So, Yesterday Sucked Pretty Bad. Ah, Home Ownership.

I suppose one must pay for writing a joyful blog post the day before. Yes, it was the anniversary of Henry the Hernia's removal (thanks mom for the reminder). Two years ago yesterday, I was down for the count for a few weeks. Ah, and I "liked" my mom's memory on Facebook while sipping coffee and prepping for a productive Sunday: yard work, week-prepping, cleaning the stove, etc. I woke up at 7 a.m., put a couple weeks of laundry on my bed that was cleaned and piling up for folding. I got to the stove when I noticed there was no hot water. I checked other faucets, and nope, the water was cold. I thought, "Maybe the pilot light went out or the furnace blew."

I moved instantly to the basement when I realized there was about 3 inches of water sitting on the floor. My guess was the the furnace emptied itself, but upon investigation I realized the sump pump wasn't working. I remember this time last year the pumping of water from the side of my house freaked me out and I learned that it was for spring thaw. I didn't know what the noise was or why  I was hearing gushing waterfalls outside. That's when I learned about sump pumps. It only kicked on in March and April of last year, then it shut off for the rest of summer, winter, and fall.

My first instinct was I could empty the water with a shop vac, and immediately went to town. Um, terrible idea - one anniversary of Henry away, I realized his twin sister Henrietta could easily show her ugly face. I then thought, "What if I filled garbage pails?" That was stupid, too. So I called Mike, the bro-in-law, and Sump-Pump experts in CT. Fortunate for me, a driver was in the area and he came within two hours. In that time, I simply began carrying up the items that were stored in the basement: sadly, Christmas decorations, Christmas gifts purchased for next year, books, and some luggage. Drenched.

Walter came and allowed me to shadow him all day, but one SNAFU led to another. We were able to drain the basement in 45 minutes, but then his spare sump pump didn't work. His boss sent him to a supplier to get another, but the placed was closed. The boss sent him with a back up. These things always happen on Friday nights, Saturdays, or Sundays. That one didn't work, either, so he had to go to Home Depot to get one that would work for 24 hours.

In the meantime, the water was just enough to damage the thermostat coupler of the hot water heater and the automatic ignition switch. They can't be replaced until Monday, either. For the night, a temporary fix was put into place, but I have no hot water and need to take Monday off to be here for the fixes still needing to occur.

I said last week to one of my students that I knew something needed to happen soon to remind all life is struggle. With the BPEF award notification coming and somehow maintaining a work flow to be semi-on top of things, I said to her, "Something's coming around the corner. It's just a matter of time before it occurs. I don't get too comfortable with too much positivity." After a few days of success at the gym, too, I wanted Sunday to go for a very long run (I wanted to keep the momentum going). No such luck.

Phew. The entire day was lost to this mess. The mattresses stored downstairs, too needed to be brought outside to dry.

My lesson, "Check the basement at least once a week, especially during the season when the snowbanks are melting and we get 24 hours of rain." It wasn't until it happened that I realized, "Hmmm, I haven't heard that gushing emptying of the sump pump this year." Now I realize that not hearing it was the problem.

Joy Joy Joy.

And when I went to bed last night, I remembered I put all the laundry on top of the bed. Ugh. I want to forget yesterday happened (and where all this water is coming from). I live atop a hill. It doesn't make sense.