Of Motorcycles, Batteries and Broken Pipes

Today is a day to celebrate at our house for a couple of reasons:

First, it is raining and it is a nice gentle rain, not the monsoon rain that we see in the summer or the freezing winter rain of northern Utah.  This is the kind of winter weather we have come to expect and appreciate in Southern Utah.  This is the kind of rain that is lovely to go for a walk in.  And yesterday, the moisture building in the air created one of the most beautiful sunrises I have seen.

Rain also means no more broken pipes.  Last week Rick and I were in St. George at a meeting, when I received a call from Lela telling me that when she came home from school, she found there was a beautiful water fountain at the top of the driveway.  In a panic, I called the City office and asked if there was anyway someone could go over and shut our water off  until we could get home.  Luckily they were able to help.  I pulled Rick out of his meeting just in time to receive the confirmation that "Yes, you do have a leak."

In only took five hours, three trips to Ace Hardware for parts, dinner at Dairy Queen while the glue set and Rick and I outside filling the hole in the dark and wind - him shoveling and me holding the flashlight so he didn't break the pipe again to get it repaired.  On a positive note, according to Rick, at least the ground was soft since it was so saturated.  I am just grateful that we got off luckier than many of our neighbors who had pipes freeze and break inside their homes in our unusually cold weather.

The second reason we have to celebrate in our house is that Rick's motorcycle is finally repaired, licensed, registered and insured.  Which in other words means he can start riding it.  YEAH!!!  I don't know who is more excited - Rick or Emily.

Rick purchased the bike in July knowing that it needed some work.  The motorcycle shop finally had it repaired in December.  In this case I use the term repaired loosely since when Rick tried to drive it to the local mechanic to have the safety inspection completed, he realized that there was gasoline leaking from the engine.  Luckily Brett at Roadrunner was able to diagnose the problem as hoses that had been incorrectly connected and fix the problem.

I was really in the doghouse yesterday when Emily came home from school and learned that I hadn't made it out to the Department of Motor Vehicles.  She should be happy with me today and will probably be waiting impatiently at the door for Rick to get home so they can go for a ride.  It won't matter that it is raining.  Now we just need warmer gloves for Rick to wear and he will be riding a motorcycle to work once again.

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Tomorrow I head to the east side of Zion for the Annual Women's (aka for me "Scrapbook") Retreat.  I am really looking forward to two days of hanging out with all the wonderful women that will be there; catching up with old friends and making new friends.  Hopefully I will get a few projects accomplished as well.

Rick may be making a trip to Logan soon to help Hunter with the truck.  The cold weather combined with Hunter's pedestrian tendencies have done a number on the truck battery and now the battery does not seem to hold a charge.  Rick is trying to decide if once I am home, he will need to do an up and back trip to help get the truck operational.  It will also be an excuse to see his son.  I say more power to him if he wants to go into the cold, mucky air that is Northern Utah in winter.  I will just stay here and enjoy the rain.