The Great Flood

Today, being that it's Martin Luther King Jr. Day, Mike had the day off of work, but unfortunately, I didn't.  I left my daughter, her little friend that spent the night, my son (who was already a handful this morning at 5:45), and my patient husband.  I had my doubts if Mike would be able to handle all three kids.  Now, I completely trust my husband in any circumstance with the kids - he is usually a very kind, loving, considerate, creative daddy.   But when I went in to say goodbye before I left, he looked up at me, quite pathetically, and pleaded "I don't know if I can handle him (Jacob) today."  Um, okay?  I reassured him that if Jacob was way too crazy, he could bring him to work, and my Mom would probably agree to watch him.  So we left it at that, and out the door I went!

 I think it was about 10:30 when Mike called me at work.  When I picked up the phone he says the most dreaded thing a mother could hear, "We are having a crisis at home!"  

So here's the story: Mike, like the good husband he is, was doing laundry.  Somehow the washing machine overflowed, or busted a gasket, or something catastrophic.  We're still not sure what happened, but the end result was the flooding of my house!  And since we had just installed new laminate flooring not yet 5 months ago, I was a little concerned.  I ran home with a wet/dry shop vac in tow.  Mike had managed to use every towel and blanket in the house to absorb most of the water.  It flowed down my hallway, through the living room, and even out of the front door!! After helping Mike suck up the three inches of water left in the bathroom and laundry closet, I left him to deal with the rest (which he did quite well...he even managed to take the kids on two bikerides!)!  

When I got home from work this evening I yanked out all the baseboards in hopes the sheetrock will dry and allow air to flow under the laminate.  Did I mention you can hear "squishing" when you walk?  Lovely.  So, now my house is a total mess.  It looks like we were victims of a very localized hurricane.  I pray my new floors aren't ruined! 

In addition to the fun our water works created, Jacob is still his normal handful.  He climbs on things I didn't even think were possible!  He has figured out how to push the dining table chairs around to whatever he deems worthy of climbing - so NOTHING is safe or "out of bounds" for him!  He is so proud of his accomplishment, when he reaches the top of whatever he's climbed, he'll stand there with huge smile and clap for himself.  What really concernes me is that he has no fear - there is no such thing as "too high".   His spirit for adventure makes it very difficult to get anything of significance done around the house.  We constantly have to keep one eye on him or rescue him from his perch on top of the refrigerator! 

So, props to the husband for dealing with the crisis.  Although, I'm not yet convinced it wasn't his fault!  Mike....are you sure you didn't stuff the washer like you usually do, and that's why it overflowed????  You can defend yourself by leaving me a nice comment. : )

I'll let you know if we have to call our homeowner's insurance to replace all our new floors!!  In the meantime we have decided this might be a nice time to paint the hallway, which we've been needing to do. I'll also be praying tomorrow is less eventful!  At least Mike will be at work, so he can't cause any more trouble! Heehee.

New Day

Okay, so far this day has been much more enjoyable than last night.   Being that it's my day off, I am home all day with the kids, of course.  The way the last two weeks have been with Jacob - he's cutting molars - I really wasn't looking forward to today.  I don't think he feels very well, but Gracie has been playing very nice with him, so he's been distracted.  We were supposed to go to a friends' house, whom we haven't seen in a couple of years, but she called this morning letting us know her 8 month old had a fever, so we will take a rain-check.  Fine with me.  I enjoy my days off more if I know I don't have to leave the house!  I do have to take Gracie to dance class in the afternoon, which breaks up the day, but I am glad to be able to stay home this morning.  I haven't gotten much done around the house - not very motivated, I guess.  I will need to kick it in gear, because after Gracie's dance I promised I would take her and Jacob to Boingos.  What?.... Boingos is a warehouse kind of building that have a couple different bounce houses, slides, and the like, that are usually found at birthday parties.  For $5 a kid they can play and bounce as long you can stand it!  Alterior motive?  Okay, yes, hopefully both kids will be tuckered out when we get home!  I'll try and remember to take the camera so I can share the action!   

Holy Cow!

Aye-Aye-Aye!!!  I am about at the end of my rope tonight.  And the scary thing is, it's only 6:00pm and the work has just begun for the night!  I have managed to drag two grouchy kids to the grocery store after work, chop up a million vegetables to make soup, and deal with a constantly noisy daughter, and very whiney son, who thinks the best way to get my attention while I'm making dinner is to push me away from the counter and cry!  I still have a house to pick up, dinner mess to address, baths to give, fights between siblings to calm....I'm sure there's more, I just don't want to think about it.   Yes, it's every mother's battle, but tonight I just don't feel like I have the right weapons (a sense of humor and patience).  8:30pm can't come fast enough tonight!

Today contains all the components of what usually makes a good day, but for some reason, I just can't shake this mood I'm in.  All the physical ingredients of life that satisfy my soul are present, so nothing seems to justify why or what I'm feeling.  I'm not necessarily grumpy, not sad, not mad, but I'm not happy, peaceful, or content either.  I guess the best way I can explain is with Holly Golightly, in one of my favorite movies "Breakfast At Tiffany's".  She describes her state of mind as "the mean reds".   She explains "....the blues are because you're getting fat or because it's been raining too long, you're just sad, that's all. But the mean reds are horrible.  Suddenly you're afraid and you don't know what you're afraid of."  

While I sit here alone and do some inventory, I am also taking time for some introspection.  I realize again, there isn't anything palpable that justifies my "blues" and "reds".  My reasons aren't clear to the mind, or plain to see, but rather my perception, I guess.   So how do I change my perception when these moods settle in and make residence in my soul?    

Maybe I need quiet to refocus the lense I use to view my framework.  If I can learn how to adjust my lense, my perception, then maybe next time when the "blues" and "reds" creep into my psyche, I can send them on their way before any time is wasted.   For today, however, I am going to welcome them and embrace the solitary mood it mandates.