Flushed Away

Ah, the joys of home ownership. Gone are the days of calling the landlord when something breaks. Renting was convenient in that aspect, but I still wouldn't trade our crooked little house for love nor money. Well, maybe for money, but it would have to be a LOT and I'm afraid she isn't currently appraised for what it would take to get me to pack up my chachkas and walk away from this little slice of paradise. Everything about this place takes hard work, but every once in a while she puts up her dukes, and it comes time to see what we're truly capable of. If there were ever people never to underestimate, it's Team Saari ECE (east coast edition). My husband is a strong man who can problem solve like a boss, his homespun fixes can verge on sheer genius. His amazing wife (see what I did there?) who's Green Mountain brand of stubborn, bull dog brand of tenacity and deep-seated blue-collar roots all converge, enabling her to get her hands dirty and, shall we say, "spur results," while maintaining a strong aversion of hiring help. It's been a long fight, but we can officially say we took a proud win. I'd like to thank our seasoned consultants for their vast knowledge and full support, who helped us to have the confidence to nail the victory- Bernard Shatney, the former owner of our little love nest, who was able to lend solid insight, and Glenn Goodrich my dad, who doesn't hesitate to lunge ahead armed with an iron will (and iron gag reflex), and do what it takes to help things happen.  I'd also like to take this opportunity to say neaner-neaner to the professionals with which we consulted in the infancy of this project,  who said it could not be done. Today we laughed in the face of opposition and then threw caution and dignity to the wind. We are now familiar with each inch of our homes plumbing system, and could not be more pleased to say that in all of her GLORIOUS SPLENDOR, she is restored to full battle mode. Ladies and Gents, after 2 months of waiting for the ground to thaw, followed by 12 hours of hardcore handiwork that included the invention of Chris' homemade plumber's tools (made from free materials, ultimately saving us over $500 in professional fees and he's never been more sexy) digging up pipe in the rain, 6 Billion rubber gloves, some cussing and grumbling, a considerable amount of crack exposure and head scratching, finally culminating in my running around in the yard yelling for joy as if we'd struck oil, we have completed the most daunting task we've faced on this scale to date.