God Cares About Toilets

I just couldn't wait to tell you!!  I have attempted to tell our story in chronological order, but I just couldn't wait to tell you.  So today we go into the present.

 I found my toilets!!  

Now some of you are going to think I am very strange.  Understand that we have herds of people using the potty at our house.  11 of us, in the summers!   But, even when our numbers dwindle to 7,  during the school year, we have a terrible problem with toilet overflows.  I've tried talking to the children about the number of squares that are appropriate for toilet use.  Has anyone else had this conversation with their children?  It just feels strange even while you are teaching it.  But, without this lesson...  you can count on an overflow.

I will try not to digress too much, but I believe one of the primary reasons for our regular stoppages seems to be the fact that toilets use such a small amount of water.  This is a topic that Greg and I talk about often.  We get so annoyed with water conservation and how it affects our daily lives.  A few years ago, I invested in a set of those beautiful red washer and dryer sets.  I convinced Greg I deserved them, since I easily wash more than 3 loads a day to keep everybody's clothes clean.  For those who may not know me as well, I drive a hail-beaten used gray Sequoia.  I don't think I deserve the best of everything.  I'm too cheap for that.  :)  But, a washer is just plain practical.  We installed them.  They were quiet and beautiful, but they didn't work.   I found myself smelling socks to see if they were clean, because they looked almost the same going in as they did going out of the wash.  We returned them and got another brand of front loaders.  Same song, second verse.  I installed that set in my rental unit and bought a cheap rusty set from a used appliance dealer.   I LOVE them.  They are ugly as sin, but I love them.  Shhh...they use lots of water.

So, back to the toilet.  Now that we can only use less than two gallons of water per flush, potties never seem to be clean and they are extremely prone to clogging.  At least at our house.  If I'm the only person with this problem, please feel free to comment below and let me know how I can improve my family in this area.  I'm out of ideas.

Due to our "toilet issue,"  I knew that we had to find a clog busting toilet.  I went on consumer reports and found out that the Champion 4 was rated the best.  At $200, it was double the price of the standard toilet.    I had a hard time spending double the price on something so ordinary, but practicality overruled.  Preventing even one overflow upstairs, that could potentially destroy our subfloor and possibly the ceilings below, helped me part with the money.  My husband, an insurance adjuster,  adjusts claims with toilet overflows pretty frequently.  An insurance deductible of 1% on our home would be more costly than a mere $400 more for all 4 toilets.   I put $200 in our budget for each toilet.

Well, several months ago,  I started actually shopping to buy toilets, and ran across all of these home blogs and reviews that were saying terrible things about "my Champion," and raving about this other brand called the TOTO?  Here's one of the reviews of many I found:

http://www.terrylove.com/crtoilet.htm

The people who were recommending the brand were plumbers that were installing them, and having great results.  I was interested.

So, I decided I would call and find out how much they were.  $400!  I really wanted one.  I know some of you out there are saving for a Coach bag.  I wanted the Toto.  But, it was WAY too expensive.  I even offered my request as a prayer.  I'm serious.  I figured God cares about the woes of a mother of children who clog toilets.  Well, before you call me crazy....  Guess what?

God answered.  I was shopping for fireplaces on Homeclick and I am not kidding...a huge pop-up flashes up.  I had been in and out of this site all day and nothing like this had come up.  But yesterday evening,  it pops up.  "MARKDOWNS"  I faintly see in the background, as it fades away, that there are toilets...  "Was that a Toto?"  I ask myself.  I quickly click on "Markdowns" and lo and behold, if the Toto is not $215 dollars marked down, and just for today, Toto is offering a 7% off deal.  That's right, just a little less than I budgeted.  $199.95.  A coincidence?  Maybe.  An answered prayer?  Probably. :)

Some of you non-believers are thinking that it was cookies.  I thought about that.  But, I haven't shopped for toilets in at least two months.  If you ask me, I think God cares about my budget and even my potty struggles.  What a loving God He is!

Sorry so much potty talk, today.  I'm also potty training my three year old this week.  But that's another blog.