I love our beach house, I really do

and we are so very lucky to have it, but the last two times we have been there we were met with leaky pipes which led to emergency plumber visits which led to writing large checks. The last time we went there, a rodent of some type had gotten under the house and chewed on the plastic pipes (though they don't look all that tasty). So we arrived to a hissing sound coming out of the bathtub drain and damp carpet. We got that fixed and thought we would be okay when we turned off the water and drained the pipes when we left.

This did not protect us from the recent hard freeze (a very rare thing over there) and when Charlie and the kids got to the house last night (I drove separately from work), the minute he turned on the water, it started pouring out of places it shouldn't. Luckily our friends Lynn and Doug were at their house and let us stay in their guest apartment after plying us with spaghetti and wine.

Our Geno's Plumbing friend from last time came this afternoon and found that we have several pipes that need to be replaced and since it was at Saturday rates, suggested they come back during the week and do the work. Apparently they've been totally swamped helping people with similar problems since the freeze.

Geno's Plumbing is fairly unique because (a) they show up around the time they say they will, (b) they recommended something that would save us a little money and (c) they actually answer their phone. If you've ever tried to get home repairs done in our beach community you would know how rare this is.

So we left our spare keys with the lady at the bookstore next door and came home. This week started with a $400 midnight visit to the emergency vet with a barfing and shaking dog,(she seems to be fine now)I am hoping we are done with emergencies for a while.