Monday, July 25, 2005

On the Waterfront

So yes. Basement. Water.

The good news is, as of this moment, the water is gone. I have been babysitting sump pumps and high powered fans and an enormous dehumidifier all day long.

The bad news is, the drain hasn't yet been looked at and the forecast for tonight? Rain. The forecast for tomorrow? Rain. In fact, let me qualify the forecast. Tonight it isn't just rain. It's FLOOD. IN JULY. I fully expect to be downstairs with a turkey baster and a bucket if necessary, because I'm NOT slogging through ankle deep water again tomorrow.

Meanwhile, we are trying our very best to always look on the bright side of life (whistle whistle). Needing badly to purge, it's going to be a lot easier tomorrow when Mr. Dumpster comes to town. No use crying over it. Out it goes!!

But I need to be mindful of TinyTuna. The water was a shock to all of us, but I was a wee bit forgetful that the basement is sock-full of memories. Thinking she was putting on a Grade-A Mellydrama about the fact that we were NOT going for ice-cream last night, I gave her a long pointed lecture about emergencies, working together and making sacrifices for a little while. Come to find out later that she was crying about her basement memories. Through a face-full of tears she said, "Mom, can you just show me what is ruined NOW so I can get it over with?"

Bad Mom. Bad, Bad Mom.

So we are all making adjustments. We are sad and overwhelmed, but a tiny part of us is excited. In the long run when this is nothing more than a "remember when" kind of story, it will have had a lot of positive aspects. The basement for the first time in forever will be clean. It will be inhabitable. It will be something more than "junk, junk, junk, junk, junk" as my lovable but obnoxious nephew told me when he was all of 4 years old. And although getting there is going to be quite a journey, maybe the best news of all? When we redo the basement there will be NO *chip*chip*chipping and NO *spackle*spackle*spackling. Glorious!

PS -- Fabio is fine. Luckily he lived up on the top of a midsized cabinet. He was the first one rescued and is now hanging out in the living room -- a little confused, but no worse for wear. Much like the rest of us.

3 comments:

bozoette said...

Here's hoping the predicted rain bypasses the basement!

TVJ said...

awwwwwwwwwww, poo! That sucks.

Anonymous said...

It's Tuesday now...what DID happen with last night's rain? No more flooding, I hope?