Friday Mishmash - Soggy Edition

So, I had an exciting afternoon on Wednesday, and not in a good way.  I was at my computer when I heard a loud BAM and then water wooshing - I ran into my bathroom to see the hose that connects to the toilet tank to the wall loose and flapping around like a wild water hose!   I got soaked as I tried to turn the handle that is supposed to shut off the water - SUPPOSED TO.  It didn't shut off!  The water was now flowing out of that little room into the bigger bathroom - I threw a bunch of towels on the floor and tried to figure out what to do.  Jeff was (naturally) out of town.  My neighbor who works 10 days on/10 days off wasn't home.  I couldn't get the main valve outside to shut off...it was getting pretty bad.  Found one neighbor who was home and she came over to help but couldn't get the main shut off either...ack!  Called the city's emergency line, where I got to hear a recording telling me to leave a message - on their emergency line??

My neighbor called some friends - I think she went through 3 or 4 before she finally got someone to direct her to the correct cutoff valve.  I was ready to call the fire department at this point - water had seeped through the walls into my closet and the laundry room!  Our bathroom, that we just repainted and fixed up, was a mess!  So upsetting, especially since we'd just made it look nice - why couldn't it have happened before?!

I called a plumber who came out pretty quickly and replaced the bad hose (and the hoses connecting to the other toilets, for good measure as they had the same plastic fittings that failed on this one...I looked at them as ticking time bombs at that point).  Then I called in one of those disaster companies to help - I could see the water seeping up the sheet rock on the walls, plus the carpet in the closet was soaked through.  This was beyond my ability to fix - I needed the big guns.

See the water line on the wall?  Seepage...not good.

The soaked carpet in the closet...

The big guns - fans and dehumidifiers, all drying out the bathroom.

I've had to sleep in the guest room - thankfully A) I have a guest room; and B) it's on the other side of the house, away from the noisy equipment - for the last two nights and will continue to do so for another couple of nights.  Now I'm dealing with insurance, deductibles, and all sorts of dumb things that come with being a homeowner.  Blergh!  I will say that when my stress levels started to settle down, the first thing that came to mind was that I wanted an iced tea.  Not chocolate (although that came later), not anything to stuff my face with - just a cold drink.  So at least there's that (she says, trying to look on the bright side). 

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And now, on to more pleasant things.

Lots to catch up on - and yes, I'm still pulling things from May.  One of the fun things that we noticed when Barbara and Theresa visited was how much Theresa's grown up in the four years since they were here.  We deliberately did some "then and now" pictures for comparison:

 

At the George Bush (senior) presidential library - what's espeically funny about these pictures is that in the shot taken in 2009, Theresa was a bit afraid of statue George.  It took a lot of convincing to get her anywhere NEAR him for the picture on the left...you'll notice that the chair was pulled a "safe" distance away in order to get her there.  Now, in 2013, she had QUITE the time with statue George!

Also?  We have no idea where she gets it from:

No idea at all...

The terracotta warrior statue was another scary one back on 2009 - we couldn't even get her near that one.  Cut to 2013 and she was mimicking the pose!

This one slays me...look how little she was!!!  Paco still sits like a champ for a cookie.

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I haven't had a knitting update in a while - next week, I promise.  Oh - I've got a visit to a special yarn store on tap for next week, too - I am ridiculously excited about that, plus I have a birthday gift card to spend, and some fun projects planned...can't wait!

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Alright, I'm too scattered to think of anything else to say, so have a good weekend, and may there only be water where you want it in your life!