Don't Drink the Water

There is a hex on all things water related in this house.
It all started the day My bunn broke. And things have been going downhill ever since.
Here is the ever increasing list. You might want to go to the bathroom now, as this could get lengthy and you might be afraid to afterward.
1. My bunn broke.
2. We have a super flusher toilet in our guest bathroom. It isn't something we installed, it came with the house but we have enjoyed it nonetheless. A few months ago it started "acting funny" it seemed to have lost it's oomph. Everette stuck a snake down there and wiggled it around, but nothing turned up. So we did what any normal homeowner would do. Put the lid down and stopped using it.
Later we were having houseguests, the kind we'd never met before, so you really don't want to put caution tape over the lid and make them walk downstairs. So Everette started working on it again. We tried several things we thought might be broken in the upper tank. But when all of those were resolved and the tank still wouldn't flush right we had to move onto the bowl.
However time was running out as it was friday evening and our house guests were coming saturday. Everette took the toilet off of the pipe and into my recently cleaned bath tub (I don't blame him--I just want you to feel my heart sink as I saw that toilet go into the tub). My job was to remove the wax ring (gross). After several buckets of water dumped through the toliet, and Everette digging a few clumps of toilet paper (sorry for being so graphic) we thought we had the problem solved. So we got out the new wax ring and replaced the toliet with relative ease. Sadly.. the toilet still would not flush. At this point Everette was ready to go out and buy a new toilet. But in one final act of desperation he removed the toilet again, and I scraped off the new wax ring again. After more buckets of water and toliet jiggling, finally Everette saw/heard something. Using a flashlight he found a small round plastic disc. Using a coat hanger he pulled it through the opening a the bottom of the toilet. It was our toilet bowl cleaner.Consumer caution: Don not buy these. They smell great, and the work well, but your toilet will eat them.

Which for the record we had noticed had gone missing when we first discovered the problem, but we couldn't find any evidence of it so we assumed it was some other problem.
Everette in his wisdom bought two wax toliet rings so we opened the last package and restored the toliet to its full glorty Power flush and all.

3. The exact same week as all of this toilet, house guest incident. Our Water heater began a slow painful death. It is dying, as in present active participle. Everette has tried a few things to revive it, but it seems to be terminal. Truthfully, it hasn't affected Everette or me too much as there is almost always hot water in the morning. Poor Jonathan either gets deprieved of his evening bath or fills the house with blood curdling screams due to the less-than-warm nature of his bath water (it only happened once people). However the Sunday morning we had strangers in our house, things got a little tricky. Everette got up at 6 AM to take a shower, and I at 7:30 took the least-hottest shower I could stand. For now I think we have decided to call the water heater's bluff. I think we have convinced ourselves that it will miraculously heal itself. Excuse me. I need to go down to the basement and lay hands on it.

4. A week or so later, the garbage disposal clogged. As I was fixing that (yes-me, all by myself). I discovered....

5. that our Reverse Osmosis water filter was leaking. Quite rapidly. Everette was of course gone, so I had no other choice but to turn off the water to the filter. Which meant, no more delicious water, and probably the greatest of all tragedies--no ice. This in the Mills household falls under signs of the Apocalpse. Everette especially, needs ice. I mean he needs it.
How else can the mad drink 12 powerade slushies a night without ice!?
Since I had an emergency bag in the freezer downstairs the reverse osmosis filter has been moved to the noncritical list and will have to wait until after we return from vacation.The amount of ice it takes to satisfy Everette's slushie cravings.

6. Speaking of slushies, let's add this to the list of things under the water hex. During a slushie making spree, I discovered that my blender was leaking. Everytime I used it, a spring of black, sticky slushy water would run down the bottom of the belnder into the motor. It was black because it was leaking from the bottom of the blender where the balde connects to the jar. Since slushie making has become a nightly routine. This was bad. Handy Everette assessed the situation and determined that the blender was unfixable and was in need of replacement.My new Oster beehive blender, professional series. It is amazing.

