And Murphy strikes again. . .

Adam mentioned that we just bought a tramp for the kids. They LOVE it! The wonderful thing about having a tramp in the backyard is that when I tell the kids to stay in the backyard they actually obey! Phenomenal! For this reason alone it was worth the money, though we still got a great deal on it. It pays to shop around and watch ksl classifieds.

But life goes on and "Murphy" paid us a visit. (Not meaning any disrespect to my wonderful and adored cousins) For the past year or two I had noticed a hard-water bloom on the foundation wall of the house under the kitchen sink. So we watched it to see if it grew or subsided, it didn't do either. Then two weeks ago when my parents were visiting, my dad rested a hand against the wall of the downstairs guest bedroom while he put his shoes on and the wall just collapsed under him. Oooohhhh, that can't be good. Yeah, it wasn't.

We had a plumber over last week and he diagnosed the problem. We had two hairline cracks in the kitchen drain pipe. And apparently they're pretty old judging by the ruined insulation, wet drywall, and hard water deposits inside the wall. We had a few bids done by reclamation companies who treat mold, and a few calls into our insurance agent, to discover that the cost for said repairs is going to be at least over $1000 out of pocket, possibly more. One bid came in at over $2000. And mold repairs are not covered by most major insurers--those *%^#$*@ insurance companies and their fine print.

I'm reminded of an episode from "The King of Queens" where the Heffernan's find mold in the basement that would cost $12,000 to repair. And apparently Doug was informed of said problem by the agent/seller before closing on the property. When Kari confronts Doug about his "stupidity" he responds with the excuse that mold sounded like a good thing because mold makes excellent gourmet cheeses!

So now, I'm cursing the trampoline and the money we spent on it. Though honestly we didn't pay anywhere near that amount and we did promise the kids we would get them one when our family reached certain milestones. But it always works that way! Just when you save up and buy that more expensive item you're so excited about, "Murphy" sideswipes you with an emergency that hits you in the gut. Not that I'm complaining, it really could be a lot worse. Fortunately, none of us have symptoms from toxic mold, so I'm hopeful that the repair won't be too bad. Here's to calling in the plumber sooner than later.