My husband worked at least 70 hours this week. So he’s pretty exhausted, and is back at work tonight. I can barely move, feel quite exhausted myself from this week, and am enjoying practice contractions. This morning, neither of us could move. Not that there’s actually a choice in the matter!! We did of course, have to get up and feed/care for the kids. I lacked energy to make tea; which is unfortunate, because my day went from bad to worse!
It all started this morning...we noticed a couple of little mealy worms on the kitchen floor. The kind that infests flour and such products. No big deal. Kill them and find the infestation...usually a bag of flour...get rid of it, and problem solved. I’ve only had one infestation before, years ago, in another home. It was awful, but after tossing some bags and boxes and spraying and cleaning the pantry cabinet, no more problems. And 2 little wormy creatures didn’t really equal an infestation anyway. But those couple worms turned into a LOT of them; they kept coming out. And we kept killing them. There wasn’t really a source...a nearly empty box of cornstarch perhaps...no flour sacks, no oatmeal boxes. Nothing else. Weird I thought...wonder where they came from and what is driving them to crawl into daylight? We spent all morning killing the little creatures, vacuuming, mopping every inch of vinyl flooring.... Finally, they are all gone. And my kitchen needed a good mop anyway :)
About the time we finally finished with the little wormy creatures, I noticed a puddle of water on the floor, in front of the cabinets. Kind of a big puddle. Another one was in front of the pantry closet in an adjoining laundry/bath. Hmmmmm. In fact, getting on my hands and knees, I noticed that the kick plates (trim boards under cabinets) were seeping water. Nothing under the sink though...and no leaking from the dishwasher. The floor of the pantry closet was wet though. Which meant only one thing. Somehow, somewhere, the shower (all tiled from floor to ceiling, and on the opposite side of the kitchen wall) had a leak. Either in the drain (and above the concrete slab foundation) or in the water supply lines. Not good. Not good at all. There was a lot of water continuing to seep into the kitchen, pantry, under wall trim and so forth. It made sense...the water had driven those nasty little worm creatures out. They were probably attracted to the dampness behind the walls...yes, that was most likely the source. Uh-oh. So we might have had water there for quite some time. Not. Good. Indeed, those little bugs turned out to be the least of our problems.
Just as we were busily mopping up water, my Mom called, then my Dad with some sad news. A member of our congregation, a man only around 50, died from 2 blood clots hitting his heart. The result of another recent injury. He leaves behind his 65-yr-old wife; though mismatched in age, the couple loved eachother dearly, took good care of one another, and lived simply and frugally. We were quite concerned for his dear wife, no doubt devastated by this sudden and tragic loss—but—holding up well under the circumstances. In the midst of our own mini-crisis, I am thankful that our crisis can be fixed (eventually) and cleaned up...her life has changed forever. A sobering thought.
We soaked up towels of water all day long, as water continued to seep under floor trim...this afternoon my Dad dropped by to have a look. My husband had to change clothes and leave for work. So my Dad (thankfully!) tore off some trim, pieces of wallboard (which was soft behind the trim—yikes!), and then cut a square of wall from the pantry closet which reveals the water supply lines for the shower. Bingo. Corrosion. The upside is, the shower shouldn’t need to be torn out, as it isn’t a drain issue and the pipes are now visible. I can also use the sink, dishwasher, washing machine, and toilet—just not the shower; that helps with convenience, as I have piles of laundry to do (as usual!), and now a pile of wet towels to wash and dry. The downside is, I have pinhole leaks in the supply line which are dripping water currently...my kitchen is a mess, my laundry/bath/pantry is disheveled...and we haven’t talked to a plumber yet, so we don’t know what kind of bill we’re looking at. And water is still seeping.
After a day like this, I am exhausted. I’ve missed the usual rest a Sunday brings, the time to enjoy one another, read to the kids and so forth. But I felt the necessity to make dinner for the little ones. Something worthwhile to fill their tummies before bed. And so, taking stock of what I had on hand, and with only a tiny bit of energy left, here is what I made. It turned out well and the kids loved it!
Spaghetti Frittata
8 eggs
8 oz pkg diced ham
1 ½ cups mozzarella cheese, shredded
About 2 cups leftover cooked spaghetti
Some green onions, chopped
Extra cheese for topping, if desired
Whisk eggs in bowl. Stir in ham, cheese, spaghetti, and onions. Pour into baking dish and sprinkle more cheese over the top. Pop it into the oven and bake for about 30 minutes at 350 degrees. Pull it out and enjoy! If you have a bit more spaghetti leftover, go ahead and toss it all into the mixture; if you have less, adjust the recipe. If you want to add mushrooms (I forgot mine!!) or another vegetable such as spinach, do that. You could also make it in a skillet if you’d rather, and cook till the eggs are set. I was too tired to stand by the stove tonight, so I baked mine.
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