Well, crap......

.....at least the basement stayed dry.

Our garden.....

....this is about the time it starts to get out of control.....its not looking too bad yet. Stay Tuned.

The Island at Lake Garcia

Why am I smiling? This is NOT good!

Really?Can't someone do something about this?!?

It's not right and its not fair!!!

Wise words from 3 year old Sydney, Henry's sister and twin. She usually says this as she is crying and having to do something she doesn't like to do or want to do. I said this today as I stood and cried on my driveway because there was a foot of water in our basement. It's not right and it's not fair! Smart kid.....sometimes it's not right and it certainly isn't fair.

Basement Update

Last Wednesday I checked the Fema site to see if our area had been declared a disaster area by the federal government. As it turns out it was. On Oct 3rd (happy birthday to me???). So on Thursday I filled out the application for funds and was approved for an inspection. Believe it or not a woman named Natalie called on Saturday and set up an appointment to come over today, Sunday, between 1-3p. Who knew our goverment worked so fast?! I certainly didn't. I thought for sure it would be awhile before I heard from them. It would be nice to get a few bucks to work on the basement...its still a little stinky and some floorboards and lower walls need to be replaced. Our insurance has covered none of our lost items or flood damage. I'll add an update later today or tomorrow on what Natalie's assessment was.

Update......she came, she looked, she took pictures. That was about the extent of it. She said we would hear from someone within 10-14 days.

Basement Update

So, its back to work today...I needed to get some rest after this past weekend and I figured working with Henry would be less stressful then working more in the basement.

The basement is probably about 75% cleaned up. We worked on it for most of yesterday...mostly Chuck did. We found out that our neighbors down the block have 3 feet of poop water in their basement. Chuck talked with them this morning. They haven't even begun their clean-up. I feel so bad for them. I told Chuck we should go and help them clean up when they are ready. I figure what's a little shit between neighbors...fun times!

Called the city today and they were very unhelpful. Will be making more phone calls when I get off work. It just seems to me that I shouldn't have sewer water in my house. Isn't that what some of my taxes go for?...properly working sewers???????? Again, I remind myself, things could be worse.

Basement Update

Lake Garcia. Our neighbors front yard which sits right next to our house. This is some of the water that seeps into our basement. Yea!

Ruined stuff from basement.

Chuck cleaning up shitty sewer water...my hero.

So we spent about 12 hours yesterday cleaning the basement and keeping up with the new water seeping in thru the foundation. It finally slowed to a trickle around 6-7pm. The good news is that we were able to stop the sewer water when we noticed the basement was flooding in the early morning. All water that come after that was 'clean' rain water. We used the pumps from my birthing pool (yes, I'll be getting a new pump for the pool) to get the water out so at least we didn't have to bail everything...see, there's a bright side! We would push all the water to the low spot in the basement (where Chuck is standing in last photo) and then pump it out with a hose thru the window. We also threw bleach water all over, but will need to do a lot more of that today. Chuck was up every 1-2 hours throughout the night to check for flooding. Again, my hero!

Here's the forecast for us today:

* rain... heavy at times... has overspread the area and will
continue through about midday today before tapering and ending
this afternoon. Widespread additional rainfall amounts of one to
three inches can be expected from midnight this morning through
this afternoon... with localized additional rainfall amounts of
up to five inches possible.

Lovely!
Now for all the good news thats fit to print...I mean blog. It could have sooooooo much worse. Let's make a list, shall we?
5) We could have not turned off the sewer valve until hours later and shit water could of been coming up the basement stairs.
4) We could live in Galveston, Texas. (I sure am praying for those folks)
3)If we weren't so blessed, Chuck and I wouldn't have Kenny and Amy to come and help us throw out our stuff and add a little comedy to the situation. (Amy walks in the house yesterday morning and says, "eeewwwww, who farted?! Thanks, Aim!)

2) (This was going to be #1, but then I rethought it) We could have had our wedding this weekend like my mom suggested. (It would have been a lot easier for her to come to town for Gramma's party and our wedding if they were both on the same weekend. Instead she flew in twice. thanks, mom) I'm very glad I didn't listen to that suggestion!
1)We wouldn't have Jesus to look over us and protect us.

"For I know the plans I have for you, says the Lord, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future."
Jeremiah 29:11
(Thanks Auntie Kathleen)

Another list in no particular order.
I am Grateful for....
....having a beautiful home (even tho the basement has flooded 3 times in the last 1.5 years.)
.....my husband, hero and Superman,Chuck.
....my family and friends.
....my relationship with God.
....my health.
....all my craft stuff.
....my friend Jennifer for understanding if I can't come to work tomorrow. (call me in the afternoon and I'll let you know)
...did I mention all my craft stuff?

So there you have it. I'll let you all know how today goes.

.

Pray for us......

...our basement had about 3-4 inches of sewer (shit) water when we got up around 5 this morning. it was pouring in thru the sink, toilet and tub. Amy and Kenny came over to help get stuff out. We've cleaned up most of the shit water and turned off the valve on the floor, but now water is seeping thru the foundation. Oh well at least its clean water.....More later, just looking for some prayers...thanks.

Basement update

So we had the Permaseal guy out this week to give us an assessment. In order to fully seal the basement, they would have to dig a12-18 inch trench around the whole inside perimeter of the basement floor and install what are called drain tiles. Its a ton of work....and very expensive. After talking to the guy who came out, we decided that we (Chuck) would seal the basement himself with sealer from the hardware store. The guy said that was an okay solution but that it needed to be done every year. He was very helpful about making suggestions once he found out we weren't going to go with his company. Thanks Permaseal guy! So, bottom line is that if we were planning to stay here forever, we would definitely fix the basement the Permaseal way. Altho we love this house, we don't see ourselves growing old here!!!

Basement woes

Our basement got a bunch of water this past week....HUGE BUMMER. Called the insurance company today and they were like..."yeah, yeah, yeah, we'll get back to you..." I'm sure it could be worse.....the people down the block got 2 feet of sewer water in their basement.