A Series of Unfortunate Events...Part 2

Now, before you become too alarmed -it wasn't really a pond - just a soggy, soggy mess. So I grabbed the phonebook and we both went racing downstairs. The guest bathroom was in at least 2 inches of water. The carpet all the way to where you enter the basement was soaked. The guest bedroom floor - soaked. Even my poor craft room was wet along the edges of the wall. But the piece de la resistance was the ceiling in the guest room - a sagging, dripping, bubble.

I promise, I almost vomited - it made me so sick to my stomach to think what my carelessness had done. Even still - when I think about how it all came about - it makes me nauseated. Anyway - we knew we were in trouble. DH called an emergency house crew - and they said they would be there between 1 - 1 1/2 hours.

We headed back upstairs and proceeded to move as much furniture out of our room as possible. DH"s big dresser & the two nightstands are currently in my hall. We pushed the bed as far over as possible. Then DH went into the front room and noticed wetness on the piano wall. We then moved all the furniture away from the piano wall. Then I started to get worried about the coat closet - where we keep shoes and backpacks. I began to clear that out. Luckily - nothing had leaked through there.

After seeing the piano wall, we decided we'd better check our closet (which backs the piano wall and in all honesty hadn't seemed that bad at first). Cleaning out my closet has been on my to do list since January. So you can imagine how frustrating it was to have to dig underneath shoes, a few clothes that had fallen off of hangers, wrapping paper & other junk I had kept meaning to clean up - knowing we'd find a waterlogged mess. And we did. We had to empty the entire closet. (I guess the good news is I can take cleaning out my closet off my to do list hehe).

About the time we were finishing with the closet and furniture moving (about 1.5 hours) the emergency home specialists showed up. It was about 130am - and let me tell you they smelled like a wild Friday night - cig's and a hangover waiting too happen. Quite honestly, I didn't care - I was just glad they were there to help.

The "specialists" tore up the carpet in the bedroom/bathroom/closet/pianoroom/ guestroom in the basement/ bathroom/craft room/pingpong room/hallway - and put blowers on all of it. They cut away part of the ceiling in the basement guest room. Cut away a little part of the ceiling in the hall. The wall in the guestroom was bowing a little bit - but they just put a hot blower on it - I think they will have to repair a section of it though. The wall in the basement bathroom looks like it's melting (think big water drips). Finally at about 330am - the fixer-uppers said they were finished. They told us they'd be back Monday to pick up the blowers (and then I'm guessing they headed back to the bar).

Could it get any worse? To be continued....See Part 3

A Series of Unfortunate Events...Part 3

Well - the next day really didn't get worse - but it was definitely full of shenanigans. We woke up to breakfast in bed. J & S figuring we were up late in the night, and seeing the disaster area which we call home - at 830 am brought us a bowl of honeycombs, toast, sliced up apples and juice. I thought it was pretty sweet. (Poor DH was so tired he ate part of the cereal and was done.)

When I got out of bed and walked into the front room - I noticed how warm it was. The temp said it was 80 degrees. My first thought was - oh great - I ruined the AC too. But then I realized that some of the blowers blow regular air - and some of them are blowing warm "dehumidified" air. Talk about a hot house about to get hotter--the high was supposed to be 100 on Saturday - but by mid-day our solar clock said it was 102. Also by mid-day our temperature on the main floor of the house reached 85. The basement was at 80 and it seemed the only escape would be the kids bedrooms - which ironically are usually the hottest rooms in the house.

Anyway - that morning I decided I'd better vacuum up the dust bunnies that were found when they moved furniture so they could pull up the carpet. I plugged in the vacuum, and began the task. Two seconds later - my room & bathroom went dark - the rest of the house was fine. With all the fans going, I guess the vacuum was just too much for that little circuit breaker. DH flipped the breaker - then told me NOT to clean (which was music to my ears).

DH called the insurance company (weekend crew). They said an insurance adjuster would be calling us Monday to set up an appt to come out and survey the damage. I'm hoping the insurance dude will be able to come out on Monday - so we can get this mess cleaned up. But at least we know that the fans will be gone by then so we won't be soo hot. I think that's been the worst part.

Anyway, later in the day, J started to not feel well. Her throat was hurting, she felt like she was going to vomit - she was dizzy. That evening DH also wasn't feeling well - he had the same symptoms. Seriously - as hot as our house got, I wondered if it was heat stroke - I tried having J drink lots of water (but both of them were still not better by today and missed church).