7. And finally today to cap it ALL off. I woke up and an unspeakable hour because my son, my darling son, was awake. In a sleepy haze I went to the master bathroom. I reached up to flush the toilet and.... nothing. THe handle went down but nothing happened. In fact, the handle went down, too easily. So coming out of my stupor, with my child crying in the background I lifted the tank to discover the handle had broken. The toilet will flush, but you have to reach your hand into the tank and pull up on the chain. Who wants to do that?


Now do you see why we are cursed?
Oh... by the way, Everette kindly recleaned the bathtub. On his own. I didn't even ask.

ooo. oooo. I just thought of another one! Jonathan's baby pool, when we got it out we discovered that it had a leak in it and wouldn't hold air (it's the blow up kind).

Stay away from the water people!

Sometimes there are just no words

Having missed the Michael Jackson tribute, I was went looking for highlights. Youtube never disappoints, I stumbled across something truly bizarre.
The King of Weirdness managed to inspires some truly bizarre behavior.
I have nothing to say about this video clip except if you click on the link, you won't be offended, just dumbfounded.

A birthday Post

This is Everette. This is how Everette looks 90% of the time. He is a very serious fella. Very smart, genius actually (in my opinion). Very straight laced. He likes to wear collared shirts and asks for file cabinets for his 13th birtday. He does make jokes, sometimes, but you have to really know him to know they are jokes.

Most of the time you take a picture of Everette this is how he looks, or above. A handsome guy, really. Just not the first to flash you a grin.
Unless he is around something he loves....
He is a bit of a geek really. But I happen to think geeks are super sexy. And I happen to love this geek very much. I know for a fact that I drive him batty, I have even been known to drive him to drink. There are times when he drives me batty too.
There are times when we both drive each other batty at the same time. But at the end of the day, if someone is going to drive you batty, he is it for me! I have known him for eight or so years. He fathered my child. I am continually amazed at the things he knows. Seriously you can ask him anything. He could be his own Cha-Cha service. If you don't mind your facts peppered with a dose of cynicism and blunt honesty.
He is also very handy...

Like I said, he is very straightlaced and rarely cuts loose. Unless he is really enjoying himself.
Like swimming with dolphins...

Or water in general... Or being mischievous and playing. He LOVES to play. He is a man of action. Can I emphasize how smart he is? For instance he could have gotten rid of this bothersome hyperlink on this text, but if I asked him, he would have known what I was doing. SO I guess I will just have to live with it.
Sometimes he will even go with me and let me take awkward artsy photos of him. He hates having his picture taken, but he loves me.


He will smile in a picture if he is holding his son (the afore mentioned love-child). He loves that kid. He has reached new depths of love and poured forth fountains of patients and understanding. As well as a greatly needed bull-headed stubborness.

Sometimes, when the planets align I can catch him on camera in those rare occasions when he really cuts loose.

Like when he shaves off his beard in phases, and lingers on the hitler stache, just because he knows it gives me the willies.
Or when he insistes on showing me whatever happens to be in his mouth at the moment.


But as great as all of these smiling pictures are, my favorites are these. Ever. My most favorite pictures of Everette in the whole wolrd are these...
And today is his birthday!
Happy Birthday! I love Sheep!

It's a traffic jam...

When you're already late.
A no smoking sign... on your cigarette break.
It's like ten thousand spoons... when all you need is a knife.
It's like meeting the man of my dreams.. then meeting his beautiful wife.

And isn't it ironic, don't you think.
A little too ironic, and yeah I really do think..

It's like rain, on your wedding day.
A free ride... when you've already paid.
It's good advice... that you just didn't take.
And who would've thought... it figures (or figgers).

You know what else is ironic...
leaving your car out yesterday afternoon hoping it would rain.
Then it doesn't rain, so today you suck it up and pay for a car wash.
Then you go to the grocery store, where it proceeds to pour on your newly washed car, but only in the area where you are, because everything is dry at your house, so you have to water all your plants when you get home.

And Life has a funny way...

