Ok, let me think back to what seems like years ago but was actually like 2 weeks.  I got all the plants in the ground finally.  Only a few of them didn't survive the transplant which is better than last year.  But one of these days I AM going to get some of Paula's plum trees to grow in my yard!!  RRGHH!

But on the upside, FIL brought me two sand plums that he mail ordered and they're doing great.

The lilac I brought home was looking good for a few days but then I tried to make it stand up straighter and I must have broken roots or something because it went downhill pretty fast after that.  The thing I'm the most upset about is the passionflower didn't make it.  That's another one I'm determined to grow eventually.

The cypress vine, Jerusalem artichokes, hyacinth bean, black&blue salvia, Laura Bush petunia, purple garlic, autumn joy sedum, and the unknown purple leaved thing are all doing well.  The cuban oregano can't decide yet.  I think the main growing tip may die and all the little shoots around the base will end up doing ok.  Not sure on the lilies.  They look stressed but are still making new leaves.    There's another something-or-other in the sun bed that I can't remember the name of.  It looks like it might be in the salvia/sage/mint family.   The hummingbird sage died but I think its a butterfly plant of some kind.  Should be a fun suprise.

Oh, and I'll get to the reason for my being home today later...

I'm having one of my favorite rainy day lunches: egg drop soup.  It is so easy!  Heat a can of chicken broth to simmering, turn off the heat, and drizzle 2 beaten eggs into it.  It is just as good or better than restaraunt soup.  160 calories and almost all from protein.  It is suprisingly filling too!

I've got mixed beans in the crock pot for dinner.  Yum!

So here's the plumbing saga:

For a little while, we were thinking that something died in the air vent system.  We tried waiting it out but it didn't go away.  So last week DH checked all the vents and noticed that the one by the stove had the concentrated gross smell and had reduced flow.  There was no way I was investigating that one myself so we called Roto Rooter.  Apparently the plumbing pipes under the kitchen had broken and all the waste water from the washing machine, dishwasher, and kitchen sink (read: garbage disposal) was leaking into the air duct.  They said they could jackhammer up the kitchen floor and replace the broken section.  We'd have to get new flooring and possibly new cabinets and counters depending on how much they destroyed.  I was not particularly happy with that because I like my kitchen the way it is.  But I thought I'd be a good sport and think about what kind of tile I wanted since right now we have stick down tile.  It is in good condition and matches the rest of the kitchen perfectly but it is linoleum so it would be nice to have an upgrade.  But the cabinets are hand stained and I don't think they'd be matchable by anyone except the very best.  Insurance doesn't pay for the very best.

Insurance also wanted a second opinion, so we called out Rick the Plumber who was recommended by one of DH's friends.  He ran the camera down under the floor just like Roto Rooter.  He said he could reroute the plumbing on the outside of our house, save the kitchen, and fix the underlying problem (old, disentegrating cast iron pipes) for just a little more than Roto Rooter, plus, no kitchen remodel costs.  He said Roto Rooter does that all the time; they say they'll make a 2' x 2' hole in the floor and patch the problem even though they know full well that the pipe will keep falling apart across the entire area.  We used to be happy with Roto Rooter but now we are pretty impressed with this Rick guy.

We then had OKAir come out and look at the air ducts and give an estimate on rerouting the entire system to run through the celing instead of the slab.  Insurance didn't go for that at all but it was a long shot anyway.  They'll pay for a cleaning and sanitization of the duct system.  Since there's pretty much no chance of this problem happening again with the rerouted plumbing, we're cool with that. 

So we set it all up and Rick is going to come on Friday (today) to fix the plumbing and we can start using our laundry and kitchen again.  Yeah.  No sink, dishwasher, washing machine, or air conditioner for this whole process.  Well, then Oklahoma happened.  More specifically, the rain.  We called him yesterday to make sure he wasn't going to cancel due to rain and he said he'd be here no matter what.  So I take off work to babysit.   Guess what?  This morning, at his scheduled appointment time he cancels.  He cites the lightning as a problem for his equipment.  So now I'm a little less impressed with Rick the Plumber. 

Blackmon Mooring is coming tonight to clean the ducts so at least we'll have air conditioning again tomorrow when it's supposed to be 88F.

The rain has moved on and the birds seem to be making up for lost time.  Everyone is singing at the top of their lungs.  I texted DH to see if the plumber can come now that it isn't lightninging.

Ok, my belly is full and I have no more motivation to blog right now so I'll post this one and come back later to finish up.  Nap time.