His First Miracle

I'll just say it. Tom Builder performed a bona fide miracle this spring. The pool we inherited was so bad, SO BAD, that we never thought once about actually snapping a picture of it to remember its BADNESS. It was thick, dark green, and swarming with swampy life. It looked like a lost cause. At the very least it looked like we would need to drain the pool and start all over. But apparently, draining a pool is a big no-no, and everywhere we read, and those we talked to stood by their chemicals.


It took four weeks of Mr. Incredible's devoted attention to work his mojo. He poured chemicals, took pool samples, poured more chemicals, became addicted to pool sampling, scrubbed, vacuumed, unclogged pool pumps, added more magic fairy dust, and dreamed about sampling pool water. Every day he could be seen with his little transparent suitcase of colored drops and cylinders. The success of his day hinged upon the PH balance of the pool.

For a week the water did nothing. The PH did nothing. And lots of chemicals had been dumped into the sea soup. Tom Builder was a bit discouraged. However, in the second week the pool went from spinach green to cloudy green-blue. Action! Everyday we looked to see if we could see anything beyond the first step of the stairs. Did anyone see the sea monster yet? By the last week, our visibility went from only being able to see the second stair, to seeing down to the full 10 feet depth with crystal clarity.


The glorious water my four floatie Sir Bugga-lot is now swimming in, is the same H2O that looked like it was one chemical reaction away from a nuclear disaster. WHAT IS IN THOSE CHEMICALS?? Unbelievable. But honestly, I can't say enough about Tom Builder's dedication to making this thing happen. We went from owning no pools, ever in our lives, to owning a pool, a hot tub, and a jet pool. We knew squat. However, as in all things he does, Mr. Incredible took the challenge and tackled it head on.

We have a running joke on the farm between us. Because so much of this life is new, and has new terminology, the joke runs a bit like this: "You see, you simply take the mandible there and insert it into the manifold, which is found on top of the lateral dorsal. Then wait two minutes, and turn around six times before activating the implement on the posterior thorax pump in the ..."

By the way, 10 bucks to anyone who can sink Floatie-boy...


The water is still a bit nippy which is why the kids load up on flotation devices to stay as much above water level as possible. But who can stay away from this American dream? The kid's dishes are put in the sink after meal times, the kid's shoes are all neatly in place, the playroom stays clean. Why? Because pools and hot tubs only happen when all else is finished. I've never seen my children clean up a playroom so quickly. It's down right lovely.

Now keeping an eye on stubborn Faith is another beast all-together. The child only wants to throw everything imaginable to man in the pool, and then pitches a fit as soon as it drifts away. (We're going through a bit of a stubborn streak.) The hot tub is more her style, since Mama let's her bumpkin run in the buff. She gets a kick out of her buff-ness as she squeals around on the deck.

The water...is nice folks. Really nice. And the view, is tremendous.
Thanks hun. You're a miracle worker.