Monday, March 24, 2014

Just Be Thankful There are No Pictures...

I'm trying not to cry right now.  I wanted to be cheerful and insightful and uplifting this morning... but then this morning arrived and... raw sewage.  But I'm getting ahead of myself.

Words like disaster are swirling around my head.

I thought I was being so clever and prepared when I moved many of our belongings from the "box room" which I just knew would flood, out of the flood path.  I was ready for the giant snow melt off that was coming.

Yesterday I went down in the basement for a few moments and I smelled something foul.  But I really didn't think much of it.  Between my pregnancy sense of super smell and the virus that was sweeping through the house (I think those of you who suggested Norovirus are likely correct), everything has smelled disgusting.  Burritos?  Yuck.  Pizza?  I hid into the bathroom until it was eaten.

So imagine my surprise this morning when I went downstairs, my head still pounding, to get pants for Mae, who, had tumbled into something, split her lip and was covered in blood (I know.  I know.  It gets better and better!) and I slipped across the basement floor.

For a split second I found myself blaming the cat.  Had he decided not to use his litter box in some passive aggressive cat fit because I won't feed him the 6 dinners that he feels he deserves?

And then I realized it wasn't.

I struggled with denial for a solid 15 seconds.  The basement has now flooded around six times since we moved in roughly 19 months ago.  And the sewer?  Well... Roto Rooter just fixed the line last May the last time the sewer backed up and flooded the basement.  So it couldn't, it just couldn't be.

Now here's where I made my real mistake.  I noticed that one of the boxes I'd moved into the "safe" zone was full of beautiful little girl dresses... the special ones that I didn't give away before we left Florida.  It was now soaking in sewage.  I tearily asked Paul to throw them in the wash as I sobbed to our therapist about what had happened.

Can you see where this is going?  Because what is the very, very worst thing that I could have done if the sewer was backed up?

If your answer is, using more water, than you're right.

The flood went from 1 room to 3 room before I could remember what happened last time and pulled on boots and raced downstairs to find my sewer fears confirmed and to turn off the washing machine before the rinse cycle ended.

It is the sewer.  It is horrible.  It did flood the area with all of our clean laundry and all the baby clothes I had in boxes and bags waiting to be sorted.

I think I'm going to be sick.  Okay, I think I'm going to be sicker than I was before just thinking about this.

I'm now waiting for a call back from our land lord and trying not to have a nervous breakdown in the meantime.  Because raw sewage was the last thing I needed to find filling my basement after this weekend.

12 comments:

  1. I'm so sorry for you, Cam. I wish there were something I could do. My news about the ice cream store opening just doesn't seem fun anymore, when friends are hurting.

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  2. Ugh, that is the worst. We had sewage back up into our garage over the weekend. We own our home and thankfully have sewer line protection, so getting a plumber out to snake the culprit pipe only set us back $50. Of course, he told me that he had a hard time getting it in so it might be that we have a cracked or collapsing pipe, which would not be fun...

    I'm sorry you're dealing with everything piling on at once! Yuck. I wonder if you might have a collapsed pipe or maybe roots growing in?

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  3. Oh man! Why does it seem like things like this happen at the worst times? Lord, spare us! I'm praying for you. I really am. You need a break from disaster-land.
    God bless. ~ Bonnie

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  4. Poor Cammie!
    We had that problem in our last place. Everytime it would get fixed, we would be safe for about a week and then our shower would start clogging up again. I know moving is out of the question for you right now with Paul so close to finishing school. I'll pray for you that this can get fixed quickly and you can get all those beautiful clothes washed and dried again.

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  5. OMG - no!!! Praying for St. Vincent Ferrer's intercession - he is the patron of plumbing.

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  6. Just plain :(

    I hope and pray it gets fixed very soon.

    Hugs!

    Marie

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  7. Praying for you right now. What a horrible way to start the week.

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  8. Cam, I can't imagine. I want so much to give you a big hug and just bring you to my house until they get everything fixed. if I lived anywhere near you I would! I don't think you can come to NV though.... :(

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  9. Oh darling, I am so, so sorry! What a nauseating nightmare, in more than one way!

    I know it does you no good now, but when I store clothes I use those huge zip-lock bags and then put the bags into boxes so they are stackable. .Maybe the ziplock bags would help? Oh I wish I’d suggested it last year. I’m so, so sorry. Don’t throw anything out without at least trying to clean it first though… hate to think of all those clothes… My sympathy hormones and nausea are with you. Prayers :(

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  10. My sympathies about the horrid mess in the basement. I can imagine, and oh, you have every reason to cry!

    Makes me wonder though, what sort of prayer warrior the baby is going to be and what sort of prayer warriors the children you are raising are growing into--otherwise, why would the devil be working overtime to discourage you and make you miserable?

    Keep up the good work with those children of yours.

    Remember, God lets these things happen so that we grow into the persons we are capable of becoming.

    And yeah, it is horrible, and an opportunity to detach from those things.

    Laundrimats have rows of washers. Wash everything twice, once cold, then hot, then dry. Most things will recover and not even smell.

    Sounds like your basement needs concrete blocks and 2 x12 board shelves to hold the boxes off the floor by 6 or more inches.

    Hugs to you, and prayers for peace. Being sick and then having the ickiest possible household disaster is just more than is fair.

    I'll also pray that God give your landlord a HUGE kick into gear and I'll get my kids to join in on the prayers.

    My heart weeps for what you have to handle. God bless.

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  11. That is horrible! I can't even imagine. Let us, your fans & readers know what we can do to help. Renea.

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