Normal Life

I'm still waiting for it to start.

We left for Hurricane Hanna on Sept. 3rd with two other families to Asheville, NC and returned late Sept. 6, Saturday. More on that trip later, with fun pics of the families we went with.

That Sunday, my washing machine broke and overflowed not once, not twice, but THREE times, starting at 3:30 in the afternoon. The first time I had no clue what was going on and walked into my laundry room to find a quarter inch of water everywhere. Luckily, at the same time a neighbor happened to stop by and she and I mopped, cleaned and moved every item out of the laundry room, pantry and closet into the kitchen. Rafe's mom's pictures and journals were in that closet and luckily we were able to get them out of the box before the water seeped through the box to the pictures. Those boxes are still in my kitchen while I ponder a better storage solution.

The second time, I was trying to figure out what the problem was and forgot it was turned on because I was sidetracked by Amelia in the livingroom. Once again, my friend still there, we mopped up again. Used every towel in the house by this time. I slipped and fell in the water and scared Amelia, who had just seen my incapacitated for a month. She began crying, "Momma! boo boo!!" and then my friend's little girl and Amelia wanted to come into the laundry room with us. I was about to break down and cry by this point after the week we'd had and then to come back to the trial of unpacking and putting everything back where it belonged again. I ran next door to get another neighbor and asked her to come over and "love on the girls" for a little while so we could finish cleaning. Her husband came over later and lifted the washer and dryer so I could clean under them.

The final time was actually a maintenance man who came by to try and figure out the problem. He figured it was a broken sensor, left after 15 minutes with a small bit of water in the bottom of the washer. I put Amelia to bed, and came back to the washer to find water all over the floor again. I called him back, he helped me clean again and also lifted the washer and dryer.

A repairman came out that following Friday to fix it - he opened the front of the washer, took a small hose that had come loose and stuck it back on. Then he handed me a bill for $109!!

At least my washer works now. And I can fix it myself next time.