More frozen pipes...

The frozen pipe saga dragged on today. The pipes were broken by the plumber last night and the water drained from my sinks and into my back yard. That was ok though, because at least the water was leaving the house and then when the temperature warms up a bit, the pipes will be replaced. Well, this morning, Brendan had a shower, the tub filled with water, and more water, and more water, until I heard "MOM - THE TUB IS GOING TO OVERFLOW!!" Now, if you think like I do, your first thought is "why isn't he turning off the water?", so I yell up the stairs, "TURN OFF THE WATER!". This is met with, "BUT THE TUB IS GOING TO OVERFLOW!!" and again, I repeat "SO, TURN OFF THE WATER!" and at the same time I realize some connection in Brendan's brain is absent and he is just going to keep repeating himself until the water fills the bathroom or I run up the stairs and turn the water off for him. Brendan's skills in a crisis need some work.
Anyways, a call to the plumber is answered with a great lack of enthusiasm on his part and he informs me that the pipe must be frozen in another place. You think?? After I nicely explain to him that I understand the cause and effect principle, I wonder out loud if he would be dropping by to thaw the pipe and drain my tub. Ah, he might make it out at the end of his day. At 5:20pm he and his pipe breaking buddy show up and declare, that indeed, the pipe is frozen. Outside they schlep and start heating up the pipe. As they are doing this I think to myself, "If the tub is on the same drain line as my kitchen sink (which it is) and the blockage is below the "T" joint, the tub is going to empty up through my kitchen sink." Hmmmmm - surely they would know that, right? Ummm... nope. The water fills both sides of the kitchen sink, faster than I can bail, or they can move and over the edge it pours. Dirty, disgusting, pipe clearing water, along with Brendan's shower water. The "plumbers" (I hesitate to actually call them such), do not seem too concerned with this development, I, on the other hand am quite nonplussed by it all. Where exactly did they think the water was going to go?
Well, at least the tub is empty, right?? They leave me to clean up my soggy kitchen and tell me that I need to leave all the taps running until they can come back with the pipe tape to wrap up the non-broken pipe parts. Their estimated time of return is Saturday; my expectation is probably sometime after Christmas. So, for now I have water running in four locations and I am praying that nothing freezes in the night, or I will have a flooded house. Pray with me, won't you?