12.23.02 - 11:59 a.m.

I guess we're lucky, because it's mostly clean water. But that doesn't change the fact that we woke up to an overflowing toilet and wet bathroom floor this morning.

Remember that night a few weeks ago when the tree fell over? That was the same night our toilet acted up for the first time and our landlord accused us of flushing small balls down the drain. (Because I often use the toilet as a water hazard when practicing golf in the bathroom.) Well, a very large ball or another refugee bird or squirrel must have crawled down the pipe last night, because the toilet stopped. And sloooowly drained. And filled up again. And drained even more sloooooooowly. And on and on until it became painfully clear that it was filling without draining at all, and no amount of plunger action was going to change that.

We went to Whole Foods to a) buy food for our New Year's shindig and b) pee, since Death Toilet 2002 made relieving ourselves at home out of the question, came home and tried not to drink anything else for the rest of the night.

And now our pipes are being jet-washed or something and the bathroom will get its third cleaning in four weeks. Serves everyone right for not believing me the first time. Small balls, my ass.

In other news, flights to Florida are expensive. So expensive, in fact, that even though we're splitting the cost of ONE ticket (gotta love the grandparents for footing my way down), that cost alone is enough to give us pause. We'd take the train if it didn't cost just as much, just to have the experience of a trip on the rails. Though, truthfully, I'd rather travel east-west than north-south on the train. It seems less of a Romantic American Experience to go from Newark to Orlando.

Nothing says love like a tangerine KitchenAid Mixmaster!