You May Want to Leave Your Shoes On

Good things are happening in my basement.

What's the complete opposite of this sentence? My basement 3 1/2 weeks ago, that's what. In case you didn't hear about the Great Poo Flood of 2010, let me fill you in. There was a great flood of poo. In my house. In 2010.

3 1/2 weeks ago...

Me: (upstairs in my bare feet, thinks) I need to vacuum the kids' rooms downstairs. And get their laundry while I'm down there. Ok. (walks down the stairs in my bare feet) Vacuum and laundry. Vacuum and laundry. Don't forget. Vacuum, then stay and pick up the laundry. Don't come back upstairs after vacuuming, remember to get the laundry. (walks past the utility closet in my bare feet) Vacuum and--- oh no! Is the carpet wet? Oh no, it is! It feels nice and warm...I bet the water heater is leaking. Well, we were thinking of putting in a tankless anyway, I guess this will be a good excuse. Ooh, it's like the perfect temperature, mmm that's nice. Gosh, it kinda stinks down here. If those kids left the toilet unflushed again...grrr...(opens the closet door in my bare feet as the water swirls lazily around my bare toes. Seeing brown water burbling up through the sewage drain) WHAT IN THE..?!!! NOOOOOO!!!! It's POOOO!!! Omigosh, what do I do? Ok, call Darron. (turns around, heading for the stairs, sees two little ones heading down towards me with wide eyes)

Ava and Thomas: Why did you scream, Mom?

Me: Get out!! Turn around, get out of here! There's poo water! Stay away! Stay away!!! (Drop to my knees, begin walking on knees out along the unaffected carpet, up the stairs, over the tile and hardwood into the bathroom, heft myself onto toilet, then onto counter, put feet in the sink. Wash and scrub. And Lysol.

So by the time everything gets sorted out in the ol' sewer line, the water (if one may call it that) has flooded into every room of the basement. Family room, 2 bedrooms, playroom, bathroom. Everything is pulled out, down to the concrete and studs. And then I walk out leaving just the concrete. ba-dum-ching! (Men are so lucky. I looong to be able to make stud jokes. *sigh*) It hasn't been fun. For me. The kids are fine. But me? Not. Sure, someone else had to clean it up. Sure, we don't have to pay for it. Sure, everyone has been a peach to work with. Sure, I realize I am lucky and still have half a house to live in and food to eat and running water. But my nerves! My nerves?! Already stretched a little thin due to some unrelated circumstances, I find they just cannot handle the constant vigilance of germ patrol, keeping ALL of our stuff crammed into 50% of the space, not to mention ALL of the kids into 50% of the bedrooms. No toys. No video games. No church shoes. Or scout book. And the flies! Aargh! Feeling guilty for complaining. Feeling guilty for not being grateful enough. Feeling guilty for being a shrew.

On the up side, Darron's never been better. Me taking over as "the neurotic one" has given him a little vacation of sorts.

But now let's talk about the "good things" that have been going on. If my camera were not MIA, I would put up pictures. And I still plan on doing a reveal post once everything is finished and I find the camera, but we're not quite to that point. Probably two more weeks to go. In the meantime, here's a good old fashioned list of the good things: cabinets, paneling, new paint, subway tile, new carpet. Sound yummy? Yes it does. Look yummy? Oh yes, so far. I'm rubbing my hands together with glee.

And then there was Halloween amidst the yuck. Once again grateful I hadn't decided to sew the costumes this year. And as I mentioned my camera was lost, so I wasn't able to take all the beautiful photos like usual which really just makes my heart hurt. They looked so so sweet, every one of them. Here are some pictures taken by a friend, a good mom who brings her camera to take pictures of her children during milestone events like major holidays.

First we have a "phantom" with a dreamy smile and yummy blue eyes

So sad I didn't get a close-up of Halle's makeup and hair. She was quite lavender and glittery. A little butterfly/fairy/sparkly girlthing

And then the cooperation stops. True to form, Ava pretends the camera does not exist. She prefers the unposed "action" shot.

She's a mermaid by they way. NOT "the little" mermaid.

C'mon Ava. U smile, I smile. One two three...

If you aren't normally accustomed to prodigious amounts of cuteness, you may want to look away. I ate this little one up. Then I polished off his candy.

Aargh! I can't take it! My eyes!
I didn't get an official shot of my costume, but 10 points if you can figure it out from those ones up there. I like to call it my "better than a headache" outfit. It's been a week and Darron still won't look at me.

Ho hum, I guess that's all for now. Back to the swamp. Oh, my goal for this year btw is to have Christmas shopping done by Thanksgiving. I'm posting it here for all the world to see because social pressure is a really big motivator for me.

NOW back to the swamp. Don't you want me to prepare some food for you? Come on over. You can roll around on my carpet while you wait.