Clean at Last! Clean at Last!

We were beginning to think that we were going to have to spend 100's of dollars on a plumber to fix our woes, and I was beginning to be desperate enough to be willing to bail out the tub with a bucket every day so I could have a shower without spending money on a plumber. I was also thinking about trying to make some kind of a deal with God to miraculously fix the clog in exchange for me always being to church on time and living a nearly saintly life for the rest of my days. (However, I know myself With five kids it can be hard to be on time every week, and it can definitely be difficult to have the patience of a saintly person as well. So I didn't go for the deal.) I think that to hear the sound of the tub gurgling as water drained out of it would be more beautiful than an angelic choir at that point.
This is how we started out the 4th of July. My parents, one of my sisters and her boyfriend came down to enjoy the parade with us and we took a two hour walk on the beach (boy am I out of shape!) Even though we already have a plumbing snake my Dad brought his over. I have to say that it seemed to be MUCH more user friendly than ours was. Since we were busy visiting we didn't try out the snake while my parents were there. Then of course the kids wanted to do their sparklers and the few fireworks we had bought. Once all the kids were down, we were tired, but I decided to try out the snake anyhow. It was still hard work, but not nearly as horrible as our other snake was to use (think medieval torture device trying to use our snake.) After a while of slow progress I was rewarded with the gurgle of air in the sink drain. I tried filling the sink but it was still not draining properly. I continued using the snake for a while longer, and tried the sink again. The water drained right away. The real test though, was the tub. I left the snake down the overflow drain and proceeded to run some water in the tub. Cue the angelic choir! I never thought it would be such a great sight, and the whirlpool that appeared to suck the water out was a beautiful thing to behold.
I am sure you are all wondering what came out of the drain with the snake when I pulled it out. With my active imagination I was envisioning a dead rodent of unual size. What I got was hair. I was a little disappointed that it wasn't a bigger hairball, but I think that the snake basically drilled through and pulled the middle out. Hopefully the rest was washed down, and I am pretty sure it did since the drain hasn't drained this well in a year or so.
I got a shower before bed and I feel clean, CLEAN, CLEAN! Plus I feel pretty good about saving hundreds of dollars. (And yes, I did Thank God for answering the many prayers we have been saying to be able to resolve this without a plumber.)