Goodbye October...

I hate October. It's been a bad luck month for me for probably two decades and maybe more if I could remember back that far. I thought we'd escaped it unscathed by the return of our Kitty (saving my complicated grief for a later date...probably another October) but wouldn't you know it...discovered on Saturday by my mother in law, we have a gas leak.

I've suspected this for about...six years. The back bathroom has always...always...reeked of a gas-like substance. It did not smell like natural gas though. It smelled like sewer gas or the fumes that might escape from underneath the house. We have an alarm that should tell us if there's a leak and it never did, and it didn't always smell like gas. Only in cold weather and only in that back bathroom, sometimes. I remember it was particularly strong when I was pregnant with Eleanor and sleeping in the back bedroom. I'd have to use the restroom for the fifteen millionth time during the 3rd trimester, which was this time last year, and the gas smell was so strong I would have to immediately open the window so that I would not gag. I complained to Justin about it for years and even recall complaining about it strongly last winter and saying "It's gas, I know it is and our baby is going to come out deformed because I've been breathing it in this whole pregnancy."

Still...neither of us did anything about it. I don't know why. I think we did not want it to be gas so badly. I know you must be thinking what terrible fools we are. I would agree. When gas was confirmed this past weekend and the city took our meter and told us we could not have our gas back until we fixed it, I was so upset I wanted everyone to leave. Justin's best friend was here and my mother in law. I still have not fully accepted that we've all been inhaling low doses of gas for over half a decade.

The plumber came out today to determine where the leak is coming from. He told me they are going to have to dig a tunnel under the house because the crawl space is too low to get to the pipes. This will cost about the same as a used Honda. We have not had hot water since Saturday. My children look dirty to me. Henry wet himself last night. We probably will not have gas again for several more days. I'm trying to think of grilled vegetarian meals.