Go, you chicken fat, go away!

I loved the General Conference addresses over the weekend.  I was wise enought to take a nap in between the first and second session yesterday so that I wouldn't fall asleep during the second session.  However, that nap caused me to wake up at 3am this morning.  I got up, went to the bathroom, and tried to lay back down to go to sleep.  I couldn't.  Then at quarter to 4, I heard David start crowing.  Seriously?  Maria still sleeps outside our window next to the steps.  I heard her start clucking so I went outside to check on her.  She seemed to be all right, but I could hear the pool pump sucking air.  I opened the pool gate and went in to check.  We want to drain it within the next couple of weeks so that we can do some maintenance on it.  But as I walked over to the drain, I could hear water spraying.

There are some irrigation pipes that run along the dividing wall between us and our neighbor.  At the end of the line is a spigot with a little riser right next to it.  The riser is capped with a twisting cap that I assume is for bleeding the line.  However, it's broken and it leaks water.  It's been leaking water for over year now, I'd say.  And recently it's been getting worse.  I haven't paid it much mind because it provides another place the chickens can go to get a drink.  And it's not flooding anything.  With the harsh summer temperatures, a lot of the water gets evaporated.  But the ground is getting saturated and it could do damage to the wall. 

My plan was to have one of the handymen that are working on our house renovations right now fix it.  We just ripped out the flooring in our laundry room and bought a brand new washer, dryer, and water heater.  They put in the new flooring and the new appliances came Friday.  But now the cold water faucet to the washing machine is broken.  My guess is that it broke when it was turned off because now it won't turn back on.  So we can't use the washing machine because it doesn't work if the cold water doesn't work.  Blah!  We're going to have to have one of the handymen fix it for us, and I figured I'd ask them to fix the irrigation leak, also.  Well, now I'm going to have to fix the leak myself because it was shooting water straight up in the air.  That portion of the yard was getting really flooded.  I'm glad I woke up.  Maybe that's what was making David crow. 

I woke up my wife to let her know what was going on.  She was starting to panic because she figured I wouldn't wake her up unless it was an emergency.  I mean, it was a little emergency.  When she came to her senses, I told her we need to turn the water off.  The valve is in the front yard.  We weren't sure which one was for the backyard and which one was for the house, so she stayed at the valves and I went to the backyard.  I walked around the side of the house through the RV gate this time.  I stepped in a puddle of water.  I was like, "Oh man, did it flood all the way over here?"  But shining my light on the ground I could tell that the water was localized and it was coming from the pool pump.  That explains the pool sucking air.  I guess the seal is broke.  So, the laundry pipes, the irrigation pipes, and the pool pump.  Our plumbing sucks!  I called Vickie on my phone and we figured it out which valve shut off the backyard.

By now it was pushing 4am and I wanted to get at least another hour of sleep.  But I couldn't.  I sat on the toilet again for a while.  Then I played some games on my phone and decided to go running.  I got dressed and walked through the bathroom door and into the hallway.  As I opened the bathroom door, I heard my bedroom door open.  It was Emily.  She was awake and had to use the bathroom.  I'm always worried that if I leave and she's the only one else awake in the house, that she'll follow me.  I told her after she was done going potty, she could sleep on my side of the bed.  She said she didn't want to.  She wanted to watch the sunrise with me.  Great.

Don't get me wrong.  I love spending time with her.  But it was 6am now, and I wanted to get started before it got too light.  Well, there was nothing I could do to convince her to go back to bed, so watching the sunrise it was.  This means, she puts her shoes on and we walk out to the corner of Adobe and 48th and sit on the curb.  It was getting light out.  Emily loves to say good morning to everyone that's out, walking, walking dogs, riding bikes, and even driving by.  And I guess everyone else loves it, too.  She sure can strike up a nice converstation with perfect strangers.

As the sun started to come up, so did the mosquitoes.  That's what got her to decide to go home.  I walked her home and told her to pour herself a bowl of cereal.  If she's eating, there's a good chance she won't follow me.  But she said she wanted me to cook her scrambled eggs!  It's quarter to 7 now!  I woke up Vickie.  She had no problem going back to sleep.  I told her Emily wanted eggs.  She said she would be up in a bit to make them.  Then I went to the front door and hollered, "Emily stay there while I go running!  Mom's going to make you some eggs in a minute!"  And I finally got to go running.

I saw some of the dog walkers that I had seen earlier.  I smiled and waved at them.  I saw the Schumacher's.  This time I decided to stop and ask them how they liked General Conference.  Carol said it was excellent, and Bruce said it provided much need interpersonal perspective.  I said they were very timely.  We parted ways and I passed them again as I heades south on the other side of the Floodway.  Turning back north on the Floodway, there was Jeff, sleeping in his sleeping bag as usual.  There's also a new guy about an eight of a mile north of him.  I ran by my back wall and looked to see if there was any water leaking through the wall or any visible damage, but it looked all right.  Finally I got home and Vickie made some eggs for me, too.
 

I started running one minute before 6am.  It was just starting to get light out.  As I approached the Floodway I could see some reflector light under the pavilion by the water fountain.  I thought maybe a cyclist was getting a drink.  But that fountain only yields hot water.  I've let that thing run for minutes and it just stays hot.  So I ran by and noticed someone was sleeping on the ground next to the bench.  They had a bicycle.  I almost stopped to ask if they were all right, but they had a duffel bag under their head, so I could tell it was for sure someone sleeping.  That's about all the excitement I had on this run.  My pace was 30 sec/mile faster than yesterday, but still slow.

I started running at 5:47am.  It was dark.  I was running for a while and had almost made it to Brown Road.  I said to myself, "Wow.  I haven't seen a soul."  Just then I heard a voice behind me, "On your right."  I knew he was on a bicycle, so whenever you hear that, you kind of panic a little because you only have so much time to remember which side is your right and which side is your left.  But I pulled myself together real fast and motioned him to pass me on the right.  I turned back south on the RWCD road.  I decided I would add on another loop to my run today, meaning I would keep running south after University and go down to Main.  That adds just over a mile to my normal run.  And I felt like I was really struggling.  I'm in such bad shape right now.  But I'll keep at it.