blog friendships & riveting septic tank answers

i was discussing a few of my favorite friends that i had met through my blog

to my daughters.

my oldest told me, mom , people think that's sorta weird.

like chat room weird when you say, "we met through my blog".

hysterical!

i'm guessing i'm preaching to the choir 

but i continue to be blessed & blown away by friends

that i have made just by logging into blogger for the last few years

& the friendships i've watched bloom of others which began the same way.

the first time i ran across melanie's blog

i was completely smitten.

i was initially drawn in by her fabulous home

but continued to be drawn in by her warm spirit

& her transparent heart.

( fabulous decorating & an open book attitude-two of my favorite qualities!)

yesterday i was so tickled to meet her

live & in person

and her precious family while they drove through atlanta.

i gave them directions to, none other than , the Varsity

"an atlanta icon", i promised her hubby.

we could have talked for hours.

each feeling as if we've known each other for years!

& would you believe, she was not an ax murderer. thank goodness. 

when dan was asking, now which one is melanie

i promptly listed off her stats.

you know melanie, the one whose home i covet in a healthy way

who painted the painting after pop pop passed

the one who sent me the package of bulbs

the one who made the 'reve' pillow on our bed

& the #6 pillow on our porch

the one who has a sister named leslie who loves seaside

you know, melanie!

sweet melanie

i pray your beautiful family has a safe wonderful trip

& enjoy my favorite beach!!

i think i've probably put everyone on a septic tank in a bit of a tizzy

worrying about their own status.

for those of ya'll interested i will explain the situation.

everyone else,

have a fantastic valentines weekend.

i am shocked

but apparently my baby girl turns 18 monday!

ok

hopefully i will answer all your questions~

our contract had us listed as sewer

we assumed we were paying for sewer service all these years.

we had no weird pre-crisis signs that things were going bad.

our downstairs toilet overflowed on it's own.

& if you know me,

 my four daughters & hubby & golden retriever

are followed closely in importance by my hardwoods.

( teasin.sorta)

so the fear of water damage stressed me out.

the situation occurred on a friday night

we find out we're actually on septic saturday

& told to not use any water until the situation is resolved.

we farm out the girls.

monday the septic boys come & can't find the tank

i breakdown

dan drives to the health department & gets the survey 

septic boys paint a very bleak potential major financial outcome

rumor has it, caroline wanted to do a little fund raiser at her school.

something along the lines of  " would you like to donate to our new septic tank"

older sister told her "we don't do that"

tuesday septic tank is found under brick walkway

no big deal especially since they had predicted it's location was under our bricked in porch.

tank was pumped for the first time in 30 years.

damage was extensive to the concrete portion of the tank

we opted against the massive re-do of our entire plumbing system/trash the yard/lose our sprinkler system/be out of the house for more days/re-landscape our yard/major financial decision

& opted instead to repair the old.

i asked the guy where we fell on the continuum of 'how bad is it'

we were on the 80% severe end

due to neglect.

supposedly if you pump it every 3 years you should not have any problems.

we're out a little over $3,000

but now we know

& yes, we will follow up with our water service 

and the agent that sold me ( i was single when i bought) the house

so yes ma'am

we're all repaired

& i will never take the luxury of peeing in my own home for granted again.

signed,

owner of the world's smallest bladder