God knows plumbing

As per the previous post, our plumbing blocked up on Sunday and the plumber came out and had a look at it. He cleaned out a blockage with the high pressure hose and found a problem in the pipes and organised for the pipe to be dug up so it could be fixed. His rough estimate of the price was going to be $2K to $5K. Now we don't have that sort of money and we are trying to save up to go to Krissy's wedding next year in London. So Sunday night we were fairly stressed and prayed about it.

Monday and Tuesday they came and dug a big hole in our carport down to the offending pipe. They came back this afternoon to quote on fixing the problem. Imagine you're staring down the barrel of a $2K to $5K plumbing bill. You've already been charged $4K and the plumber comes and finds further problems in a pipe that is under the deck and specifically under the spa under the deck. The original quote is looking "conservative". What is the best thing that can happen in that situation?

There is a curious quirk which states that once your plumbing meets the main, it is no longer your problem, it is Sydney Water's problem. The plumber has found that the problem isn't in our pipes it is in the main which just happens to run through our backyard and under the carport, they have incorrectly dug a hole and we wont be charged for it. They will be coming back to fill it in. Furthermore we can request repayment for some of the fee from Sunday Water for cleaning out the pipe in the first place. What an amazing answer to prayer.

A fun weekend with a very expensive end

There was finally some sunny weather here this weekend so Saturday morning Meeks and Mitch and I walked to the park for a play and some lunch. Here are some pictures.






Then today when we drove into the driveway when we got home from church we noticed there was water flowing out of the overflow pipe which normally means the sewer is blocked. We called the plumbers and basically there is a crack in the pipe where a tree root has grown through the pipe somewhere near where it joins the mains, so about 6m away from the house. Unfortunately that is under our carport and could be 2m down. All in all very expensive to fix. Big job. It's draining now, but is half blocked and will only block up again if it isn't fixed. There are many things I would rather spend thousands on.

Mitch's first love is?

Hot chips apparently. We were in Westfield the other day having a milkshake and hot chips as a snack. Mitch had already drank most of my caramel milkshake and had moved on to the hot chips. He was chowing them down and turned to Meeks and said, "Mummy! I love chips". He's never expressed his love for anything else before!

Mitch has picked up a few other sayings recently too. One of them is "of course". It's very cute. He says it in a very matter of fact tone. We were in the park yesterday and I was pushing him and said, "Do you want me to get on the other swing?" and his reply, "Of course". After his lunch, Meeks asked him to put his plate on the kitchen bench. His reply? "Of course".

One of Mitch's favourite games at the moment is "Chase You". Basically you chase Mitchy down to his room and he buries his face in the chair so he can't see you. You tap him on the back and run away and he chases you down to the lounge room and you bury your face in the sofa and he runs up and taps you on the back and then runs back to his room and you chase him and ... it goes back and forth and back and forth. If you try to do anything like actually hide from him properly he calls out quite annoyed that you have ruined his game!

One last piece of news is that last Tuesday, Mitchy did his first wee on the potty. We were very excited and hoped it would be the beginning of the end for nappies. Unfortunately not much has happened since then. He sits on the potty reluctantly and sometimes stubbornly refuses, event when offered treats. Oh well, we can be patient!

Autumn Leaves

We had a fun in the park next door this morning. There is Liquid Amber tree in the park which has lost all it's leaves and Mitch and Mummy had a big play in them. Here are some pictures. First Mitchy played by himself.


Then mummy joined in.

Mitchy got mummy.

Then mummy got her revenge!

Long time, no post

Sorry it's been so long since I have posted. At the end of a Long Weekend you would think I have lots to post about. Well, it has been a good weekend, but there hasn't been much photo taking.

On Saturday night Meeks and I went to see Carl Risely at The Basement with the Blairs and the Smarts. If you don't know who Carl Risely is, he was the swing guy from the last Idol series. He was really good and we had a great night out. It was great just going out with some other adults and not worry about the kids. Thanks to the various baby sitters who made it possible.

The other news that I haven't blogged about is that I resigned from EDS on the 28th May and started with IBM. Not much as changed as I am still doing the same job, in the same seat, at the same place, on the same project, with the same conditions. The only change is the company (and pay conditions). Probably the smoothest transition between companies ever!

For all you photo junkies, here is one of Mitch that I took last week. I took a bunch more but none of them were much good! Obviously more to do with the photographer than the subject!


I finally got around to downloading all of the video we have shot of Mitch onto the computer so Meeks and I can start putting together some videos of the little cutie.