Life in the Slow Lane.

I think. I hesitate to say that because…well, just you never know what’s around the riverbend. Like I THOUGHT that Sunday afternoon would be a nice calm ending to the craziness of my final chaotic weekend before my “big break”. Think again. Started on Friday after mops with a mad dash to get Karissa back to the Ped’s office because she was just acting sicker and sicker, complaining of pain in her back (kidneys), not feeling well, and just going more and more lethargic. She really had me scared. But once again, the power of prayer and our God prevailed, and she is back to her usual healthy self now, no antibiotics needed! So after all that excitement, I spent another nite contracting, dreading the pain of being on my feet all day on Saturday for the wedding. In the rain. Outside.

the wedding was actually a BLAST though, in spite of the craziness of running around to get pictures outside in between rain storms and spending most of the day feeling like i was just constantly rain-soaked. The couple had their dogs as the ring-bearer and flower girl – and it just got crazier and more fun from there. So in spite of the craziness of the day, it was a good time.

So then sunday, kidstown went well. nice and quick! Cause we THOUGHT we had to be out of the school cause of the “RAIN OR SHINE!!!!!! Parade” which ended up getting cancelled. i guess rain or shine doesn’t include flood or deluge. So even though I had already gotten a super-awesome-special treat from Ben (my favorite IHOP breakfast!!!) we went and got lunch from chipotle too, and were finishing that up, JUST about to begin our afternoon of rest and relaxation when the girls decided to go in the basement and came quickly running back up the stairs – “ummmm daddy, there’s water all over the floor!” Sure enough – it was up past Ben’s ankles by the time he got down there. And thank the good Lord above that for SOME reason the water wasn’t live from the electric things all plugged in down there cause he just waded in, called for me to come help, and we started bailin’!!! Our basement is not finished, by any means! In fact its little more than a glorified storage/holding area for all the crap we can’t seem to get rid of . ok all the crap *I* can’t seem to get rid of. And the toys. And my crafts/scrapping. But we had put a lot into making it a semi-livable space, had some nice carpet remnants over the better portion of the floor, had it semi separated out into different rooms/areas – so all of that hard work was down the drain. Or out the window well as the case may be. Luckily we didn’t lose anything that is TOO important or irreplaceable. I mean, sure, it sucks, there were quite a few bags of clothes that had to just get tossed, lots of toys (although I am kind of not sad about that one..), some decoration things for Christmas and Fall (cause, you know. I am such a huge season decorator…)Anyways – the bottom line is, it could have been SO much worse, so we felt very lucky. and we were EVER so grateful for bryan, who dropped whatever he was doing with his Sunday afternoon, came over and fixed our stupid sump pump which had stopped working, and then helped move furniture and crap around so we could get to the important stuff and get it up off the floor. And many thanks to his wife brenna and their kids for letting their dad go for a whole afternoon! And right when I was sure I was going to pass out from sheer tiredness and pain from now almost 20 straight hours on my feet (ok i slept for 7 hours, i can’t complain), MORE help shows up in the form of good friends/neighbors. You just, you think you have good friends when life is going great. you realize JUST HOW GREAT those friends are when trouble hits, and they show up to do whatever needs to be done to help you out.

That is about all i can say about that or else I will start crying and I feel like i am JUST nowfinally getting past that crazy hormonal emotional time of pregnancy and I do’nt want to cry right now. Just know that sometimes, the rainbows that come after the storms are meant just for you. This one was mine. I do’nt have all the pics up – but it was one of those amazing full circle rainbows – i couldn’t even capture it all with my wide angle lens.

So thanks to everyone who helped and offered to come help. You are very very appreciated.

In other news – I never did share the pics of the actual damage inflicted by the rogue fire hydrant attacking my Denali.

A close up of the worst of it. That good size hole on the left is where the top of the hydrant actually came up into the car. That’s pretty much when i knew i was in big trouble.

A better view of the lovely yellow paint left by Mr. Hydrant. Notice also the downward tilting running board. This was ONE HEAVY hydrant let me tell you.

From the inside looking out. Hello pavement! This makes a wonderful addition to the acoustics of any automobile – road noise that sounds like it is going to suck your unborn child from inside you.

Anyways – I would take an “after” picture right now to show you the AMAZING put it all back together transformation the good folks at CarCare Collision achieved, but it had to go right back in for some warranty work to keep it actually running. See, it came back from the shop with this lovely new habit of blasting the HEAT. The colder you tried to turn the air con, the hotter the air was coming out. I thought this was a nice perk on Friday nite, in the cold rain. However, my genius husband pointed out that this would NOT be so fun next July when it was 98 degrees and humid outside. i tell you what, NOTHIN gets past that Ben Atkinson. So i reluctantly agreed to take the car BACK to the shop. She is going to think I have forgotten her. And i kind of have. The good feel of a REAL 8 cylinder truck engine when you floor the gas, the pull you get from accelerating, how happy she is when i fill her up with gas and get her washed. I love my car. I miss my car. and I do realize I am talking crazy talk about an inanimate object.

and in other catch up news:

Here’s a shot of Kealey opening THE SHOES that her daddy searched relentlessly to find for her. Clearly they had the desired impact!

And I am happy to report that she has not gotten on yellow one time since receiving the shoes. So they are still able to reside in her closet and on her feet!

She is absolutely loving 1st grade, although hates having to do “homework” when she gets off the bus in the afternoons. Its one math sheet (which she loves), sometimes a handwriting sheet, and then 15 minutes of reading. Its the reading that gets the most complaints. So we got her an American Girl book, and at least that is helping her not complain SO badly about it. She really is becoming a pretty good reader, and as long as she keeps her amazing math skills like her daddy, I won’t harp on her too bad about the reading. It is still quite the adjustment every day to get used to her being gone. Although the other day when her school was cancelled cause of all the flooded roads, and she was home all day – WHOO was I about to lose my mind or what!!! Maybe it was the three straight days of being cooped up or maybe it was just that they aren’t used to playing together again – but my gosh her and Karissa were wilder than a bunch of monkeys at feeding time at the zoo! School is definitely a good thing!

 

One last picture to leave you with. Little missy was SO enthralled to get to put on the tutu and do bella dancerella with Karissa on this day. She cracks me up how she just doesn’t seem to GET that she is actually a BABY still, and kealey and karissa are big girls. She just considers herself to be one of them! what on EARTH am I going to do with FOUR of them in a few months?!?!?!

Well, no sense making myself more insane than i already feel by dwelling on it…

So, till next time, here’s to good health for us all and many thanks for good friends. And

NO MORE RAIN!!!

 

terra