The shop-vac ate my birthday gift

I dreamed of sea turtles and mountain tops. All the while muddy water collected in our basement.

 My husband had told me to go ahead and choose where I wanted to vacation for my 40^th birthday, (even though we already couldn’t afford it). He wanted to get me out of town to deter my family from springing any surprises on me, (I know you’re up to something Daddy), but he was also just trying to be nice. Five years ago I planned a surprise party for his 40^th, (which only my friends attended because his best friend forgot to hand out the invitations). It was the thought that counted though, and riding through town in a yellow school bus at midnight really was fun – I’m sure I’ll blog about that night sometime. Bless his heart, he was only attempting to pay me back for that high adventure.

Then, just as I was taking a break from choosing between Lookout Mountain and Jekyll Island, I saw a foot of standing water in our basement. This had happened a few times in the past couple of months, but the water had never been this high. [To give credit where credit is due, the hubby did, from the get-go, attempt to correct the problem by digging trenches all around our house, while I kept telling him that wouldn’t help.]

It had been pouring the rain for days, so I was keeping a close eye on it yesterday as I worked, (all the while thinking “sea turtles or mountain tops”?). The rain was coming down harder than ever. But every time I looked all was clear and dry. Then I glanced on my way to the kitchen and saw the massive flood. I spent all day, and I do mean all day, filling up the shop vac, emptying the shop vac, soaking up towels, and even blankets, washing the towels and blankets, filling up the shop vac, emptying the shop vac, soaking up towels, and blankets, washing the towels and blankets, and on and on and on. By the end of the day, I was exhausted, to say the least. On the up-side I probably did lose a few pounds.

We were lucky enough to get a hold of a plumber late in the afternoon; he came out, looked around the house, shook his head, and held incredible pity in his eyes as he said, “It ain’t good.” He wrote up a quote, and explained to me what they’d do. Other than rebuilding the entire house, the only solution is to rip up most of the floor in our office, continuing on through the laundry room, across the garage, and on through the driveway, to install new drainage piping. The cost? About three times as much as we had set aside for my birthday trip.

So, instead of watching the sea turtles or climbing the mountain, I’m going to use this opportunity, (yes, it’s a true effort to call it that), to completely transform my office, repaint the laundry room, and finally get all my junk out of the hubby’s garage. Though if we don’t soon find a shaman who will accept a sip of whiskey and a song as payment, I’ve no idea where the money’s going to come from.

I’m not generally a whiner, but I think I’m due now….whine, whine, whine…..

Happy birthday to me!