The Complete Story (mostly)

So bits and pieces of Mark's story in the woods keep rolling in.
This will most likely be the last time I post anything. But the following letters from Mark's parents, I think nicely summarize the whole event. And quite frankly show the incredible goodness and mercy of God. We all know that it was God who brought Mark out of the woods, but the newspapers most likely aren't going to print that. So I thought I would give Everette and Sharon a voice. These were taken from Jim Porett's facebook page.

Two letters from the Albrecht's:
Letter #1

Dear Friends:
Please forward this message to others you know who prayed for us. It will be impossible to personally contact every one who has prayed, called, or emailed.

As you know last Fri, Sat, & Sun were extremely trying times for our family while Mark was lost in North Cascades Nat'l Park in Wa State. We were praying and hoping for the best, but by Sun were also preparing for the worst. Your prayers and encouragement got us through this time. We had decided we were going to trust God whether the news was bad or good, but we were definitely praying we would see Mark alive again.

God did answer this prayer as Mark made his way out to a road late Sunday afternoon. This was my best Father's Day ever but not one I want to repeat. Our whole family made it out to Wa for a 2 day family reunion - also the best vacation we have had.

Mark learned a lot during his experience and there are definitely some things he will do differently next time. After getting lost he made some wise decisions which helped him survive, but he was over his head on the challenges he faced, and he will be the first to tell you that God delivered him.

We are thankful to God for protecting Mark and appreciate your great support and encouragement during this time of trial. May this be a reminder to us all that we need God's strength, wisdom, and grace every day. May God bless you as you have been a blessing to us.

Everette & Sharon Albrecht

Letter #2 from Sharon Albrecht:

"It was so good to go out to Washington and see Mark after his "little adventure". He had obviously lost weight and was exhausted. However, he was relieved and thankful to be alive and back. While there we met with the rangers to express our gratitude and appreciation for all they did with the search effort. One of the rangers lingered afterward to let us know that she and her church had been praying for Mark. She went on to tell us that many predicted that Mark was dead from a fall or buried under an avalanche, and he might not be found. This is the usual scenario. Also, she told Mark it was a good thing he came out when he did because it snowed eight to ten inches Sunday night. After the meeting, we hiked up to the trailhead and we saw the spot where Mark emerged from the woods back onto the trail to safety and home. The North Cascades are beautiful and truly display the glory of God in His creation.

Mark says God led him into the wilderness and God brought him out. On Wednesday morning between 6:00 and 7:00, Mark broke camp and began hiking out. He planned to get out early, and he looked forward to getting some pizza to eat and getting well rested so he would be ready for work Thursday morning. ( He works Thursday-Sunday 5:00AM -4:30 PM. ) However, heavy cloud cover enveloped him limiting visibility on a trail that already had areas buried under snow/ice. Thus, he missed a switchback and hiked on. When he discovered that he was hopelessly lost, he made camp. The first time he set up his tent, it slid down the ice pack, so he found another spot with a tree to prop against one side of the tent to keep it from sliding. He spent the day using his utility tool knife to level the ice for the tent and the saw blade to cut branches to make an SOS and an arrow pointing to his tent. I think he also made a brush pile for a possible signal fire. After that he hunkered down in the tent to wait for help and pray. Thursday was sunny, so he spent that day drying everything out and waiting for help.

Everette and I were traveling from Georgia, where we had visited my family, to Alabama to visit Everette's mother Thursday. We were uneasy about Mark's situation since we had not heard from him Wednesday night, but we thought he might have been too exhausted to call. By Thursday night, neither of us could sleep. Friday morning we called his place of employment and found out he had not clocked in Thursday or that Friday morning. That's when the authorities were notified and the search began for Mark's vehicle, the lead to his whereabouts. With the aid of Mike Zackman, a friend, Purdue Alum, and pastor out there who helpled Mark get moved in, authorities found that Mark had registered for a permit to camp in the Northen Cascades. This information led them to his car Friday night. This was the lead that was needed to start search and rescue the next day. Saturday, Everette and I headed back to Indiana to regroup with the rest of the family and make arrangements to go out to Washington. For us it was a time of waiting; grabbing the phone every time it rang hoping for news, good news, any news. It was a time of praying and asking others to pray; a time of wondering where he was; what had happened; was he injured; did he know we were searching; had he given up hope; was he alive. It was a time of memories and reflection; of recalling lessons from God's Word; of listening for God's voice; and trusting God regardless of the outcome. "These things I(Jesus) have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world you have tribulation, but take courage; I have overcome the world. ( John 16:33 ) It was a time to cry out to God.

