it's amazing how one small item can totally trash an otherwise potentially productive weekend.  on saturday, we set about trying something a little on the anal retentive side: preparing a month's worth of meals in advance.  the idea is that we save money by combining ingredients/minimizing waste and time by preparing everything so that all we need to do is heat and serve with a side salad or something.  it controls portions and all of the meals are designed by a nutritionist so it could even be healthier.  sounds great, right?  well it might be!  i'll let you know how that goes.

however.

we started semi-early saturday and were busting our butts to get everything done so that stacky could go to a pampered chef party and i could get into my studio and finish some things.  her departure time arrived and there were still about four recipes to go.  no big deal.  i could handle that.  she did her thing and i kept on truckin' so to speak.

in the end, i had everything in the freezer and one helluva mess to clean.  i put away the various ingredients and set about doing the dishes.  while i was washing away, i noticed some water on the floor by the utility room.

"hmm," i thought aloud.  "i'm sloppy, but not that sloppy."

water was coming out of the drain for the washing machine every time i hit the disposal.  not.  cool.

i finished putting away the kitchen and started troubleshooting.  this was a monster clog.  a look at the clock had me further behind than i'd wanted to be, so i quickly showered and headed out to get some chemical warfare, aka liquid plumbr.  80 oz of that grand stuff later, the water in the sink was gone and everything seemed cool.

i got into my studio at about 3:00-ish.  by 5:30 i was starving and had accomplished very little.  a quick call to the wife-phone showed that she was planning to call me and ask if we wanted to dine with her college buddy and said buddy's sister who planned the party.  i was disapointed with my progress, but so damned hungry that i couldn't see going forward.  i agreed and met them for a nice dinner.

home, wine, BSG from itunes, bath, bed, ...hi mom!..., sleep.

the next morning, we got up and had some waffles.  they were pretty damned good.  upon cleaning up, i noticed more water.  things were not fixed.

the rest of the day was spent swearing, tearing things down, plunging, tearing more things down, more swearing, mowing the lawn, and finally dumping sulfuric acid down the pipes and watching things bubble and not move.

so passed sunday.  but i did watch a bit of harvey birdman volume 2!  not a total loss, right?

tonight, i will flush it out and see what's what.  if it doesn't work, i'll snake some more and then concede to a professional.  the only really stressful part is the time sink.  my beloved bride is less than pleased with this and coupled with some other stress, it has her out of sorts.  i reassert the notion that it will all be fine.  it's just plumbing.

also of note, nanowrimo!  i'm in.  who else is writing this round?  i'm stoked...i even have an idea!