Toilets, Sinks and Very Large TVs

I would have posted this yesterday, but it wasn't nearly as funny then. Braxton and Jaren were happily engrossed in some program on Noggin. Jeanette and I thought it would be safe for her to take a shower and I started to clean my bathroom. It only took maybe 20 minutes before I had a knock on my door and a very frustrated voice asking me if I had towels she could use. I started grabbing all the towels I had as Jeanette explained the boys basically threw water everywhere with a nice inch or so deep puddle on the kitchen floor. We weren't sure if some of the water came from the toilet or not but there was obvious touching of the toilet happening with the seat up, some toilet paper hanging half in and half out of the toilet and the water level being a bit low.

That being said, the Clorox and disinfecting began. Jeanette took the boys upstairs to a bath right away while I worked on the towels and mopping the kitchen floor. We soon switched jobs and I got the boys washed from top to bottom, dressed and in bed for a slightly earlier than normal nap. I joined Jeanette in the disinfecting of the toys she had started after mopping the kitchen floor. We soon found out that the TV was now not working at all. (The poor old thing was on its last legs anyway.) Apparently, bathing your TV is not a good idea. That's a lesson Braxton taught us. I used my last ESN (Emergency Short Notice) day for a short notice half day off worth of vacation so I could help get things ready before we needed to be off for work and to also allow for the things I was hoping to do that day. I added a new item to the list... buy a new TV.

After doing the minor shopping and getting lunch for the boys, I went to my favorite furniture store anywhere to buy the 32" TV with a large scratch on the side I saw last time I went in to make a payment on my new split queen sized box spring (since the full sized one wouldn't fit in our now finished basement where my bedroom is). It was very reasonably priced at about 400 dollars after taxes. I walked in and realized that the TV was now replaced with a 51" that had a chip off the corner at 1800. I decided, nope better ask where their other 32" TVs were. By the time I found someone to help me she explained they had such a good sale on the TVs that she couldn't find anything smaller than a 42" and even called the other store to see if they had anything smaller. The remaining 42" TV was their floor model since they didn't even have any others. So I bought it since I love this store, I already had credit here, and I knew I didn't have to worry about interest since it was 12 months interest free and I could pay for the 1088 dollar TV after my overtime on all the holidays coming up.

Next we tried to put the monstrosity into my car, no go. If we were allowed to put it face down it would have been fine but they were worried that the LCD would break laying it down like that. So I called my dad who was less than enthusiastic about helping me take a big screen TV to my house. While talking to the poor kid who had to lug this monster out of the store, the store owner's wife comes out and offers to follow me home in her SUV since in the truck we probably wouldn't be able to keep it right side up but she could put it right side up and pin it that way between her back seat and the escape hatch out the back. I tried to call grumpy and got the machine, left a message and we all got to wait for him to show up only to have him show his not so friendly side in front of the very kind store owner's wife. (I still don't know why he won't carry a cell phone, oh well...) We got the beast home and my mom helped me lug it downstairs. We tried all kinds of contortions of body and furniture to be able to hold up the TV to mount it on it's swivel mount. It wouldn't go farther than 1/4th of the way down no matter how I pushed, twisted, turned. I called the store they felt so bad they were going to offer me a new one for free when I decided to ask if they could tell me the trick to mounting the monster. Moments later, I had an epiphany and turned the mount completely around so the mounting screw was in front instead of in back. 'Lo and behold, it slid right in no problem.

So I made it to my half day of work on time only to feel really dizzy. I texted my mom and apparently Braxton and Jeanette were both very sick. I developed a fever and texted my supervisor to see if I could get meeting time to go off the phones to lay down during the last hour of my work or if I could go home and come in early the next day to make up time. No answer so I just suffered on the point of near blacking out until 11pm that night when I raced home and put my sorry butt to bed.

I felt much better this morning if a bit worn from fighting the fever all night and the amazing day I had yesterday. Jeremy came and steam cleaned all the carpets and washed the slipcover to the couch. Needless to say, it's nice to have a non-infected house with a bigger TV in my room so the boys could use my not so picture perfect old one, even if it did cost me using my credit right now when I should be paying it all off. Morale of the story? Never leave a 3 year old bored for longer than a minute.