All I wanted for Christmas was . . . time . . .

As our lunch guests were leaving our house on Christmas Day, we noticed that our yard was flooded.

It is an interesting thing to see your yard flooded, on a dry Christmas Day!

Turns out that our water main is very close to our big live oak in the front yard . . . and the pipe was crushed.

So, on Christmas afternoon, we started digging until dark, trying to trace back to the leak in the pipe from where the water was bubbling up in the yard.

The next day, 12/26, my son-in-law came over and we dug the entire day . . . finally realizing the pipe was under the tree, so there was no hope of repairing it.

Before I could call someone to cut the tree down, my neighbor suggested I just put in a new water line, and re-route it around the tree.

I like my neighbor . . . a lot.

Today, we dug the new line . . . finding that very large roots love to live only inches from the yard surface . . . but finally this evening, we have water. Since we did all the digging, I only needed a plumber for less than an hour.

I really made a deal of not wanting Christmas gifts this year. All I wanted was time with my family. Boy, I sure got it! Turns out, it was actually kind of fun working with my wife, son-in-law and daughter. You talk and joke a lot when working together. And . . . we survived! My wife and I only ended up only staying in a motel one night . . . because we really needed a hot shower.

When the clerk at the hotel heard out story . . . he gave us two complimentary coupons for a free buffet breakfast.

I highly recommend the Hilton Garden Inn in Irving, TX, located just east of the south entrace to DFW airport.

I'm doing better than I deserve!