A really bad day

How does a bad day earn its unique classification? Let’s see. I think that Thursday/Friday meets the criteria.

The kids & I were loading the dishwasher & tidying the kitchen late Thursday evening when I noticed that there was a puddle of water on the floor & the dishwasher hadn’t fully drained. I was a little bit excited to think that we might possibly be able to replace the loudest dishwasher in the world with something a bit quieter & much more efficient at washing dishes. On a hunch, I went downstairs to see if the water was leaking through the floor & into the guest bedroom. It was pouring through the moldings around the window!!! And the biggest problem of all? Scott was in Wichita & it was almost 10 p.m.

I called the Barlows (again!!!) and blubbered something about the pipes & the water. He told me that I needed to check underneath the sink to see where the water was coming from. Under the sink? Nothing there… oh… water & lots of spinach under there. And did I mention that in the seven years and five days that we have lived in this house, I have never even given a second thought to the piles of stuff under the kitchen sink. Once we quit running the faucet and pouring things down the drain, the water problem went away. I used our handy dandy $20 2.5-gallon shop vac & sucked away the water and spinach and then went to bed. Don’t you love Ryan’s sign to help remind us to not use the sink?

The next morning I had an appointment with Honda because my check engine light had been coming on for a few weeks. I dropped off the car & the shuttle driver took me to the airport where I picked up Scott’s car from long-term parking. My service guy called & said, “Do you have a pen & a piece of paper???” Bad news and none of it covered by the extended warranty. Luckily, we went 93000 miles before having to pour some money back into the van. Pretty reliable. And the service guy told us that once we complete X, Y, & Z, we should be good for another 90k miles!

This picture was taken by Crystal from the backseat when we were lost in D.C. in March. I love that you can see both of us & the car – a rare view.

I realized while I was out driving around  that I did not want to have Scott fixing the sink when he got back from his trip to Wichitia. I called our contractor friend & asked if he could come & fix the problem. He was there within two hours and fixed it and then didn’t charge me for the repair.

Scott’s flight from Wichita to Atlanta was delayed – causing him to miss the connecting flight. The next two flights were booked so he was able to rent a car ($200 for a 3-hour rental:!@) to drive home. We were so glad to have him home!!! And I was really glad the contractor came so Scott wasn’t up at midnight trying to repair the sink.

Update: I forgot the rest of the day (and probably the worst thing of all). While the boys and I were scurrying around to pick things up for Scott, I moved Jared’s bed against a different wall. The A/C had leaked through his mattress a few times & I wanted to make sure that everything had dried out. It had not – I think that there is mold under the carpet. It was still wet in a small area & has been wet for weeks and weeks. :(  We pulled the moisture-preserving plastic folder off the spot & turned the fan on. One day when we are really, really brave we will peel back the carpet & see if there’s any further action needed. [Realistically folks, it’s been at least two weeks. It can wait until we have  a free half day.]

Funny thing. While the day was happening, I felt like it was the end of the world. Writing about it three days later, it doesn’t seem like it was all that bad or insurmountable. I wish that perspective was as easy to gain at the moment I need it rather than just in hindsight.