Bathroom seems to have mind of its own

I hope our bathroom will be in a better mood for awhile. In the last couple of weeks it has let us know that it was craving immediate attention. We had been working on the upstairs bathroom and had ignored the downstairs one.

The first thing the bathroom demanded was that the hot water faucet on the tub be fixed. After I washed my hair one day, I tried to turn the water off. The handle came off in my hand. I yelled for my hubby and he went out to the garage and turned off the water.

After I finished my morning routine we found replacement parts for the faucet and installed them. That lasted a couple of days before the faucet once again came off in my hands. This time we replaced the entire faucet. It seems to be working. For now.

A few days later the sink decided it was jealous of the tub and the stopper wouldn’t close properly. Both of us thought it would be a simple matter of tightening a nut or something. No such luck. The entire stopper assembly needed to be replaced. 

Anyone who has ever worked on a bathroom sink knows how uncomfortable the process can be. Once we cleaned out the cabinet we discovered that the sink wasn’t going to be appeased by simply installing a few new pieces. It demanded that leftover floor tiles, a new bag of paper cups and a few other things living in the vanity be sacrificed before it would let us reinstall the sink.

Meanwhile, the door handle got in on the fun. The handle came off in my hand. Twice. There is now a pair of pliers in the vanity drawer that we can use when necessary. 

We have been planning on redoing the downstairs bathroom. I’m guessing that the bathroom was getting tired of waiting on us and decided to force the issue. 

Since we didn’t start work on the room immediately, it decided to get the cat in on its plan. Gracie is old and has problems. She falls often. She sometimes needs help to get on the couch. She sometimes walks sideways. She is even more clumsy than usual. As a result shortly after the bathroom fiasco, she fell off the bed and broke my glasses.

Fortunately, it was only the frames that came apart. I took them to the eye doctor to see if they could fix them. I got to the door then remembered the mask. I started back to the car when one of the ladies who works there came out and asked what I needed. She took the glasses inside and I waited in the car. A few minutes later a different lady came out and returned the repaired glasses to me.

Since the cat is in a partnership with the bathroom she has taken to demanding breakfast sometime around 5 a.m. and if I don’t get up quickly enough she puts her paw on my throat. If I still don’t move, then she puts all her weight on that one paw. I tell her that if she kills me then nobody will respond to her early morning requests.

We are still concentrating on the upstairs bath and it is only a matter of time before something else breaks. So far, the problems have been minor and easily repaired.

Living in an old house almost ensures that things will eventually wear out and need to be repaired or replaced. It’s only a matter of time until the downstairs bath convinces the rest of the house that it is time for something else to demand attention. 

I am fully aware that most people believe that inanimate objects aren’t sentient. They aren’t self aware, can’t think and certainly are incapable of planning to fall apart simply to gain attention. Most people are certain that it is impossible for a room to join forces with a housecat.

Sometimes I have my doubts.