That's Argentina!

It's the little things...

SoJo and I love hot showers.  Even on sweltering summer days, we take hot showers.  Our house has a new tankless water heater, and unfortunately it only fires up for two minutes at a time before turning icy.  Taking a two minute shower is nearly impossible - even with two functioning arms!

The plumber came out and told us that it was a pressure problem, so of course, he removed the shower head.  How else could you solve the problem?  Now we have cold showers with one jet of water.  As Adam's dad likes to say, "That's Argentina!"

Our house keys also tend to be finicky.  I woke up on the morning of my first physical therapy appointment to discover that our family was locked IN the house.  We tried to escape through a window by removing the screen, but they were screwed on tightly, and we didn't want to cut our way out.  I dreaded the thought of having to message my therapist and tell her that I was locked in my house.  After 15 minutes of jingling and jangling the key in the lock, I got it to pop and open - and I made it to therapy on time!  Whoot!  The locksmith came out that day and replaced the lock.  So far so good!





We also have our very own "Old Faithful" that produces puddles in the kitchen from a cryptic source.  The washing machine might be the culprit, but we love it so much and don't want to mess with it or mention it to the owner.  She is such a sweet lady, and I can only imagine what she is thinking... The five loud Americans show up, and everything starts to break...



Finally, our sweetest invaders are the tortoises that live in the yard.  They are crazy smart and  love our cottage.  They are infatuated with it, and they know when the door is open.  As soon as we crack the portal to enjoy the outside breeze and bright sunshine, the tortoises come marching in.  They walk around the house, leaving a mess of dirt behind them, and try to hide in any nook and cranny they can find.  The kids are responsible for returning them to the garden, and five minutes after they are put in the farthest corner of the yard, they are back in the house. Adam named them "Turbo" (both of them have the same name).  Fortunately we don't mind it too much.  The biggest problem is my constant harassment of the kids, "Did you wash your hands?  Salmonella!! Tortoises have salmonella!!  You can die from Salmonella!!!  Wash your hands!  Don't put them in your mouth!"

Overall, we love our new casita.  It is the perfect size - small, maybe 600 square feet, and we savor it.  I am perfectly ready to downsize our Seattle house.  When I think about that 2400 square feet monstrosity I am overwhelmed.  It is such a relief to be able to clean our house in 30 minutes.  One bathroom is fine - why do we need three at home?  Two bedroom are great, why do we need 5 at home?  If the kids read this, they might disagree, although they do incredibly well sharing a room.  Caleb not only likes other people in the room when he goes to bed, but in his perfect world, he would have someone in his bed too.