wait, it was actually 11k

We should've anticipated this bill (all comments are appreciated, but it's not actually bizarre or unprecedented, it's just shocking because we're terrible at managing all this stuff and even less prepared than if we had embarked on the idea of home ownership alone because MIL was a seasoned homeowner who was a highly organized person and it was nearly impossible to stop her from taking charge of things even if we'd wanted to) because the last plumbing bill was around 10k too; but we've gotten used to smaller and more frequent bills from the builders and electricians which have not presented the same kind of problem. The plumbers like to space them out and send them all at once I guess? But Wax's mom just paid that one directly, and there was plenty of money left to do it with at the time. We did discuss it, at the time, and agree that the remainder of the plumbing would be the same or more, assuming at the time that the former one was basically all of MIL's side of the house (it wasn't, because a huge chunk of her side is in the bill we just got, and the whole thing isn't done) and concluding our side would likely be larger because there are two bathrooms there. We are mostly shocked by the scale compared with the lack of available money, I guess?

We can't do anything until business hours except try to not panic. Our efforts to take our minds off it are not going well:

• Watching tv has failed, for both of us


• Reading is not working for Wax but she's been doing it anyway. I keep reading and stopping because my mind keeps wandering back to panic and I can't concentrate on reading


• Drawing has failed for me


• I thought we should try to install a printer under the theory that since we've already failed to do so once, the undoubted level of difficulty might rise up and eclipse the panic, but Wax claims that would just increase her stress levels


• Cleaning the house didn't really work. I only managed a tiny bit and then just collapsed in a huddle of useless. Wax loaded the dishwasher heroically but she came out of it just as panicky as before or a little more so.


• Wax just remembered we need to go to the summer cottage, which is being kept at 10 degrees C indoors for the benefit of the 35 geraniums that fill the living area, and empty the fridge, which was last used more than a month ago. The disgust involved in that would no doubt cancel everything out for a brief while but overall this will just remind us of all the other things to be anxious about while also being cold and miserable.