June 30, 2012

Outside Temp: 64 F (it was in the 80's again today.  But, it cooled off this evening and it's beautiful!)

What I cooked today:
Burritos: The funny thing about the late evenings, is that dinner time sneaks up on me.  So, sometime around 9pm, I realized that it was time for dinner.  I wanted to try a recipe, but it called for about an hour of cooking time, and I didn't want to wait that long.   So, I just made up some ground beef with taco seasoning, and heated up some tortillas and beans.  Instant dinner!

Update:
So, first off, I'm kind of 'home maintenance' challenged.  I never learned all those little tricks that apparently, everyone else knows.

I was complaining about my backed up shower today, at the post office, and my postmistress explained to me how to clear it.  Patrick and I were under the impression that it was a problem with the main line (which it still may be), but we noticed that we could run the water in the sinks and the toilet without problem.  It was only the shower.

So, I was told that I just needed to take some baking soda, vinegar and boiling water, and put them all down the drain.  Oh yea, like that's going to work.  So, I boiled some water in my tea kettle, and scooped out about 1/2 cup of baking soda, and 1 cup of white vinegar.

I tried to drop the baking soda down first, but it got stuck in the drain, so it spilled out into the shower.  Then, I poured vinegar over the soda.  Oh, how fun!  I love the reaction between these two (and I really wanted to turn it into a science experiment, but the kids were all sleeping, so I let it pass).  Last, I used the boiling water to 'push' the fizzing vinegar/soda mixture down the drain.  I totally expected it to just sit there, and slowly drain, like it has been doing.  But, it worked!  Suddenly, the entire fizzy mixture started running down the drain and it was clearing!  It took about a minute for the clog to clear, and then I could run water down the drain and it would actually go down!

Woo hoo!

The best part, is that it was essentially free!  I didn't have to call anyone (or wait for a male member of my family to fix it for me).  There is still probably a problem with the main line, but for now, we can use the shower and not wait 20 minutes for the water from a 4 minute shower to drain.