At about 4 pm, DH wanted to take the carpet cleaner we had rented back to the store. There are spots in the kids bedrooms and hall that I wanted to clean. And so I asked him to wait a bit so I could hurry and get it done. Everyone was going stir crazy, so DH ran to rent a DVD for the kids. I filled up the carpet cleaner, turned it on - and after 2 pulls down the hall - the entire house went dark. Thinking it was just the breakers, like it had been earlier, I ran down to the breaker box (with a flashlight) and flipped every last one of them. Nothing happened - it was still dark.

DH got home about 10 minutes after it happened and went outside to investigate. He discovered that three of our neighbors were also in the dark. So, apparently, that extra bit of juice it took to run the carpet cleaner - blew our little circuit board that we share with the other 3 neighbors - of course we weren't confessing to anything. We called the electric company and since it was getting close to dinner time, DH decided we'd BBQ and hang out on the deck (which now luckily was in the shade), and play card games. About 1 1/2 hours later - the electric company came and fixed our power outage. None of our neighbors were the wiser. Although, this next time when I went to finish the carpet cleaning, I unplugged a couple of fans. I mean how awkward would it be if I knocked the power out again right?

By 10 pm - we were all ready for bed, tired of listening to the fans, and ready for this shenanigan day to be over. Unfortunately, the house was still pretty hot-83 and holding. So the kids slept in their rooms (it really wasn't too bad up there) and DH and I slept on couches (I got black beauty, he opted for big red). And that was the end to a no good, very bad day, full of a series of unfortunate events.

Shenanigans Abounding Saga...

Yesterday was the craziest day of the year (well-it was pretty close anyway). After getting the kids off to school at 8:00 a.m., I had a RS presidency meeting from 830-1030. I came home for a minute and tried to straighten the house.

Then I remembered that Savvy & Aussie had a birthday party and I still needed to pick up a couple of little trinkets to go with the gnomes that Savvy had picked out (yes-she would like to pass on her love of gnomes to her friends). I headed to Walmart and grabbed lip gloss, nail polish, strawberries and a gallon of milk - (because we are always on the verge of being out of milk around here).

At 12:40, as I'm heading home - Savvy & Aussie's teacher calls to ask where I am. I guess I was supposed to be at the school at 1230 - and I thought it wasn't til 1 (I was filling in for a teacher appreciation activity for the room mom because she has pneumonia). I turn the car towards the school - hoping that a gallon of milk won't go bad if it has to sit in my hot car for an hour. Get into the school - start the kids on their surprise memory book for their teacher - and realize that the girl who took the pictures is missing 5 of the kids in the class. I ask the mom that's helping me if she brought her camera? No luck.

So I run home to grab mine - luckily I am only 3 blocks away. I put my milk and diet coke in the fridge (priorities first of course), grab the camera, get back to the school, take the pictures of 4 of the 5 kids - and then coax (or threaten) the 5th one to stop pulling silly faces or he won't get to be in the book. Then my helper says she needs to leave. Off she goes. I speed the kids up on their memory pages because their teacher is going to be back any minute. "Is everyone finished?" I ask. It seems to be unanimous - the class is finished. Just in the nick of time because - here comes the teacher - and I am out of there.

At home, I realize I need to do my assignments from my morning meetings. I send a few emails and make a few phone calls. Then I remember the birthday presents for the party aren't wrapped yet. I quickly wrap them - and at 340 the kids enter the house. Starving, hot, and thirsty--I find them some snacks/drinks - and then tell the twins to get changed into their swimsuits for the party that starts at 4. We find towels, flip flops and sunscreen - and then I boot the kids out the door to their bday party (it's in the neighborhood thank goodness). I decide the family needs to eat dinner so I get some potatoes ready - and throw them in the oven. Easy enough.

I am helping take dinner at 5:30 to a girl in our ward who just had a baby - and I am the salad. I get started on it. I cut the strawberries, cucumbers, pick the stems of the spinach, throw in the almonds and dried cranberries - and the phone rings. I talk to my sis for 5 minutes - look at the clock - it's 455 - and yell "Jay - you have swim team let's go!" Sorry Sis. Run Jay up to the pool - and remember that I am supposed to make chocolate dipped strawberries for a girl who just got released as our enrichment leader. Crap!

