The Great Flood of '09

Wednesday morning I woke up when the alarm went off, hit the snooze button and said a half-hearted prayer in preparation for the first day of our church's called fast. As I lay in my bed I could hear a trickle of water and my sleep-addled mind thought it must be raining. But the longer I heard it, the more I realized that it was INSIDE the house. I got up and sprinted down the hall to find it raining in my kitchen! Water was literally pouring from the light fixtures. The toilet in the bathroom upstairs developed a leak in the little tube that goes from the floor into the back of the toilet. I guess it should be some comfort that at least it was clean water. Imagine the alternative - ewwww! Jon turned off the water then he and James set about minimizing the damage while I got the girls ready for school because oh yeah - this is the first week of school! Calls were made and very soon a nice guy named Charlie came and set up about a thousand (OK, ten) extremely loud (and appropriately named "Gale Force") fans in the worst hit areas, and believe me there were plenty of those. The bathroom itself was under about an inch of water, and it leaked into Karis and Quinn's bedroom and started down the upstairs hall. Downstairs the kitchen floor was wet but manageable, although the water leaked into the carpet in the dining room and hallway. The kitchen ceiling however... well, I'm just happy it didn't cave in.


Mopping up the floor with pool towels. They were the first ones we could lay our hands on and even though it's a mess, it's pretty to look at and that should count for something, right?

My naked concrete slab under the carpet after Jon and James wisely took out the wet padding. It was wet almost to the stairs. This is also what the floors look like in Karis' and Quinn's bedrooms. The carpet is peeled up halfway across the room and into the closets, and all the furniture and toys are piled up in the other half.

It was actually raining out through my light fixtures! Not. Supposed. To. Happen.

Then later I noticed a ripple in the white trim at the top of my dining room walls. Yep - water damage under the paint. I felt a little bit cheated when I found out that what looked like molding at the top of my dining room walls was actually painted onto the sheetrock.


Amy and Missi thought it would be funny if we took pictures of ourselves with the Gale Force fans blowing our hair back, like in a photo shoot. It's nearly as much fun as they make it look in magazines. In real life it's hard to keep your eyes open with that wind blowing into your face. And after a while my hair wanted to stay in that position. They've never mentioned those little tidbits in Vogue magazine, now have they?


Here's one of my little blue friends. He's pointed straight to the ceiling in an attempt to dry it out and keep the nasty mold away. I'm getting so used to these guys that I'm starting to give them names and talk to them. This is Papa Smurf, because he was here first. Every time I turn around I'm running into another one and I'm starting to think they're multiplying, like rabbits or wire clothes hangers. No kidding, I think we have about 10 of them right now.

Karis looks much cuter than I did with the windblown look.



Hiding behind this big guy is another little blue guy. We have the blowers and the suckers, and this big metal one is a sucker (dehumidifier). All of them are loud, though.


These two look like they're talking. Wonder what they're saying?
Big metal guy: Hey, what's a cute little thing like you doing in a place like this?
Little blue guy (or girl, in this case - must be Smurfette): What do you say we blow this joint?
Then then if they're anything like the rest of us, they'll both yell "What did you say? I can't hear you over all this fan noise!"
OK, so it was lame...at least I still have my sense of humor, warped though it is (kind of like my kitchen ceiling).



In an attempt to escape the constant noise, we are all holing up in the bonus room. Today we watched Sharkboy and Lavagirl in 3D. That tent behind Karis is also her bed last night and tonight, and however long it takes to have her room put back together.

I am not surprised by the timing of this little adventure. I know by now that whenever you are doing something for God, the enemy will come in and try to get you off track. Wednesday was the very first day of our churchwide fast and it would have been sooooo easy to get distracted with all the mess and phone calls and inconvenience. Somehow though (God's grace, I'm sure) I managed to find the time to sit down and read my Bible and pray. And it could have been much, much worse. My laptop didn't even get wet and no one got hurt. I figure if that's the worse thing that happened to me all day, I'm doing allright. Maybe I'll make that my new motto.

I am reminded of the old joke about the king who ordered a ring and told the jeweler to inscribe it with a sentiment that would fit any occasion, good or bad, but he could use only four words. The ones he chose: "This too shall pass". This is a blip on the screen of my life and it will be over soon.