The latest thrilling, chilling installment in the continuing saga we'll call NC Disasters of 2018--like the previous two hurricanes and one tropical storm--also involved liquid...just not the kind coming out of the sky. Nope, it was time for something new, fresh, and exciting, so instead we got: a massive water main break that caused the tanks to deplete in the treatment plant located in Carrboro. This in turn prompted a request for voluntary water restrictions, pleas to conserve and limit usage to "essential needs only", an advisory to "boil-before-drinking"...UNC and local school systems to close early...and of course a panicked buyout of all the available H2O in area stores as soon as the news hit.
In Casa WestEnders, we chose to liberally interpret the "necessary use" to include toilet flushing and showering (because...well, no explanation required, right?), but we fortunately had a stash of leftover bottled agua that I'd bought to prepare for the onslaught of the rainy season, so we didn't have to resort to actually heating up our water before cooking, or consuming, or what have you. Over the next 48 hours or so the utility company informed us that they'd located and repaired the breach, tested the water supply, and received clean results. Thus we were permitted to resume normal operations, including trusting water straight from the tap! Obviously, it could have been MUCH worse, but ay yi yi with the water-related uproar this year, y'all...enough, already!
Whew! Now let's talk about something much more lighthearted, shall we? Riley's been taking Spanish 3 this year, which is the level of increased expectations in terms of being able to speak and understand the language, to the point that you're supposed to try to communicate exclusively (or as much as possible) en Espanol during class. Because of this--and also since he just enjoys it so much--he's asked that the two of us sit down several times a week and converse together, for practice. (To be honest, this benefits me as well; I've never had a Spanish chat buddy in the house to help keep my skills sharp!)
Besides our little talks, I've been making an effort--when I have something random to tell him, for example--to just say it in Spanish. Usually he'll answer me in kind, and occasionally we'll conduct an entire exchange that way. Now, sometimes Husband happens to be in the room as well--but far from seeming bothered by any of this, he'll generally just go about his own business and ignore the polyglots yammering away around him. However, the other day after Riley and I had concluded our conversation, Husband looked up from what he was doing and in the most enthusiastic tone, with a gigantic, mischievous grin plastered on his face, he very firmly proclaimed, "MI GATO ES VERDE!"
Oh. Good. Heavens. The translation--in both Spanish and Nonsense-- is "My cat is green"...which is of course problematic on several levels, not the least of which is the fact that our household does not include a feline. (And the color issue? Let's not go there...) He appeared sooo pleased with himself...and whattya know, the grammar was actually correct...so I suppose I'll give him... participation points? Knowing him, he's probably already thought up the next ridiculous string of unrelated words he's going to spring on us when we switch to Spanish in front of him, so I'm gonna go ahead and mentally steel myself for that...
And finally, in the ongoing Life of a College Kid, Derek dropped a startling topic on me last week when he announced that he wanted to talk to me about...apartments. I'm not gonna lie--this caused me a mini panic attack...something along the lines of " I'm sorry, WHAT? Didn't we just start your first semester--and aren't you living in the same room until next May??" He quickly explained that he and the other three guys he wants to live with starting in August of 2019 are looking at off-campus options, and in order to secure a place, they have to begin researching and narrowing down their choices now.
Well, okay...that's just...yep, never mind, it's still scary. However...he very reasonably went on to describe the factors that he and his friends are employing to evaluate each property...which by the way are arranged in a spreadsheet that one of them created to organize the information. (I haven't met this kid yet, but from everything Derek's told me so far, I already like him...you'll understand why in a second...) He also provided me the names, so I could explore their websites and dig up more details on my own. (Which I did...and then created my own Excel doc to catalog what I had discovered, with highlighted blocks for the questions I still have. See what I mean?)
Supposedly the foursome plans to make inquiries and schedule tours of the potential accommodations before classes wrap up for Winter Break, at which point we can discuss the whole subject in more depth. All I can say for right now is "Yikes!" I've just barely had a chance to adjust to my firstborn child being a legal adult, and away from home, and somewhat independent. And now he might be sharing an off-campus apartment with several other adolescent males? This is gonna take a LOT of breathing exercises...and some serious chocolate therapy. But for now...hasta luego, mis amigos!
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