Flood: An Act of Kenmore

Today, I hate water. It seems like all the major repairs we've had in our house have had to do with water damage. First, the pipe under the deck burst, then the downstairs shower leaked (tile repair), then the skylight leaked (replace skylight), then the gutters failed and water leaked into the basement, and now this. Is it because we are all Water Signs here (Scorpio & Cancer/2ea)?

3:15 a.m. at the Strings' house: Dash is crying for me. I go to calm him down and while in his room, hear splattering water from inside the house. I go downstairs to the basement to see water pouring out of a light fixture onto the floor. Must find bucket; checked laundry room for buckets, found more water. I headed back upstairs and checked outside for rain; all dry. WhereTF is the water coming from?!? I step into an inch of water in the flooded kitchen and learn: The Dishwasher is spewing hot water everywhere. I scream for Monkeyrotica's help.

Father's Day can suck hard, too!

4 a.m.: Dash is still crying for us. Monkey is downstairs doing damage control on the massive amount of water in the laundry room, getting all the clothing, etc. off the floor so he can mop up the puddles. I'm still in the kitchen using dishrags and a bucket to sop up the pool kitchen floor. Opening the dishwasher stemmed the flow of water, but when it's shut, it continues. Once I've sent all the water on the floor down the sink, I get to work on bailing water from the dishwasher until it no longer leaks when shut. I run downstairs to check on Monkey, still in the laundry room, grab all of the towels in the house and toss them his way to put on the 50+ square feet of carpeting that's soaked. I ask him to start setting up fans to circulate air & help dry the carpet.

4:30 a.m.: Dash is still up, Monkey lets him out of bed. He comes downstairs to see all the action, of course! Monkey and I are busy, alternately wringing out towels and laying towels out on the carpet, and also keeping Dash out of trouble. A comment Monkey makes about having a old-school crank-wringer + basin in his first house gives me a eureka moment! I'll use our washer's spin cycle to get the water out of the towels.

5:00 a.m.: I enlist Dash in stomping towels to help get the water out of the carpet. He says, "I'm very good at marching on towels!!" I agree with him! And am glad to have his help, despite messing up his needed sleep. Monkey and & are still wringing out/spinning wet towels and laying them out. Dash gets bored and Monkey takes him upstairs for a snack. I continue wringing, laying out. and putting towels in the spin cycle.

6:00 a.m.: Rosie wakes up and Monkey gives her breakfast. I'm still on towel duty. Monkey brings me coffee and I start smelling yummy breakfast odors. Both kids are with me in the basement, playing and occasionally stomping towels. Seems like the carpet is less squishy in some places. Still squishy in others.

7:00 a.m.: Monkey calls me up for breakfast. I eat a delicious cheese omelet and then grab the kids to give him his Father's Day gifts (just practical stuff like socks, underpants, & a cotton bathrobe; I did get him two t-shirts, Superman and flying monkeys!).

8:00 a.m.: I change the towels again. No more wringing—my arms are dead & I have washerwoman hands—just spin cycles from here out.

9:00 a.m.: I blog about it. Coming up: a phone call to a dishwasher repairman and shopping for a new hose for our wet/dry vac; maybe a nap. But, I'll leave you, dear readers, out of that minutia.

Happy Father's Day to all dads out there! I hope your day is better than ours.