My Plans for the Day . . .

Since it is Holy Thursday and there wasn't a scheduled morning Mass, I planned out my day carefully to take advantage of the extra time.

1. Catch up on my Blog and e-mail - accomplished.
2. Go shopping for the week and Easter Sunday - accomplished.
3. Eat lunch - almost accomplished.
4. Do the laundry - the reason lunch was only 'almost accomplished'.
5. Iron my husband's work shirts - never happened.
6. Spend some time sewing - yeah, seriously.

Things were going along smoothly. I had gotten to number three on the list and was happily eating my lunch and had just gotten to my treat of the day - a fresh mango. I dislike peeling mangos so most of the treat was the fact that I had taken the time to peel said mango. Just as I was about to take a bite, I heard what sounded like a fountain . . . coming from the kitchen. Curious, I set down my untouched mango and peeked around the corner.

It was a fountain! A fountain of water pouring over the rim of both sinks in the kitchen. Half of the kitchen floor was under two inches of water. The sounds of fountains was coming from the garage and the washer was also sending cascades of water hither and yon. I did what any self-respecting housewife would do . . . I screamed for my son to turn off the main valve to the water.

I recognized the problem from a similar one two years ago. A plunger wouldn't work and I had to call a plumber. Fortunately, I had kept the receipt from the last visit and immediately called the man who said he would be over in a couple of hours. In the meantime, we pulled everything out of the dampened pots and pan cupboard and mopped up the floor, and stared at the sinks full of murky water. We also sent a few prayers out to any saintly patrons of households in minor crisis.

The plumber arrived prompty, cleared the pipes of a clog that was on the opposite side of the house, charged a minimal fee for the hour of work, and was gone in the glow of our gratitude.

With the help of my son, we got things in order and scrubbed down and dried out. Dinner is simmering on the stove and cheese rolls just exited the oven. Glad I had planned on soup for dinner as it really wasn't the kind of day where I could have put a fancy meal on my to-list without going into hysterical laughter.

My husband called and said he was coming home early to help. I thanked him but said we had had to clean the kitchen sooner than that in order to have dinner on the table. He said, "Oh, I meant I would help clean up the garage." I hated to tell him that aside from the washer and drier, I wasn't much concerned with his garage at this point in time.