YUCK! My wonderful buddy Chad is out scavenging around the garage looking for the source of the stench that now fills our house. EWW! It all started when we noticed the pitter-patter of little feet (not the kind that makes grandmothers, mind you) in our garage and in the attic. It seems our rodent friends wanted to keep us up all night whilst they danced above our heads in the cool moonlight. Well we set up traps and they got into some rat poison, and dear me, the little pitter-patter ceased. HOORAY! But wait there is a catch. A dead-animal-smell kind of catch and our traps are empty. So now I am writing our weekly report so I stop gagging in the garage. I am what you call “a real helper.”

Earlier this week I came home to a similar smell I was sure was a gas leak. We can all be sure I was out of my noggin because Chad got off early from work and sat messing with the furnace and the water heater until we were sure they were fine. I guess I know a new trick to get him to come home when I want to see him. “I think we have a gas leak, honey.”

Chad took his chances following the scent trail under the house and found the smelly little monster. HALLELUJAH! The aftermath is we have other little invaders. Stupid big fat flies. The whole situation reminds me of a place we helped clean out while I was on my mission in California. It makes my sick and sends shivers down my spine just thinking about it. Elisa started to get sick this week from the sawdust and stench and stress. It has been really hard to keep the house clean. It doesn’t help that we can’t take a shower at home.

Back to our more exciting news… Our bathrooms are SO almost finished!!! That calls for some celebration. YEE-HAW! We got the shower and tub all put back together. The floors are all in. No more holes in the floor. We are waiting until tonight for the caulk to cure, and then we will be able to use the tub again! There’s finishing work to do but I don’t care as much about that as I do about getting the plumbing working again. It is a very good thing. The pictures we took are at http://chadandelisa.parry.org/album/index.php?folder=/Bathrooms2006/.

That is ALL we have done this week. According to my calendar Halloween has been canceled. This is because we haven’t been able to go and get our pumpkins or dress up or be all creative and come up with our super-hero themed party we wanted to do. It is so depressing. BOO-HOO! Anyway, I am all psyched for Christmas and it starts right now as far as I’m concerned. I am not going to let this holiday get away from me. Elisa has already started us on Christmas shopping because she is crazy prepared. There is no time to prepare for both Thanksgiving and Christmas so the latter wins!

We are having a dirty, crazy, smelly week. We finally had a date today after a long while. We glamorously began it by stopping by Microsoft to borrow their shower facilities since we are nasty and don’t have a working shower. There’s a dating hint for all you guys out there. I couldn’t imagine having more fun doing this grungy work with anyone else. Chad is the best!