DECLARING INDEPENDENCE!

HAPPY FOURTH OF JULY! The fourth of July is all about independence-right? Well, we have declared our independence and we are no longer dependent on running water in the house! I suppose that is not really true because Paul is filling the toilets from our water barrels so they will flush (and of course, he says, "What a good experience this is for us." Good experience for the boy in the family-the 'girls' in the family don't agree.) We are also carrying around bottled water to take care of simple things like washing your hands and face. (I want to see you wash your face with bottled water-the logistics are tricky.)
We started out with a simple problem. The washer on the kitchen faucet needed to be replaced. Paul says, 'no problem', I have an extra and can take care of it. Because it was so easy to do-it didn't get done, until we were getting sprayed every time you turned on the water. Then when Paul went to change it---it broke in half. Half stayed in the faucet and half fell into his hand. What to do? What to do? Those experts at Home Depot (Paul's personal shrine!) promised it could still be fixed without replacing the whole faucet. Well, he started last night, faithfully following his guru's directions but needless to say it got complicated and another little pipe broke. But now, of course, the 'shrine' has closed its doors for the night. Sadie and I begged him to try Wal Mart, but 'they wouldn't have it' and 'it's too late' came up. Keep in mind this means we don't have running water in the house; no washing, no showers, no toilets. We make it through the night and to give Paul credit he is goes to worship at 7am and comes home with a beautiful new faucet-only it doesn't fit. Our house is so old that they don't carry our 'style' (thats how I feel too!) So what does he do-tries Wal Mart! Wallyworld comes through for us and he brings it home to put in only to find out that it is missing a vital part. He goes back to Wal Mart and is now solving the problem. I made him a deal to tell me first, so I can beat Sadie to the shower!
PS I'm rethinking the independence thing-I'd rather be dependent!
PPS I need to say how grateful I am for a husband who is always willing to repair things. He always figures it out and I know that he has saved us thousands of dollars over the years. Thank you, Hon!