Quarantine Diaries: Does Breaking Two Toilets Make Me a Bad Adult?

Hi. I'm Michelle. I'm a strong, independent woman who doesn't need a man to survive. This is a lie I tell myself.

I expressed earlier today that I'm tired of hearing the phrase "we're all in this together." If that means everyone thinks that 2020 stinks, I'll agree to that...but not all of us are weathering the same storm. According to a new survey from Every Day Carry, over 25% of Idahoans admit that they'll miss aspects of lockdown. I'd say those folks are experiencing scattered showers. Meanwhile my family is experiencing what feels like a Katrina level hurricane. My mom contracted COVID-19 and spent nine days in the hospital. She has no idea where she contracted it.

The hospital staff in her hometown tested her for the virus they day she got admitted. Seven days later, the staff told her they couldn't find her first test and tested her again. Those results came back quickly and were negative, which really freaked her out since she was put in isolation and was being treated for COVID-19. Later that day, they found the results of the first test...positive. Talk about an emotional roller coaster.

Shortly after my mom was admitted to the hospital, we got a call from my 89 year-old father-in-law's nursing home telling us that he'd tested positive for COVID-19. We didn't even know that he was being tested until that day. Six days after that call, he passed away. My husband, who's an only child, drove back to Ohio to handle final his final arrangements. I wasn't crazy about the idea of him traveling during a pandemic but I totally understood the need to make that trip.

Meanwhile, I stayed here in Idaho, absolutely terrified of the world because of what my family experienced. I went into the first week my husband was out of town with cautious optimism. Albertsons Drive Up and Go service was an easy to use substitution for him doing our shopping. If I wanted a drink after work, Western Collective was delivering. I could survive on my own for a little while, right?

Wrong. I was very wrong. Four days after he left, someone broke into my vehicle and stole my wallet. Thankfully, it was found tossed in our neighborhood later that day with my ID still in it. The very next evening, I went to flush the toilet in our guest bathroom. Apparently the arm connecting the handle and chain was extremely corroded and snapped. Now there wasn't anywhere to hook the chain to. No biggie, I had the master bathroom to use. This could wait until regular maintenance hours for our apartment complex on Monday.

On Saturday morning, I woke up early to go for a trail run. I got up, went to the bathroom and then started to brush my teeth. As soon as I got the toothbrush in my mouth, I heard a loud pop and "whoooooooooshing" sound. I didn't have my contacts in or my glasses nearby, so it took me a second to realize that the plastic nut connecting the hose to the toilet snapped and the hose was was flooding our bathroom. Blind, I desperately tried to find the knob to turn off the water. It took every towel in the house to dry up the disaster.

After the towels were down, I called the emergency maintenance number. No answer. I called back an hour later. No answer. So I called my husband, who was somewhere on the east coast at this point, and just cried. I don't remember being this hot of a mess when I was single, but apparently I've become very dependent on my husband since we started dating five years ago. I'm still in utter disbelief that I broke two toilets in 12 hours.

Has anyone else had some embarrassing moments during quarantine? Share them with us!