Some times life is

We have had a very wet August and the ground has become very soggy. Our backyard is quite muddy and this has been a shi-- week. Last Sunday we had over five inches of rain. In the evening at one point water began backing up in the toilet and over flowed a little. The rain subsided and the toilet did too. When we went to bed I was nervous because more heavy rain was forecast and I decided I would check the basement anytime I woke up. At 1 AM rain was cascading down and I went to the basement and saw back flow pouring over the top of the toilet.

The liquid was rising and the floor I had put in looked to be in danger. I feared the sump pump might not keep up. Claire and I grabbed John's rugs before they got wet. We began taking everything upstairs. It was chaotic, it was frenzied, it was nerve wracking. I wanted to cry but couldn't. The kitchen filled with boxes and games. The dining room filled with piles of things from the cabinets, then the living room. There was no place to walk. Evey time I returned to the stairs with a basket Claire had the stairs stacked with more stuff to carry up. Time went by and Claire hustled despite her bad leg. I tried to keep up. Amelia woke and asked if she could help.

I was so proud of her. It turned out Claire and I had both been contemplating waking her and drafting her. But both of us had been afraid she might be underfoot, asking questions, whining, crying, and an additional problem. But she asked no questions, whined not, and responded well to two parents drafting her for help--even though we often were sending her in opposite directions on different tasks. At one point I called Brian to see if there was anyway to stop the flow and tried to call for help from over at Mother's.

The crappy storm water kept coming and we emptied the room of everything but the soggy floor. We put the couch and chairs up, checked the other rooms for what might be in harms way yet still be saved.

It was now past 3:00 AM and fluid still poured in. There was nothing left to do but pray that the sump did not fail. I came upstairs and went online to ascertain what time the various chains would be opening. I also began reading about sewage back flow and how to prevent it. At 4:00 I decided I'd take a nap and be on Lowe's doorstep when they opened at 6:30. We had been planning to have Mother and the Lynches over for dinner Monday night. I looked at Claire and said, "I think it is safe to say we will be having none over for dinner."

I went to Lowe's and bought squeegees, mops, cleaning fluid, and literally the last sump pump to stick in the toilet should it begin flowing again. I no longer trusted my house to be safe in any way.

When I got home Amelia was up and asking many questions. The six year old had returned. I was trying to talk to Claire and feeling very stressed. I looked at Amelia, raised my voice about as loud as I can and shouted, "Will you just shut up!!!" Amelia looked shocked. Understandably so. I had known I was wrong even as the words came out. Feeling terrible, I immediately apologised, told her I was wrong and cried as she hugged me. I still feel terrible about yelling at her.

After having coffee I called two plumbers. I would have paid anything to have one understand what I wanted and come install it. Instead the first didn't know anything about back flow devices. The second suggested I talk tot the Village, my insurance company, etc. He talked to me about septic fields and my sump pump. The two calls were frustrating in that I wanted action so I decided to leave the plumbing call until things had been straightened a bit.

The rest of Monday was spent squeegeeing out the basement, taking up the floor, washing and bleaching it, and drying it in case it might be possible to salvage it. In the evening I did some more research on what I now know as "back flow prevention devices." Tuesday I went back to work as this was the week that new staff come in for training and then all staff come back for inservices. Claire got a hold of the insurance company, a disaster cleaning company specializing in sewage which was willing to come the following day, and a plumber who will come next week.

This is somewhat remarkable as there has been considerable flooding around the area and Midwest.

Slowly a sense of order is returning. Things were moved and removed. The basement was scrubbed,steam washed, sprayed, rinsed, etc. Some kind of microbe killer was sprayed all over. The bottoms of our walls were removed. And ever since three industrial dehumidifiers, and eleven fans have been running. It has sounded like a jet is running in the basement since Wednesday.

In some ways we have been lucky. We lost nothing of value except the floor while there are places in the Midwest where water took everything including the foundation.