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Last summer, when we were talking about maybe getting new toilets, Brad said that ‘toilet technology has really advanced in the past several years’. I’m not gonna lie, I thought he was kidding. I mean, it’s water in a tank that goes into a bowl – how much could it have changed ?

Well, I was super wrong. Our old toilets were like all normal toilets where the water from the tank gets into the bowl through several holes around the underside of the rim. Not this. This is a Toto Drake, and it has two giant holes instead of all the little ones.

The water just blasts out of those holes into a vortex, and the flush is over within three seconds. It’s fascinating, and kind of terrifying.

The toilets themselves are quite pretty, but they’re tall toilets. When Lloyd was ordering them I said I didn’t care, but I didn’t realize they’d be quite so tall. I feel like a preschooler when I sit on one – dangling legs and all.

We bought new toilets. One was a need – the downstairs one never flushes well and takes several tries to do the job – and the upstairs one isn’t terrible, but the bidet seat Lloyd bought a while ago is for an elongated bowl and we had a round bowl.

When we were in Colorado, Lloyd did some looking (yes, there was a spreadsheet involved) and found one that both Amazon and Lowe’s had. Since it’s not cool to order giant things from Amazon (especially breakable, porcelain things), he contacted Lowe’s and asked if they would match the price. They did, so he bought two. When they arrived at Lowe’s, he picked them up and they lived in our house for a while.

For many reasons, I wanted a plumber to install these. He was scheduled to come on Monday, but that was the first snowstorm and they called and said they couldn’t come. No worries. They rescheduled for Thursday.

Now, we had some problems with not being around when the plumber arrived: 1) The doors don’t close well and Wally likes to try and sneak out, 2) We had icicles and icy steps at the front door. I didn’t want someone wiping out on the steps or driveway, especially while carrying a toilet, so we asked them to use the back door, and to just leave the old toilets here so we could deal with them later.

And that, dear readers, is how we have come to have two toilets in each bathroom. They’re going to stay like that until this next snow disaster is over. I’ll try to remember to use the ones that are hooked up.

(Anyone remember Veggie Tales? Anyone? Anyone?)

When we were in Colorado, there was a lovely little snow. We opened the window shades and enjoyed the view…… and then I saw a rabbit. A black rabbit. Now, I don’t know much about wild animals, but I am going to guess that a black rabbit against white snow is awfully easy for a hawk to find, so this had to be a pet. A lost pet.

I made Lloyd look at it (he was thrilled), then briefly considered going out to try and catch it. Ha ha ha ha ha ha!! Not going to to happen. I figured if it was loose, this was just meant to be.

Then……..

A couple of nights later, I was turning off the lights before bed and saw…… the rabbit again! It was in the front yard, nibbling at the grass. I watched it for a while before I remembered that Mark put a camera out front. I went up to my cozy bed and watched from there.

That bunny on the lam? Turns out he has a friend. A bunny buddy.

Hmmmmmmm ….. they’re not lost, they’re just messing around.

Well, another miracle has happened – we closed again today. I’m very glad, because nearly half of our staff lives out in the country and it is difficult (and sometimes impossible) for them to get into town when the snow drifts. I’m going to spend the day cleaning and drinking copious amounts of warm liquids to get rid of the last of the crud. (I might just sleep a bunch, too.)

I’ll write some posts to get caught up on other stuff that’s happening, too. Until then, please keep Brad in your prayers (he’s having some dental work done) and also my Dad, who has a nasty cold of his own. Stay warm and stay safe, everyone!

We had a good ol’ snowstorm this week. It was predicted to start Monday morning and get worse as the day went on, so local schools closed…. and so did we! On Tuesday, it was worse than Monday, so local schools closed…. and we didn’t start until 9! Woo-hoo!

I was glad for the time off because my sinuses attacked me over the weekend. What started out as sniffles turned into ‘I cannot use this solid lump on my face to breathe’. I have a sinus rinse thing and the water was …… rejected. Bleh.

Anyway, I was glad to have Monday to recover, and on Tuesday, my nose let me actually breathe but I was glad to have a small group of children that was self-directed.

What happened to my amazing immune system? You’re letting me down, man.

We had a whole month to get license plates for the car, but of course – we didn’t. When Lloyd went to the courthouse the week before we left for Colorado, there was some problem with the sales tax and he couldn’t get them. He contacted the dealership and they sent someone out the Friday that we left so we could sign some papers. We drove west with our totally legal vehicle.

We returned, on January 31st, with a vehicle that was a day expired. The courthouse folks had assured Lloyd that when we got pulled over, we just needed to have them run the information and see that the sales tax was paid and everything was ok. (It wouldn’t hurt if I cried a little, too.)

So, we drove eastward keeping very close to the actual speed limit. As it turns out, all the police officers were napping so they could be awake after midnight to catch all the drunk drivers. We hardly saw any.

Back home, Lloyd got the new plates on Tuesday and it only took us three days to actually get them on the car. Well, the back one right away, but the front one needed a holder attached and also needed some proprietary ‘import car’ bolts that weren’t included.

Huh – look at that reflective surface!

Anyway, it’s all done now, and we can proudly say that we have drilled holes in this vehicle, too.