Throw-away day.

Is any day a true cast-off? Today felt like one. We woke up this morning to a river in the basement due to the water heater bursting at some point during the night. Thank goodness we have a drain down there or the whole basement would have flooded. So Ted has spent the day shopping for a new heater, carting it home, and installing it. When he was dropping me off at the gym before another run to Home Depot, I asked him, "So where did you learn to install a water heater?"

"Well, I've installed a washing machine and I've installed a gas stove, so since a heater is a combination of plumbing and gas hook-up...."

"So you've never actually installed one before?"

"No."

But it's going well. I'm continually amazed at the skills Ted has picked up through the years. As I write this, it's all hooked up but there's a snag in getting the pilot light lit, so until then, no hot showers yet. At least we can always go to our 24-hour gym if we get desperate enough for a shower. I am starting to feel a bit funky.

Other than that, random things have been going on. I've been reading All Over But The Shoutin' by Rick Bragg, recommended to me by my friend Angela in Mississippi who called today to let me know that Dave, her husband, just got the job of Honors College Dean at the university there, so as Angela said, "Now I can quit my night shift at the Value-Barn and Dave says I can go get me a second pair of shoes."

I also found another adoption blog that I really really like, really. It's currently the first link under my blogs section.

Nothing to report yet about the homestudy. I haven't called our social worker yet to check up on things, though I may tomorrow. Our agency recommends doing that, just to stay on top of everything. I'm hoping it's all going well.

Lastly, I learned how to post videos to the blog, finally. It really wasn't that complicated...thanks for the blogging lesson Humphrey.

For your enjoyment, and proof of what I learned to do today, here's a video. It's not just another silly kitty video, I promise. It gets more absurd and more funny as it goes. Oh, and he has his own blog too, but he's currently having surgery to have a string that he'd eaten removed from his little kitty gullet. I'm sending good vibes his way. Boy, do we know about pet surgeries...that's a blog for another day.



Update: We have hot water! Ted succeeded. I'm just waiting now for the day when he breaks out his awesome nunchuck, bow-hunting, and computer-hacking skills...a man's gotta have skills.

And the really cool thing about the whole hot-water fiasco today is that we made the switch from an electric heater to a more energy-efficient gas one. And can you guess who managed to pull that one off? You got it, my very own man with skills. The basement wasn't wired for gas, but Ted got all the tubing figured out, at least eight connections, which he checked for leaks and everything. Sigh, my hero. No leaky gas in this house...at least in the basement, hardy har har.

And in celebration of the hot shower I'm now going to take, here is a clip from Flight of the Conchords, my new favorite comedy folk band. "I'm not crying'-- my eyes are just a little sweaty today."