I get home and start washing the strawberries and melting the chocolate - forgetting entirely that I still need to make the dressing for the salad. I finish dipping the strawberries at about 5:25 - and go to grab my salad and head out the door. Oh no! The salad dressing! The yummy vinagarette that makes the salad divine! And there is no time. I look in my fridge praying I've got an unopened bottle of any kind of dressing. No luck. So - I take a bottle of strawberry vinagarette - dump it into a container - add poppy seeds (hoping it looks homemade) - and head over to her house.

Man, that baby has a lot of hair! What a cutie. The RS Pres and I talk to her for about 10 minutes - and then both of us head out the door because we have Pac meeting at 6. We pass the 1st couns. and secretary on the way out - but there is no time to visit. I've just realized the party ended at 5:30 and I need to pick up my kids. I get home and luckily the kids are there. They jump in the shower, get dressed and we head over to Pac meeting.

They are launching 2 liter bottles filled with water - it's quite magical. Water bottle rockets are flying everywhere. It is a good time. Savvy & Aussie both brought bottles - and they are having a good time. They do the awards, we launch a few more bottles - and then I inform the kids it's time to go. Aussie is not happy. "It's not over," he says. "I don't care," I say. I need to feed them dinner before I have to go and do more RS stuff. With a popsicle as a bribe, we head home at 6:45, say hi to DH and Jay.

As I'm getting the potatoes out of the oven, I notice my white chocolate left in the pan on the stove - is turning brown. "DH did I leave the stove on?" You guessed it - he had turned it off - but only after it had been cooking in my house-unattended for 1 1/2 hours. I feed the kids their potatotes/chili/cheese. And then get to work cleaning scorched chocolate out of the pan. Curses!

I get the dipped strawberries out, arrange them on a cute pink plate - wrap them in cellophane - & add a cute bow. Are you kidding me? I need to make a thank you card! Rats! I race down to my craft room, grab a card, add a flower, ribbon and a "thank you " sticker - and the phone rings. It's the RS Pres - she can't go - her babysitter stood her up. I ask if we can at least deliver the choc covered strawberries - and she agrees (but has to leave her 1 yr old & 7 yr old home with her 10 yr old - but that's okay because I'm leaving my two 8 year olds home alone-we're only a block away). We drop off the strawberries - and visit for about 20 minutes = and then I come home.

As I crash onto the couch, cute Savvy says "Mom, you weren't this busy when you worked with the honeybees." She meant to say "beehives". It was so cute - I laughed - and then decided it was time to relax. All I can say is, I better have lost weight today - talk about an aerobic workout!

And that was the End to a Very Long Day Full of Shenanigans.

The Small Stuff...

For the past week, I've had my cute cousin and her husband staying with me. She is from Idaho - but had to come to UT to have her baby near Primary Children's hospital. Her baby boy has a big hole in his heart due to a chromosome deletion. He will have to have heart surgery around 3 days old - pretty nerve wracking for my cousins family - and really anyone who knows them.

Both Jen and her husband have had a great attitude since they've been here. I mean I know I'd be a basket case 24/7. But, they have remained strong and maintained a positive outlook. I'm very impressed with their strength - and their dedication to the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Jen and Toby have always been righteous people - very devoted to their LDS faith. But during this trial they have taken it to a new level. They've done the obvious things people can do to fortify their spirits - read their scriptures, pray, hold family night regularly, attend their church meetings etc. But in their efforts to draw closer to Heavenly Father - they've even sacrificed things like favorite TV shows & movies due to inappropriate themes. They've also really emphasized the importance of family togetherness in their lives.

I think everyone's spiritual level can always do with some improvement - and it's not like I feel as if I'm an unrighteous person. But I look at the way my cousin's have been preparing themselves to receive this sweet baby - and I have to think - what's my deal? If it means I can draw closer to my Heavenly Father to give up unrighteous things - even so simple as a TV show, movie or even a trashy romance novel - then what's my problem?

I mean I'm doing the obvious things like going to church, having family night and family prayer, and reading my scriptures. But, am I willing to give up the small stuff? Up until this point the small things haven't seemed like that big of deal. But maybe they are.

My favorite quote from women's conference is "Small Things Result in Eternal Consequences." Maybe if I'd just stitch that onto a pillow and follow through with the quote - then I'd have my answer.

My Husband...the Conspiracy Theorist

When I decided to start up my own blog (a whole 6 days ago) - I emailed the link to my husband. Everyday I would ask him if he had checked out my blog. Every day he hadn't.

