H.O.C.

God has blessed me with a few men in my life that have taken care of "house matters" while Cory has been away. I lovingly call them my "husbands on call" (HOC). Anytime something happens at the house - ranging from clogged toilets, to beds that need to be put together - I call one of my HOC's and they either come to fix it or walk me through the repair. I love these men dearly and while they are by no means a substitute for MY husband, they have taken excellent care of me (us) over the last 8 mths. I'm sure they are just as ready for Cory to come home as I so they can "retire"! Here's just a few things over the last month that I've had to call my HOC for!
A few days ago, I went into the girls bathroom to "tidy" up a bit. When I flushed the toilet, it wouldn't fill up. Do you know what I'm talking about? My intial feeling was "NO WAY". Let me back track - we moved into our house in Sept and 3 days after moving in, we had to have our septic tank pumped. Our house is only 3 years old. I was infuriated. I know people who have lived in their house for almost 30 years (ie my parents) and NEVER had to have theirs pumped. Then I was upset about the price - its CRAZY expensive. (I realized that people who do that for a living are actually underpaid as it is absolutely disgusting). Anyway - back to the story. I went in a few days ago and felt my blood pressure shoot through the roof. I called one of my HOC's - Cory's best friend, Trevor. His wife kind of chuckled when I told her the situation and she said "I can probably help you more than he can - he's not a toilet man". She told me exactly what to look for and how to fix it! Problem solved - and I didn't even have to pay a plumber! I guess that was one for the WOC - that's another post and group all together!
Then tonight I started the dishwasher before heading to work. It was my short night, so when I walked in the door at midnight, an extremely noctious odor hit my nose. I asked my mom what that horrid smell was. She said she couldn't smell it but that Hailey had smelled something earlier. From a previous experience, I knew right off hand what it was. You see, when we lived in our apt in Texas, we had our first dishwasher (my first one EVER). One night there was this horrid smell (similar to the one I smelled tonight). We thought it was something on fire in the apt above us so we checked with our neighbors to see if they smelled it as well. Sara, our neighbor asked if we had been running the dishwasher (undoubtedly she had made the same mistake at some point). It was a wooden spoon on the "warmer". Tonight's culprit, a plastic lid! No HOC needed! Aren't you proud?!
As I was letting my mom out of the garage, she informs me that the doorknob on the door to the garage is broken. She wasn't kidding. As I grabbed it, it fell off into my hand. I don't even know where to begin with that one. That will be tomorrow's job, I suppose. Which HOC to call for that one - we shall see!
One day back when I was doing my Paramedic Refresher my battery in my car died. I knew what to do to fix it, but had one other problem. Mondays are MY day to carpool. It was a Monday. It was 1:30pm, I was in Greenville and the kids had to be picked up by 2:20 in Spartanburg. I called my "#2" husband - as I am his #2 wife! He's a local fireman and left work to pick up all the kids. My mom often jokes that Shawn (my #2) has a second family - ours! His wife ( my best friend, Amy) is so generous in sharing him when we need him around the house!
Don't get me wrong, I love my husband and miss him more than words can express, but it gives me great peace to know that if/when I need something here at the house, God has given me a group of men that are willing to pitch in and help out! I also don't want you to think I am helpless. I'm sure I could figure out some of these things on my own (like the dishwasher), but it takes a lot of stress off me to know that if something does arise - I don't have to stress! God has given me people that can fix it and more importantly don't mind doing so! I love you all dearly and appreciate your helping hand more than you will ever know!