Saturday cloud cover kept the copters grounded. A hasty search for the obvious was made along the trail and two campsites. We were told that there was no clear evidence that Mark had been at either campsite. A couple of leads came in that raised our hopes but they did not pan out. Sunday a large widespread search was conducted adding 50 to 60 trained volunteers and two dogs. Weather conditions were lousy with clouds again keeping copters grounded and rain and snow expected later. We were being gently forewarned to expect the worst.

Meanwhile, Mark entered into a spiritual battle Saturday night. He felt that he would not make it through the next day or two if he was not found. That's when he heard the taunting voice telling him God did not love him. If God loved him, this wouldn't have happened to him. God didn't care. No one was looking for him. He was going to die out there. To fight it off, Mark started to sing/scream, "Jesus loves me this I know for the Bible tells me so ...". He quoted Psalm 121, pulled scripture cards out of his wallet to read aloud, and prayed. God broke through and gave him inner peace and reassurance of His love and faithfulness. Then his mind began to clear and he remembered the position of the sun, which he had seen Thursday only, and a plan began to form. Sunday morning the ground was clear enough for him to see the terrain, check his map, and figure out his position based on his memory of the sun's position. With that information and using his compass, after making some adjustments for error, he ate the last of his meager rations and broke camp. All the while he prayed for guidance and safety. There had been some directions he had contemplated taking but God stopped him with with a frim, "No". When he realized he could walk down and hit the trail, if his figuring was correct, God did not block his way. Mark said it took him five to six hours to get to the trail. He emerged from thick brush by a creek, nearly falling on his face from the little ledge. He had only taken a few steps when he saw a hiker appraoching through the fog. Mark waved his arms in the air and called out to him, "I've been lost since Wednesday and haven't had anything to eat. Do you have any food?" This hiker gave Mark everything he had. He told Mark searchers were looking for him and that he could meet rangers up at the trailhead or down in the parking lot. Mark said he didn't have enough strenth to climb, but he could make it going down. With that, he accompanied Mark to the parking lot where Mike Zackman and his son, Timothy, were making their way to look for him. Mike stayed with Mark and prayed with him before the meeting with the rangers and media.

When we got the phone call about 6:30 PM on Fathers' Day saying Mark had been found; that he was alive; that he had walked out on the trail; that he was not hurt; that he was wet cold and hungry, we wept and gave thanks. Then we shouted, laughed, called family members, friends, and we ran out to tell our neighbors. Such rejoicing! The lost had been found!

Later, Mark was allowed to talk with us for five minutew before his debriefing with the rangers. His first words to Everette were,"Happy Father's Day", and his first words to me were, I'm sorry I put you through so much."

Needless to say, this has been a defining moment in all our lives. Mark came out of his wilderness encounter with God seeming stronger, deeper, centerd, at peace, different in a good way. We have a deeper understanding of the frailty of life and a deeper sense of God's trusworthiness.

O taste and see that the Lord is good;
How blessed is the man who takes refuge in Him! -- From Psalm 34

Sharon Albrecht

P.S.This doesn't really fit the mood of this epistle but the question lingers regarding why there was no evidence that Mark had camped at either campsite. Mark was trained by his scout leaders not to leave anything behind at a campsite. "Always leave it clean and in better condition than which it was found." Mike Z. said Mark stayed with his family Sunday night and he saw him pull out this ziplock bag with strange looking contents, ummmm let's call it solid body waste material, from his backpack. Mark's explanation, "Ive been trained to leave my campsite clean." "

