I'm in hot water today


agua muy caliente
Originally uploaded by juano_maldonado.
As you are no doubt aware, yesterday was Valentine's day. Today, I am in hot water with my wife. You guessed it, its all over my Valentine's gift to her. In spite of my planning and scheming, Valentine's Day did not go off quite as planned.

The story starts three days ago on Sunday. We came home from church to the sound of an alarm blaring through the house. Due to a high water table in the area, we have water alarms on the floor in case water starts to seep into the basement. One of these alarms was squealing for all its worth. The problem is that they are so high pitched, you can't readily tell where its coming from. So we start hunting around the basement trying to find the water. No water in the usual places. Finally, we see the water heater has a small leak. Its 13 years old and probably due to be replaced soon anyway.

There go all my big, just-got-my-tax-refund, plans. This year my wife is getting a hot water heater for Valentine's Day. Never was there a more romantic gift given. I also got her the solid chocolate fish as well, as I told you Monday.

Monday night is spent installing this most romantic of gifts. The plan is to be able to enjoy a nice hot shower in the morning to celebrate the new water heater. That night before going to bed, she checks and sure enough there is plenty of hot water coming from the tap.

Valentine's morning: something has happened overnight. There is no longer any hot water. Its not that the water is not hot, its that there is no water coming out of the hot water tap at all. When the hot water is turned on, a whole lot of nothing comes out. The cold water comes out ok, and very cold.

Oh, this is not a good omen. A cold shower is not how I was wanting to start Valentine's Day. My poor son has to wash his hair in the sink using cold water. Brrrrrr.

So I stay home from work to get the hot water fixed. Finally, after a while I get it all figured out and the hot water is restored. I will plead the 5th on the reason it wasn't working. Suffice it to say the installation instructions could have been clearer on a couple of minor points.

Peace and harmony are restored. My sweetie is able to enjoy a nice hot shower. Something we daily take for granted but are more grateful for today.

Now we find ourselves alone as the kids are all off to school. This does not happen very often and we decided to take advantage of it by spending some time together running a few simple errands.

The first errand was to get rid of the old hot water heater. At the local refuse dump they have a place to drop off scrap metal to be recycled. So we ran down to the dump, my sweetie paid the 3 bucks to get in and I threw the old hot water heater on the pile.

As I got back into the truck, I realized what I had done. My wife's Valentine's had consisted of:
  • A malfunctioning hot water heater
  • A solid chocolate fish that says "You're a keeper"
  • A trip to the dump, where she had to pay.
As I pointed this out to my sweetheart, we both broke into laughter until tears came from our eyes. She was thinking of how she could brag to her friends about how romantic the day had been. This was one of those Valentine's days we will remember and enjoy laughing about for many years to come.

So that is how I got into hot water on Valentine's Day. I don't know how I'll be able to outdo myself next year, but maybe I'll think of something.

Comments

Anonymous said…
Well,for next year you can always get her the card my hubby got me.

The front says: For My Wife on Valentines Day. It's that special time of year when I show you how much I Love You

Inside: And what a lousy gift buyer I am. (There's a huge botton that says Perfect Wife that can be worn)

Then it says: Buttons are sort of like jewelry, aren't they?

That card followed with a beautiful pair of diamond earrings will get you a nice raft for that hot water you're in!
Anonymous said…
At least she has a great sense of humor! Sounds like a Valentine's you'll never forget!

Here via Carnival of Family Life.
That she does. It ended up being a really nice day together.
Anonymous said…
ROFL Oh man, you sure made me giggle! It reminds me of my anniversary 3 years ago... It began at 2 am with our basement flooding with sewage after a very hard rain. As we waded through our neighbors TP, amongst other things, I pointed out to the hubby that "we have been through some poo (the naughty version) in our marriage, but this was just ridiculous"! Ahhh, good times. :O)
Anonymous said…
Too funny! It sounds like you guys are a really good team.
Mert: ROLF I guess we all have to pass through some doo-doo in the course of a marriage. Thanks for sharing

Jenny: Thanks. My sweetie is one in a million.
Anonymous said…
Sounds like the kind of days we spend celebrating! ;)
therapydoc said…
But the important thing is, she didn't suffer alone. The hot water catastrophe should be your greatest challenge as a married couple!
I most certainly enjoy reading on successful marriages. Thanks for visiting my blog and reading my entry on Valentine's.

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