I won.

I did not get my group observation completed today. Instead, I spent the better part of the day battling my toilet. Since we've moved in, Nick has had several run-ins with his. I've gotten onto him many times for stopping it up, and now I feel bad, because I know now how very sensitive they are.

It was a very small clog, as water still seemed to be draining. I googled "how to plunge a toilet" and quickly discovered that our two plungers are actually sink plungers. Who plunges a sink?  I knew that Nick has used these successfully on more than one occasion, so a plungin' did I go. I attempted this several times throughout the day with no avail. I even did as one website suggested and poured hot, soapy water into the toilet. All this did was make a bubbly, poopy mess. Once Nick got home with the car, I took off to Walmart for a TOILET plunger. I came home with a $3 plastic accordion-like contraption. I took a few more goes at it before I threw up my freshly-washed hands, collapsed on the futon, and cried.

I was pretty sure all hope was lost. Even with the bathroom window open, the smell was starting to permeate into the bedroom. It's not that the smell was so bad on its own, it's just that every plunging attempt stirred up the aroma. I had to breathe through my mouth so not to add vomit to the mix. Nick suggested I add bleach, since the smell of bleach "will kill anything." It actually helped. I went in for one final go, gathered up all the hellfire of my PMS behind me and plunged the shit out of it.

I won.

From now on, there will be no more flushing even the "flushable" part of tampons at my house. Please remember this if you ever visit. Or I will send you in with the plastic accordion plunger, and the guest bathroom doesn't have a window.