From Duldrums to Fa-La-La

Well this week has been rough as I mentioned in my last post it seems like the house is literally falling apart around me. The drain situation has not improved. Someone recommended using this stuff called drain opener found at the hardware store that is so corrosive its actually sold with a plastic bag around it. I went and checked it out and I wish we had used that to begin with but it says in bold print not to use if other chemicals such as draino are already in the drain which there is so we can't try that.

Today we woke up to pouring rain which is such a blessing because it has been so dry and I have always liked the rain. When it rains it does create a little bit of work for us though. Again this is an old house and we actually have a basement. The access point to the basement happens to be right below the eave of our roof and we don't have gutters so when it rains the water pours off the roof directly onto the basement door which is just a piece of plywood and the water goes through it and floods the basement. The heater is located in the basement so we have to make sure we limit the water going down there as much as possible so that #1 the heater doesn't get messed up, and #2 we don't have standing water down there causing mold to grow and wood to rot. We have two tarps that we tent over the basement access to avoid the water issues and they are actually usually all set up and we just leave them alone regardless of whether its raining or not but this week Doug has been down in the basement looking at the pipes due to our drain issue so this morning when it started raining we had to run outside in our pjs in the pouring rain and cover up the basement access. We were quite a sight.

So I've been a bit down in the dumps due to all these house issues but yesterday I decided to take the kids to Disneyland and get out of the house. We have annual passes so we go frequently. This is my favorite time of year there. Its pretty hard to be down in the dumps when you are in the happiest place on Earth and you are enjoying a fun day with your kids. If you have never gone to Disneyland during the Christmas season you must do that sometime. The entire park is decorated for Christmas with garland, lights, bows, bulbs. Its incredible especially after dark. The Haunted Mansion is re-themed into "The Nightmare Before Christmas". The "Its a Small World" ride is turned into "Small World Holiday" everything inside the ride is decorated for Christmas around the world and songs such as "Joy to the World", and "Jingle Bells" are added to the ride. Outside of the ride the entire front of the ride is decorated and they do a light show on it every 15 minutes after dark. It also snows at Disneyland! The snow is just these soapy bubbles but it looks real, and magical. The parade is turned into a Christmas parade. The fireworks are even redesigned for Christmas. I haven't seen the holiday Firework show yet because we usually don't stay that late but I plan to go back on Monday because the park closes early at 6pm and the fireworks will go off at 5:45 so we should be able to stay for that. If you are lucky enough to be there on an evening in which they are doing the Candlelight processional be sure to watch it. I actually performed in it one year with my High School Choir. Choirs from all over audition for it by sending in a tape and certain choirs are invited to come and be in it. The choirs merge together and process from Its a Small world down Main street to the center square. They sing Christmas carols as they process and hold candles. Its very beautiful. At the center square the choir goes onto risers and a narrator reads the story of the birth of Jesus. When I did it James Earl Jones was the narrator. The Christmas spirit is alive and well at Disneyland.

Well that's all for now. I hope everyone is enjoying the Christmas Season!