Something's rotten in the state of Denmark...errr...Texas

I just couldn't resist the title for this blog entry. It just made me smile.

Great news! Steven qualified for two quarterly bonuses from his job. They will show up at the end of April, and I couldn't be happier.

Then a dark (and somewhat smelly) cloud threatened to blot out my sunshine. We came to the realization that we couldn't wait until his bonus check arrived to have our septic tank pumped. Our homebuilder (if you can really call him that) cut so many corners when he built our house. For instance, inside our pump tank, there is a high water alarm. From what I've read during the last couple of days, systems like this normally include a high water alarm light AND an audible alarm (usually located in your garage or under your kitchen sink). Wouldn't you know...there is a small light next to the outside breaker for the septic pump, but no audible alarm. We have no clue how long the alarm light has been on. Frustrating, not to mention potentially dangerous to our health AND our budget. Steven called around and found a good price on having the tanks pumped.

Of course, I tend to go into "worst case scenario" mode the moment a bump rises in the road. I hardly slept last night, convinced we'd be smacked with a large repair bill today, certain that our septic system was forever ruined (silly me, it's only 9 years old).

To my utter and total relief, the owner of the septic pumping company was done and gone within half an hour. During that time, he gave us a nice rundown of how our particular system is set up, how often to have it pumped (now that all three kids are potty trained), etc. We found out he's only been in business for 8 months and told him we would gladly refer him to anyone and everyone. I still didn't like having to write that check, but at least it's done now and I don't have to think about it again for 2 years.

The cloud is gone and the sun is shining once again.