of the family had it (and hubby and Sunny just got over it) so who knows.  

But if you are going to get sick, get sick the day AFTER a great long weekend, right?

DeeDee