We Now Live IN CROSBY!!!

The move went pretty smoothly, despite the fact that we still hadn't packed up our kitchen.  I highly recommend Queen's Moving in the Heights to anyone who has to move! They sent us 6 men and a 52' truck. The guys were quick, efficient, polite, and did everything we asked. They showed up at Mom's apt. at 9:40am and left our new house at 7:40PM. So it was a long, but fruitful day.

I was too busy directing traffic to take photos. Unfortunately, some of the guys apparently couldn't or didn't read the boxes and we've had to find things where they shouldn't have been. We still aren't completely unpacked, but there is enough of a semblage of order to exist.

My whole life for the past 3 weeks has been one of total reaction instead of action. I like to be proactive and I've been very stressed out by just running from one emergency to the next. But just as I'm finally starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel, it turns out to be a train!

Gina and I heard a gurgling sound this morning about 9AM in the kitchen sink. About 10 minutes later she's sitting on the toilet in the downstairs powder room and Mom hears a gurgling sound in her master bath toilet. She investigates and flushes, then an eruption! Gina didn't even have a chance to flush! GROSS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! There was literally crap everywhere in the downstairs baths and about 6" of raw sewage coming up in the master tub and shower.

I called the emergency warranty plumber and got a voice mail. Left a message. Then another eruption and more water coming up through the toilets! Then I remembered that Gregg had showed me how to turn off the water to the house outside. I ran out and did it, but it was too late. Fortunately we had unpacked all our old sheets and towels that we'd kept with us for just such emergency cleanups (well, honestly we thought it would be caused by the animals - not the construction workers!)  Started sopping up the mess before it got into Mom's bedroom and closet carpets. Still no call back from the emergency plumber.

So I went on Angie's List and called one. He said he could come in about an hour, but after the hour had passed I called him back. Seems he was coming from Baytown and the ferry wasn't working. He was having to come a different route. Good grief. Then I got a call from the emergency warranty plumber. He said he could arrive in an hour, so I told the Angie's List guy to just forget it. OK, so 2.5 hours after the explosions in the toilets, we had a plumber onsite.

He ran a cable through the flush out in our nicely landscaped yard and pulled out literally hundreds of paper towels. Seems the construction crew was relieving themselves in our toilets and wiping with paper towels that they flushed. The warranty plumber said there was no charge this time because we hadn't lived here long enough to have caused the problem, so he was certain it was the construction workers. Gina and I got the mess all cleaned up and now I'm taking a break from unpacking to chronicle this latest stressor in my life...