(NOT) A Wonderful Life

Aside from the fact some people really don't like Christmas, the music, the adds, and the weather, getting sick on top of it all was a topper. Oh, it was just a cold, and fortunately I've got 11 days off, so I didn't have to worry about getting back to work this week.

But living in a house that is over 100 years old with a foundation that I have to plug with cement to keep mice (etc.) out, old wiring and plumbing, isn't so wonderful. So, yesterday, when we had continued into the minuses temps outside, we expected the laundry pipes to freeze, but not the kitchen sink.

Let me back up a moment. When we knew it would dip to zero, this week, my husband had to check on the well. Among the many stupid things about his house, one is the well. It isn't deep enough to keep it from freezing, and it is separate from the basement. Impossible to keep warm. They used to put straw bails on top of it, but this draws animals--and it really looks trashy. The heat lamps inside work fine... that is, if they're working. That day my husband went to check through a small opening to see if they were on, he saw that the light had burned out. Great.

This meant he had to go out to the well pit to do so he had to go outside, through the snow, and lift a heavy metal covering. Then go down the ladder and try and squeeze himself into the small hole that one of Santa's elves might fit into, and change a light bulb. This might sound easy, but for my husband with a bad back and two bad shoulders, it usually spells pain.

Which it did. Lifting something heavy, twisting and turning, not the best thing for him to be doing especially in cold weather. So, he did suffer a strained muscle in the back for the past 3 days. Very painful. He had to do the heat-ice-heat-ice thing on it. Which usually relieves it, but it sometimes comes back. Which it did. He took Alieves, but those mess up his stomach. But you deal with that.

Good news, our well didn't freeze up, but cold water pipe for the kitchen did. I was fine as long as I had hot water. But this morning that also froze. Which doesn't make sense since it was warmer last night, but I gather it's more an accumulated affect than anything.

Dennis also got my cold, but I assured him if he just took care of it, he'd be fine. Here I'd been taking elderberry juice in order not to get sick, and yet someones germ got through my defenses.

Today, what is it? Thursday? I'm over the cold, and so is Dennis. His back is better, but he has to watch it.

He took a trouble light down to the crawl space this morning to aim the heat light on the pipes. Hopefully this should work in an hour or so. Goody. I'll get to do dishes. Well, we ate cereal this morning.

The bad news is, we've got another week of deep cold, and maybe more snow.

I'll let you know if things get better in a week or so. In the meantime I'm just glad to not have to hear another damn Christmas song.