So, All, I must tell you first of my day. I awoke and came downstairs- remembering, (slightly irritated, but over all resigned… this is the life of a mom) as I approached my desk that I would not be able to make coffee, sit and check emails and devote quiet time this morning- last night the boys leaned on the pull-out under the desk that holds the keyboard and broke it out. So I quietly went to the garage, got the tools I needed and came in to completely take the desk apart (after cleaning off the hutch on top and all that goes with a family of 6 at one desk). I got the desk done and was putting things back in order, straightening the tangle of cords behind it when…I heard the children get up for the day and "thought" I heard a shower start. Now mind you, at this point I am still in summer pj's and have not even made my coffee yet. I was shocked beyond belief to hear water hitting a floor near me… thinking someone was pouring out a pitcher- I ran to the hall (tiled) to see water cascading from the light fixture above and pouring through the drywall seams!!! I ran up the stairs to find a flood of water at least 4 inches deep coming out of the children's bathroom. It was the toilet. One of them flushed, shut the lid and walked away. What I thought (so proudly) was a child taking initiative to get clean for the day was not that at all!!! The water was a river running down the hall on the carpet towards the bedrooms! I shut off the toilet and after a couple of calls I proceeded to go to the basement to get rags to start cleaning up… only to realize… it had continued through the main floor and my basement was also flooded- water pouring through the light fixture and minuscule cracks in the flooring. What is the look on your face right now?? Because my was in shock. Upon quick scouting I saw my scrapbook pages of our honeymoon in Paris from 13 years ago were lying open on the table…. Blessedly not wet!!! But all around them was. I had to move quickly. After moving that all to dry ground I realized the carpets were saturated and pulled the ones that were dry well away so they would not become so. At about this point the neighbor, Kathrin, came over as the children had run SCREAMING bloody murder to her house saying "Mommy needs help!!!!" Needless to say she was GREATLY relieved to see it was "simply a flood" and not death or near death…yet. We began clean up on our hands and knees, sopping a towel and wringing it out… about this time Lance came home. He had gone for a short run- that ended up long because he was feeling so good- only to come home to THIS!! He is in the middle of a hot case right now at work and really cannot spare the time to be home so he took a little extra time-but then headed off to work- allowing me to practice my Army wife title of "Change Master" (read: Who stole my cheese?)
I proceeded to clean up while the children were at summer enrichment activities. When they came home they were so good as to stay outside and play… until….(wait- don't forget to breath- cause I can tell you are holding your breath now!)...Brenden came running upstairs to tell me that the twins had taken the water hose they had been told they could use for their slip n slide and were having a water fight… INSIDE THE GARAGE!!!! Now I must say I have been so good at not raising my voice at the kids in anger for some time now. I BLEW A GASKET. I was furious and tired and overwhelmed and did not care that the hollow garage was taking my voice and making it as though I were yelling into a microphone- so the whole street heard- Actually I think it was the whole neighborhood-possibly even the north end of town! I set their wet little rear ends on the porch and told them not to move til I told them to. I eventually calmed down enough to get them.. only to find them asleep on the porch- on the cement in only their shorts- with nothing soft to lay upon. Well- that got my mommy juices going and my heart melted like milk chocolate in a car on a summer day. I carried their little hienies in to the couch and covered them up. Brenden was so mature and helpful and offered to take care of the garage clean up. I am now sitting down taking a break. There is still so much to clean. We may be able to salvage the carpet after all… but I have not even touched the basement yet.
So then I read this story below… and that was it. The water works hit my eyes! Whew. What a day! Wine anyone?
