BIG

"Um...guys!? We have a BIG problem..."

Let me just reassure you that if the Monkey utters these words, there IS, in fact, a problem. The scope and actual severity of the problem may vary a bit (anything from a rogue "spricket" -- as he calls them -- that's escaped my squashing...to the wii ceasing to function...to an oops involving one bodily function or another)...but I was, nonetheless, concerned when he belted that out from the basement on Saturday afternoon. After checking into it, I had to agree with him. We had a BIG problem: water seeping out of the basement sump pump and the three smallish holes in the concrete near the drain were pouring water like a trio of faucets from some watery hell. Fortunately the three inches of standing water in the window well was holding (my caulking skills now validated)...but the problem on my (newly painted) floor was, unquestionably, big.

Turns out that with the power off for an extended period of time, the basement sump pumps can't do much....and the power blinks out in my neighborhood all the time. Saturday, during Hanna's visit to our area, the power quit around 9 a.m....and the Monkey found the BIG problem around 2:30 or 3....so that's 5-6 hours of pretty steady downpour...right there on the corner of my house that FEMA (perhaps justifiably) declared part of the terrible flood zone. Crap. The Lord promised not to destroy the world with water again...He made no such assurances about recently remodeled basement laundry rooms.

I was a bit too shellshocked to function. It turns out that freaking out takes up most of the brain cells usually reserved for cohesive thought. Fortunately, MrE has a completely cool head in a crisis and has no problem taking charge of a situation when he's needed. He looked me dead in the eye and said "we'll fix this" (in that voice that means "and don't argue")...then he managed to get the Monkey and I into the car and off to the store. One hour, two soaked shirts and one (hideously expensive, "some assembly required") generator later, the sump pump was in action and the water was receding nicely.

Thankfully, it appears that most of the sodden paint has dried out and is actually considering my pleas to re-bond with the floor. I may only have to touch up some of the bubbled spots and the bits we scraped getting the washer and dryer back into the room before Hanna really let it pour. The new caulk on the ancient window is still fine and the newly-painted walls stayed dry as a bone (thank you masonry paint!). Since everything was out for the remodel, nothing was damaged...and even the washer and dryer stayed dry thanks to the rubber mats I put under them when we brought them back in.

There is, I suppose, always a silver lining...and that is a BIG relief.