home for the holidays (scene 2)

intro -

'twas the night before christmas

in the jennings abode

not a creature was stirring

til we heard it explode!!'

scene 2 - cold water christmas
[setting: the jennings house at 5:30 pm on christmas eve. mass is at 6:00pm.]

i walk downstairs to find my parents still in their t-shirts and jeans from a busy day around the house. my friends matt and chelsea dropped by to wish us a merry christmas and were in the middle of a conversation when we heard a loud crash. my first instinct was to find my kitten (i had this vivid picture in my mind of her falling down the laundry shute.)
my dad (the more practical of the family) ran downstairs into the basement. 5 minutes later he came back up with no socks on and his pant legs rolled up. our hot water heater exploded.

now this wasn't a leak or an overflow... the thing EXPLODED, and within minutes, our basement was flooded.

we turned off the water and moved some stuff around to prevent water damage. scurrying around, we managed to head out for church only slightly behind schedule. now, if being late is fashionable, my family wins the prize of the classiest folks in townl.... so being late isn't that big of a deal. however, when we got into church, the usher decided to do us a favor by giving us the last seats in the building... the front row!! i about died. here we are, 15 minutes into our 45 minute service, and we walk right up in front of the entire congregation... as if to say "excuse me ladies and gentlemen, the jennings' have arrived!"

it's the day after christmas, and we're still taking cold showers. our plumber (ironically named bob leak) came by and said that we need a whole new hot water heater... which he's trying to find as we speak. he commented that "wow, this rarely ever happens", but we assured him.... oh, it's the jennings' christmas.... ANYTHING can happen!