I've got that sinking feeling . . .

I’ve got that sinking feeling, and it’s not because I’ve embarrassed myself by tripping over my incredibly large feet.

It all started on Saturday, when my brother and his girlfriend traveled down U.S. 71 to pay us a visit and partake of the obligatory holiday turkey.

Funny enough, he said that he would be here early morning on Saturday, but I had my doubts. Like me, my brother is not a morning person at all, and I just knew that he wouldn’t be leaving his house at the crack of dawn. When I get up that early, I can barley even put two words together, let alone operate a motor vehicle with any degree of safety.

So I started cooking up a storm. I mean I was full tilt; I had the turkey’s butt tied up and ready to go on the BBQ (Yes we BBQ our turkey). I had the cheesecake bars wiped up and ready to go, I had the baked beans, the green beans and cheese, the rolls, and the yams all in the oven. The problem started when I was peeling the 5 lbs of potatoes for the mash.

I know better, I really do, but I peeled away, happily in bliss. At one point, my brother and his girlfriend showed up. His girlfriend, a lovely girl who I hope one day will be my sister-in-law, happily grabbed up a potato peeler and joined the fun. She had the common sense to bring up the point that all those peels might not go down the disposal.

I must just be in a constant state of optimism. With a shrug, I said that I didn’t think it would be a problem.

Unfortunately, it was a problem. The sink got stuck. I got out the plunger, and plunged and plunged. The timer rang, all the dinner was done, and I was a mess. My hair was flying in about a hundred different directions, and I was sopped to the bone in that nasty greasy gunk that lives in pipes.

I shrugged my shoulders, and went in search of dry clothes. Later, my husband poured down about a gallon of professional, extra heavy duty, burn your eyes out and destroy any organic particle that it happens to get in contact with, drain cleanser down the pipe. Mocking us, it just sat in the drain. I think the clog was winning the battle.

Three days later, and much vexation to my husband and me, we looked into having a commercial plumber come out and root that clog out with the mechanical equivalent of Mike Tyson. Unfortunately, they wanted $143.95. I thought that was a little pricey. So we called our local equipment rental outlet, and rented an electric snake for $16.00.

My husband had that clog cleared in about 20 minutes. He is such a handy guy!

Now my drains run clear, and my kitchen has returned to its peaceful state. As you all get ready to make your Thanksgiving dinners, I just want to let you know that putting 5 lbs of potato skins down the garbage disposal is a bad idea. Just throw them in the garbage; it’ll save you the headache.