Tuesday, January 06, 2009

PUT YOUR "BIG GIRL" PANTIES ON AND DEAL WITH IT!- A Water Feature In Our Living Room






As I came home on Tuesday night, after my first day of teaching at SCC, I was AMAZED to find a "visit" from Mother Nature in our living room and master bedroom! Initially I looked at the dining room table and saw water on it. Hmmm...I thought, how odd. And then I looked up, and looked around, to see drips and small water falls coming through the recessed lighting fixtures. The bucket brigade began!

Long story short, we had a water backup that came from a drain filled with ice on the deck outside our master bedroom. While we had been shoveling the snow from the deck, once the warming took place and more snow came from the roof, the excess water went under the sliding glass door into the bedroom. The carpet was SOAKED and the water came down to the main floor.

So we had two problems to deal with. Getting the snow (and water) removed from the roof and deck, and dealing with he mess on the carpets (and potentially drywall and paint).

As I was placing large pots and pans everywhere my cell phone rang. It was Amy and I laughed as I told her that Bert wasn't home yet, but that I had a new "water feature" in our living room. I even put the cell phone up to the gushing (and I do mean gushing) water so she could hear the melodic sounds!:) Amy asked very graciously if we needed any help. Just as graciously I declined, not wanting to inconvenience anyone at that late hour (and not knowing how anyone could help). The phone rang about ten minutes later and Aim said "We're on our way!"

Meanwhile Bert came home, and I came to the door with a smile and chuckle saying..."Hi, Honey! Welcome home! Remember that "water feature" I have always wanted...well, we got it!" (Please see my previous post about creative problem solving to get the humor in this!)

Long story short, Ryan got on the roof (which is slanted, has tile on it, and is FOUR stories high...see the tiny figure in picture #1 at the top of the photo...that's him)) and started shoveling the remaining snow AWAY from the deck) and Bert started shoveling water off of the deck. I called a water removal service who had put in 36 straight hours with others having the same kinds of problems and could only come at 1:00 on Wednesday to look at the damage. We were grateful that they could come at all...so set up the appointment.

The water removal folks arrived on Wednesday afternoon, and we discovered that the owner had gone to our old church and taken a Sunday school class Bert and I had taught some years back. Reassuring! Larry and his crew took up the carpets, removed padding and put in GIANT fans to start the drying process. So the bed has moved and the master bedroom is now on the walkway on the second floor.

Sounds bleak, sounds stressful.???I guess you could choose that response. But amazingly I am very calm and not very stessed from all of it! I have put my "big girl" panties on and I'm dealing with it! In fact I'm laughing and calling it a "camping adventure".

Now those who know me well, REALLY well, may stand in true amazement at this attitude of "oh well, it's only water" coming from ME??? They may even think I've lost it or I'm just pretending to not be stressed. Yet no one is more amazed at this turn of attitude than I am!!I have not been known as a "laid-back" person about having disruption in my home. But that was then and this is now! New year and new attitude of gratitude!This "keep the little things little, and most things are little" attitude came from seeing a bumper sticker in Maui. It said:

"RELAX...this ain't the mainland!"

I laughed and chuckled about this bumper sticker and reframed it to say, "Relax, this ain't LA or New York!" And I've said it with laughter almost every day since our return from Maui!

So as the REALLY loud fans whir and we dry out through Sunday... as we assess the damage and deal with our insurance company... I feel well and blessed.

To quote a friend:

"I am too blessed to be stressed, too anointed to be disappointed! Winners make things happen. Losers let things happen." Yup, so true!

A special thanks to both Jessi and Amy who offered us a place to stay. We're grateful for your support. For now, we're doing great.

God loves us and all is well, no matter what! Have a blessed day!God Bless!Love Linda

4 comments:

The Farrell Family said...

I love this post. You are right, I am AMAZED at how calm you have been about this dilemma. I'm proud of you for keeping it in perspective. Sure this is inconvenient... but it could be worse.

"Relax...it ain't the mainland!" I love it! Hawaiians sure have a laid back attitude! Refreshing!

I love you and our invitation stands... if the fans get to be too much you know where we live!

Jacob would like a campout with Nana and Boppa (he's in his sleeping bag on our floor right now)

Love you, me

Tiffany said...

Oh, Linda! I'm so incredibly sorry you and Bert are having to deal with this! However, I'm incredibly impressed with your attitude and find it very inspiring!

I hope things dry up soon...until then, enjoy the camping adventure! ;)

LORIE said...

Bummer but what an amazing job you are doing coping. I love positive attitudes.

love you

L.

jessithompson said...

I think in times like this the silver lining of other truly big things in the past shines through. These are the moments where you realize that at the time of getting a cancer diagnosis for your husband that you'd give ANYTHING to have this be your biggest problem of the moment.

I love you, appreciate your role modeling of this perspective, and wish there was some way we were able to actually help more.

Like Amy said, our home is yours.

We love you to the moon and back!
XOXO J, R and E

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