The Closest I'll Come to Camping...I Think

Our tub has been needing to get re-glazed for some time -- the last glaze job, which was guaranteed for 5 years, was completed five years ago and had officially begun flaking off. Big time. I made an appointment to have it re-glazed on Thursday, July 1st, their first available appointment. They would let themselves into our house and get it started, I would leave work around 2 pm and work from home until they were done so that I could inspect the final project and pay for the work.

Then I had a training come up for work that was from 2-4 pm on Thursday, so I had to re-schedule the glaze job. Any chance they could squeeze it in Friday before the holiday weekend?

Absolutely, they said. Only problem was, I forgot that it takes 48 hours for the glaze to cure during which period you cannot use the tub. This now means it won't be usable until Sunday night.

Did I mention it's the ONLY tub or shower in our entire house?

Did I mention that the forecast called for 90 degree heat with 60 or 70 percent humidity?

Did I mention that we were around our house all weekend, doing all kinds of activites? Things like watching a parade...

Or watching same parade from under a parasol, due to the heat...

Or walking down to Lake Harriet...

Or wondering at the Lake Creature at said lake...

Or dipping toes into said lake to cool at least the tootsies off...

...or picnicking at the lake...

...the list goes on and on.

All without benefit of a tub to shower or bathe in. The tub was looking so inviting, too, so sparkly and shiny white.

Marissa and I got a brief respite by going to a city park that has a water area called the Splash Pad. It was filled with all kinds of fountains and curtains of water that you could run through. Saturday night she and I went go bed feeling slightly refreshed and not quite as sticky, but Lindsey's face had a film of sweat and three days worth of sunscreen on it. You could smell the old sunscreen smell if you got close to her; don't even get me started on how the adults fared.

Finally, Sunday evening we could finally use the tub, and I was the first one to shower. Aahhhh! It felt so good to get clean! I had an inkling of what it feels like to come home after a week of tent camping, with the only way to wash off being a dip in the lake. No thank you, not for me. I could barely stand it being around my own house when I had access to good water everywhere, just not in the form I wanted.

We now have our tub back, all happy and sparkly new. And we had a fabulous 4th of July weekend to boot, with the lack of bathing just adding to the adventures of the weekend.