A Day at the Beach

Yes, it's here. It has arrived. Actually it arrived last Monday, but I just never got around to taking any photos or blogging about it. Then when Mark was missing, it just seemed to frivolous. Now things are settling back into whatever state of normal we have around here. Bare with me and I will get to a point
Father's Day we had a buttload of family here (or a crap ton, if you prefer, Dallas). We had Everette's family, my immediate family, my extended family. After a dinner of salmon grilled on cedar planks (the best salmon I have ever eaten in my whole fish-hating life), the kids headed outside to officially christen the sandbox.
I thought I would share some pictures, as they are my favorite pictures of the summer, thus far.
Mary goes in first, she is definitely the most adventurous one, I feel sorry for her parents.
Jonathan is soon interested...They waste no time.
Big brother/cousin Elijah steps in, to boss, uh.. I mean... assist.Clearly they are in over their heads, so big cousin Sam takes up as leader. Baby Emily, is never one to sit out an adventure.
They are digging to China, one bucket at a time.It is important, when digging to China, with one bucket,and one shovel, that you pack in the sand as much as you can.

Keep scooping it in. And packing it down...

Dear Greenes--we should consider a family business.. mining of some sort.

We could exploit these kids for a good ten years.
Look, even the little ones are pitching in.
But alas....
It's just too hard.
Abandon ship.
Except Emily, she wants to take a bath in it. That girl is going to be a riot.
All the chillin' dun runn'd oft.What's a hard day's work without a shower.
That is well water, do you know how cold it is?!

do you see my giant peas... more on those later.

can we discuss this sweetness?

another interview with Mark.

He once was lost, but now is found

They found Mark yesterday afternoon. Or more accurately, he found them. He emerged at the trailhead near his car. He was cold and hungry but otherwise ok. We haven't heard a lot of other details yet, but there was an article in the J&C today. I'll let you read that, so as not to put words into people's mouths.
His parents are headed out there today.
I think we are all (or at least I am) trying to figure out what to do next.
Thank you all for your prayers.

****Here is a more detailed report from a seattle paper.

Most of you know already, but they have still not been able to locate mark. They had a few leads but so far they have turned up nothing, not camping gear, no nothing.
The most specific things you can pray for are:
1. that the clouds would lift so they can search by helicopter.
2. The snow would stop so that foot searching would be easier, and things wouldn't be covered by the snow.
3. Mark's parents (everette and sharon) can make arrangements to get to Washington and their travels will be safe.
4. Mark has a girlfriend, Suzanne (still in indiana), and I haven't heard one word about her in all of this, but I know they were pretty serious, so this must be tremendously difficult to find her place in all of this.
5. And finally, that God would protect and sustain Mark until they find him. Lord have mercy.

Helpless Feeling

So I generally try to avoid posting petitions for prayer about my great-aunt Gertrude who is having her gall stones removed. Not that those don't need prayer, but they can seem cumbersome, tedious and annoying. But this one seems to warrant a post.
Everette's cousin Mark recently graduated from Purdue and got a fantastic job working in Washington State as an airplane mechanic. He moved out there a few weeks ago. As a Hunting, fishing, out-door loving Eagle Scout, living in Everett Washington was a dream come true.
After working all weekend he decided to go camping in the Cascades. He left Monday and was supposed to return Wednesday, having to be back at work on Thursday. Everette's uncle Everette, (stay with me here) hasn't heard from Mark since Sunday despite repeated attempts to call his cell phone. He didn't show up for work yesterday (Thursday) and his company sent the Sheriff to his house. His car was missing and so was his camping gear. The police and park rangers are currently searching for his car. His plan was to drive up the road, pull off and hike about five miles in. What road? we don't know. What trail? We Don't know. You can read the news article here.
I think this is one of the scariest situations I have ever experienced, and I am so far removed.

So consumed with horrible thoughts and unable to do anything to help, I just thought I would appeal to the three non family members that read this blog to pray for Mark and his family.

This is one of those rare times when you actually pray that they find his car parked out side some skeezy motel, where he is inside nursing a hangover and wondering where the tattoo came from. But knowing Mark, this is highly unlikely.