As of Saturday, he still hadn't checked it out. At one point during the day - I happened to be in the office at the same time with him. I decided to force him to check it out - I mean, I'm baring my soul here - it's the least he could do right?

He finally explained to me why he hadn't been pro-blog-shenanigans. He said he hadn't viewed my blog yet because he was afraid of what he was going to see. Namely, the names. I found out that my husband is a true conspiracy theorist.

I tried to defend my blog saying I only used our first names - there wasn't any social security numbers or bank information posted etc. But, as he read my 3 measly blogs - he informed me that predators could find me, the kids, & even my bros and sister (stinkin' abc's of me). He really encouraged me to make this a private blog - like an invitation only kind of blog (which in all honesty isn't that bad of an idea - just annoying and really just another step for people who probably didn't want to read it in the first place - and now I'm adding another step to add to their pain?)

In my opinion, there are two extremes of bloggers. The ones who are like my husband, and don't want names, locations or even events they are attending - mentioned at all on the internet. Then there are the bloggers who not only post their first and last names, but they post pictures of their cute kids - vacation plans, addresses, etc.

I like to think I fall somewhere in between. In my blog, you will not see a single, solitary picture of anyone in my family (unless I decide to claim Paris Hilton as my long lost sister). You also won't see me go completely anonymous - going to "initials" confuses the heck out of me- I mean don't we have enough acronyms in this world? But, you will see personal (and hopefully humorous) stories about my life, my church, and my family - and sometimes even my extended family - cuz let's face it - most of em' are crazy!

So, for the sake of my husband's conspiracy's (and in his defense he didn't even ask me to do this - he just wants me to privatize it-and be done with it) , I will from now on refer to him as DH (dear hubby) and my kids using nicknames Jay, Aussie and Savvy. If you know me, that will be enough - if you don't know me then according to statistics you probably just want to kill or maim me anyway - so tough luck to you(hehe).

I'm such a LOSER!

I really am a big loser - but not in the way you might think . I'm talking a loser of things. Important things. My wedding ring for one. Two years ago I lost it at a stake activity for 11 yr old scouts (I was just dropping off cookies - it's not like I was in charge of teaching them how to dig a hole with their bare hands). Anyway - the missing wedding ring was the bane of my existence. When I couldn't find it at the church - I figured I had lost it at my house. I had been cleaning all morning - and junking tons of stuff. I started looking through the inside garbages - no luck. I even went as far as to go through my outside garbage can - sack by sack. In the Arizona May heat - you can imagine how disgusting this was. Needless to say = I am still ringless today.

Other things I have lost haven't been as major as the wedding ring - but just the fact that it happens on a regular basis is so annoying. I've lost car keys (and then found and then lost and then found), watches, earrings, contact lens cases and contact lenses, glasses, my fancy prescription sunglasses (which were costly-DH maybe you shouldn't be reading this part), my scriptures were lost for 3 months - then found, my wallet, scout patches, Halloween costumes, library books (okay - usually we find the book before we have to pay - except for this last one), screws/bolts for the bunkbeds, phone chargers, immunization records, birth certificates, extension cords, my drivers license, costco card, gift cards, credit cards, cell phone - are you getting the picture yet? I am a complete troublemaker when it comes to keeping track of things. I've even lost birthday & Christmas gifts - due to the fact that I hide them so well I can't even find them.

So what's the latest and greatest thing I've lost? My garage door opener. You may think "who loses a garage door opener" - and I will tell you - it has happened to me once before. Although the last time it happened-- it had fallen on the floor and rolled into the back underneath one of the seats. It was lost for 2 weeks.

This time though I fear it is gone for good. I went to Jay's band concert (she did an excellent job on the violin - by the way) last night with my mom. We went in her car - so I grabbed said garage door opener out of my van as to shut the garage when we left. We arrived at home - and I used it to open the garage door. This is where it gets vague. I thought I had put it in my van - but no. Then I decided it was in the house somewhere - again no (and with the company I have been having my house is so clean there' s not a chance it could be under a clutter pile). I looked through the garage - no - and DH just cleaned it out so it's not under a random DI pile.

I finally decided it must be in the capris I wore last night - some of you may recall my Elvis pants from women's conference last year. I believe that they are the culprits in the case of the missing garage door opener. I was trimming bushes last night in them. They are a bit baggy - and were sloshing around (luckily my shirt was long so there was no improprieties seen). I have this terrible feeling that as I was picking up armfuls of tree limbs and bushes - the garage door opener may have fallen into one of the piles. Of course, I realized this only after the garbage man had taken my garbage away (my mom suggested calling the sanitation dept and asking if any stray garage door openers had been seen at the dump-wishful thinking).

