Endurance

There is some sort of celestial endurance test going on at our house.

We had two days without water at the beginning of the week, while the street crews dug up the water main. After that, three days of snow dump, resulting in the car being completely snowed under, etc. On Friday night at 9:00 p.m., lo and behold, the street was full of water again.

Jim happened to glance out the window, and seeing the flood, immediately hollered for me to call the City, fill the bathtub, fill all the pots in the house, etc. (he was reading books to the sleepy Sprout). Uh oh, we thought. The crews don't work at night, so people can sleep, and so they turned off the water and then showed up early on Saturday to start. Between Saturday and Sunday, they dug FIVE holes in the street, trying to find the latest leak.

If we lived like pioneers on a regular basis, this wouldn't be such a hardship. We would have the tools we need. We would have buckets and basins; we would be used to three days without a bath.

As it is, though, we were both totally pathetic sucks yesterday (Sprout is too little to be a pathetic suck, yet). We whined and sighed. We expostulated loudly. We stared, bleary eyed, out the windows at the frozen work crews (who probably hate that part of their job - having spoiled-brat people without water staring at them all day). Jim is a genius cook, and managed to make a delicious meal despite the unpleasantries last night, but that was the highlight of a smells-like-bum (literally) day.

This morning, I phoned a neighbour and was able to walk a block over and have a great shower. It's amazing how a hot shower and feeling clean can completely change your perspective. Suddenly, I decided that this water shortage could go on forever and maybe I should embrace it. Maybe I should fill all the pots again, boil water, and tackle the dishes. I even had the brilliant plan of finding all the paper plates and cups leftover from our kitchen renovation. Didn't even think of that yesterday. So by noon, the kitchen was in great shape, and I was feeling much more sane.

Bliss of blisses, the water came on at about 5:00 p.m. Jim immediately had a bath (in case he missed his chance), and we've been peeking out the front window every half-hour since then to see if the trucks are still gone or not. The tiny part of me that is the conspiracy theory part thinks that this water break stuff is somehow related to Saskatchewan's centennial. In 2005, the province of Saskatchewan is 100 years old, and we're celebrating our centennial left and right. Sure, I want to remember our humble beginnings. But really, I don't want to live them.

Gimme my dishwasher, bathtub, flush toilet, and double-rinse washer, thank you very much.