Romantic is in the Eye of the Beholder

Monday, May 31, 2010
This morning we woke up to the words, “Daddy there is a big leak outside!” Moriah had gone outside, to check on Drago, and saw a fountain in the yard. There were several steady... shimmering... streams coming over the edge of the roof.....with a clear sky above. Prince Charming sprung out of bed and told me that the holding tank was overflowing. Now, I had mixed emotions about that. It was good, because it meant we have water for the first time since Friday. On the other hand, it was bad, because all the water flowing over the side of the house was costing us money. But..... we had water. I said... we had water!!! I love saying that phrase. In the last 7 days we’ve had running water for 3 of them.
Time to roll up my sleeves and get to work! I have a lot...a ton... an appalling abundance of apparel awaiting my earnest attention.

Thankfully my friend, Tash, came over to help me. We washed all the clothes off of the wall and rigged up temporary lines on our veranda and car port. It is very good for me to have a friend like Tash. I thought I understood the way that women live here, but being with her has really opened my eyes.

I feel inconvenienced when I don’t have water for 4 or 5 days. I grumble in my mind at not being able to wash my clothes. My friend has taught me....without even talking....how thankful I really should me. I have a beautiful fast machine to wash out stains and smells. She has a scrub board and tub...and a sweet spirit. God forgive me for my unspoken grumbles.



Around 7 in the evening, the water went off again. (shrug shoulders) Roll with the punches, sister! The first thing I thought was, “I’m so thankful I accomplished so much today."

When I was fixing supper, the electricity went out. Thankfully my stove is gas, so it was fine. The princesses love eating by candlelight! Moriah says, “this is so romantic!” I just smiled. Ramon noodles by candlelight....that’s classic. After we made a proper mess of invisible noodles all over the clean table cloth. I spread a quilt on the living room floor and read some out of "The Jungle Book”. I let the girls sleep on the living room floor tonight. It is closer to my room, and since it was so dark, I didn’t want them to wake up and be scared.

Late into the night, I was laying in bed...awake...sweating. All of a sudden there was a gust of cool air! My eyes flew open to see where this refreshment came from. My fan started spinning and the lights flashed on! I bounced on the bed and said, “Praise the Lord!” Prince Charming greeted my huge smile with wrinkled eyebrows.


p.s. Frank (our pet lizard) was in the breaker box, this afternoon when I opened it up. I was proud of myself for not screaming. I just swallowed my tongue and gasped, “Frank!” The fun of it all.