At this point, I am at a loss (no pun intended) of what to do. I will go on the hunt for red october one more time - and offer a reward to my children if one of them finds it - but I fear I will be parking outside until this mess can be solved. Is there a self help group for losers like me. I really feel like I need a 12 step program. I can't for the life of me figure out why losing things is such a problem for me. I mean - I'm not the most organized person - but it's not like we're living in a disaster zone (well - most of the time anyway).

The biggest question remains - where does it all go? Is there lost and found in Area 51 with my name written all over it (talk about a governmental conspiracy theory), has my lost stuff landed in the twilight zone? or the bermuda triangle? When I die, will this all be revealed to me on the replay of my video for all to see? (at least I'd have some closure).

Maybe if I'd just follow my favorite scripture (the irony is great here) and “Organize yourselves; prepare every needful thing, and establish a house, even a house of prayer, a house of fasting, a house of faith, a house of learning, a house of glory, a house of order, a house of God.” (D&C 88:119) -then I wouldn't have this issue. Alas - I guess I'll search the house one more time and then pledge to do better.

**Garage door update: My mom just called me tonight - she has found the garage door opener! It was in the passenger side visor - yes, apparently I thought it would be a safe spot to put it so I wouldn't lose it. Duh! But yay for me anyway.

To read or not to read....

So book clubs are a huge hit in my neighborhood. I mean almost everyone belongs to one whether it's their past ward, their girlfriends or the library. Well, I have never been in one - and when our ward started one up - I decided to partake.

The first book we read was, "These is my Words." I have to admit it was painful for me to get through. I think it was like page 100 before I was finally into it. Even after I was into it - I still struggled. It's written in diary form - and it just wasn't reaching out and grabbing me. As a matter of fact, I fell asleep the first five times I started to read it - this included once in the daytime.

When I was only on page twelve by day five, I was seriously reconsidering the book club (at least for this month). Then I ran into the gal who had started it up - and had picked the book. She said she hoped I was coming to book club - because she didn't think anyone else she had invited could make it. Inside I was groaning, but I told her of course I would be there - and then hoped like a dirty dog that there were cliff notes (there's not by the way).
Reading this book was like a chore to me! It was on my to-do list - and believe me it ranked right up there with cleaning boy toilets. But I did finally finish the book. The crazy thing is I love to read and can usually read a 350 page book in a couple of days. But, this took me almost 2 weeks.

Tuesday was book club night. Surprisingly enough, there were 5 of us in attendance (although only 3 of us had actually read the book - when I found that out I wanted to yell - "you mean not reading the book was an option?" who knew). We discussed the book - and I did tell them it took me awhile to get into it. Thank goodness nobody asked if I actually liked it. Although someone did ask what my favorite part was - I almost said - it was the end.
The night was coming to a close, and the girl in charge says what book should we read next? We all sit there not wanting to step on toes. She finally says - well did you know there is a sequel to "These is My Words?" It's called "Sarah's Quilt". I promise I heard screaming inside my head.

Luckily, (at least I thought at the time) another lady - who hadn't read the book (and was all the wiser for it) - suggested some books. I promise you every single one of them is deeper than the day is long. Not one was fluffy. Not one was light reading. Not one was a chick flick type book. I think they were all based in a third-world country - not that there's anything wrong with that -but c'mon it's summer - and let's face it I'm not a deep person.
We settled on a non-fiction book (which to be honest the only non-fiction things I read are the scriptures, the ensign and the children's friend). Anyway the book is called, "Three cups of Tea" It's an inspiring story about a mountain climber living on the edge - who changes his ways and makes a difference by building schools in India. I am betting there are no cliff notes on this one.
When I told my DH the title of the next book, he laughed and said "Honey - this book club isn't for you - these aren't the kind of books you are even interested in." I wasn't sure if I should be insulted & thank him for pointing out my weaknesses - or be glad for an excuse to quit the group.

So what's a fluffy, shallow girl supposed to do? Well, I decided to give it another month. I put the book on hold at the library - and I am going to read it. Then next month I am bringing my list of trashy romance novels and those deep women are going to suffer through it like I have suffered through their books. Just kidding - but I really am going to bring a list of options for next month (don't worry - it won't be dicey romance novels) - and hopefully nobody figures me out for the shallow reader that I am.