Enjoy the cartoon and smile through this story!! Okay, I get up Thursday morning with a sense of dread because it is birthday party day and all sources say we will be getting thunderstorms in the evening which is when the OUTSIDE birthday party is. Our house is only about 1500 square feet and so it is a squeeze just for those of us who live here, much less the guests we have invited. Nevertheless, I am making plans for an indoor shindig since I am thinking the weather is not cooperating. This means I must really CLEAN as guests have a way of making their way through my entire house, led by one or more of my children usually. "Come and see my Mom's closet, it is really a big giant mess." So I brace myself and clean the best I can. As I get the kitchen all tidied up, I try not to look in the living room where the kids are playing barbies.

"Mom, did you know the ceiling is dripping in here? I just sat in a wet spot on the floor and now it is dripping on my head." The roof, I think, panicking. although we are trying to save for its replacement, we thought we had lots of time. Wait a minute, even though storms are predicted for tonight, there hasn't been rain here in forever. Next thought, air conditioning central unit is in the ATTIC. Now I wish it could be the roof instead I think. There is a bulge in my living room ceiling where I can tell water is standing in the attic. Why me? Why today? I call my hubby who is just as distressed as I, but also trapped at work. He has me call a friend at church who assures me it is probably just the drain pipe clogged up or the pan rusted out. Either one is a relatively easy fix. It could be something else, but check those two first. He recommends that I climb the ladder outside and use a drain snake(which I am very experienced with since the bathroom drain incident) to snake out the pipe. First I go up into the 125 degree attic and yes, the drain pan is full to overflowing and so I decide cleaning the pipe is the way to proceed.

Now, I must tell you that I am very afraid of heights. More than that though, I am afraid of collapsing ceilings on party nights!! My first item of business though is to drill a small hole in the ceiling so that at least the water has somewhere to go besides down with the entire ceiling. Hole drilled, water dripping. Mentally preparing myself for ladder climb and working from high spot!! Very TENSE. One of my friends calls and says her husband could come by if I can't muster the courage to do it. Now I am on a timetable as he will be passing through the area at a certain time. I make Kayla and Lilly come outside with the phone in case I die and they must call 911. Erika is finishing school. I decide I will feel better if I don't wear shoes, that way I can grip the rungs better. I cautiously climb up with the snake. I reach a point where I think I can get the snake into the drain pipe. I begin to wish I had shoes on as it is very painful to stand on a ladder with no shoes. WHAT WAS I THINKING??? As I feed it in through the pipe, I begin to imagine all the possibilities of what could be clogging the drain. I say many prayers to God and reason with him that it will be hard to not freak out if some sort of bee or snake(REAL) were to exit. Freaking out on a ladder is not ever a good thing. I get the (drain)snake all the way in and then let it start coming out. Lots of water and muckety muck. That is all. I go ahead and do it again and then I climb down. Many praises to God who is so good!!

I search the yard over for children and finally find them. They were very worried about my safety(HA!). I get them back inside and go back into the 150 DEGREE ATTIC to see if I have done any good. Seems not as full but I decide I should get a glass and bucket and manually drain the pan so that we don't have to revisit this crisis until post party. After climbing attic stairs with a bucket and glass and maneuvering myself back to the drain pan, I discover there is only about an inch of clearance and the only way I could drain would be with a straw. (Why didn't I notice that before??) I take myself, bowl and glass back down the ladder and decide that is all I can do for now and switch gears back to party mode. Making the cake(as originally planned)is now out of the question so I call Sam's and order one. Later when I pick it up I will find that they made it twice as large as ordered so we have cake for 100!! It did end up being a fun party-we ate inside and then the kids were able to go play outside because the storm had blown over. By the time we squeezed in two tables and the chairs to go with them, you could hardly tell I did not clean much!! Erik took all the leftover cake to work with him so that wasn't a big deal either. I have decided no one will have another birthday party until they turn 16, but luckily this is the last one in our summer string of birthdays so I have some time to reconsider. Whew!! I am so exhausted from writing all of that, you will have to wait until tomorrow for the drama I woke up to this morning!! Here is a hint: What happens if a five year old gets a small patch of poison ivy on her chin?