When does it end?

Here's another post of me complaining. Today it rained. A lot. The yard across the street looked like a lake. The grass between the storm water ditch and the street was completely covered in water. The little stream next to my neighbor's house was so swollen that water was up over the bridge. A lot of water. We have already had a lot of water this year, but today the skies gave us more than we have ever had before.

As you probably know, we have been having some issues with our basement. It is not technically a basement, but it is the lowest level in our tri-level, and that is what we call it. Last Friday, a team came to the house and fixed the water problems in our crawlspace. They graded the dirt, created a drainage system, installed a sump pump and a back up sump pump, ran pipes out of the crawlspace through the foundation wall, and put a nifty . . . thing in our yard where the water is pumped out from the crawlspace. They then encapsulated the crawl space. It was wonderful!

We bought the vinyl flooring we had our eye on, and with the help of friends and family, we cut it to fit our floor. It looked amazing! We started filling the basement back up with its former belongings.

Some of our friends are professional painters, and they came over today to paint the room. (Finally I was going to have a room in my house with a different color of paint than all the other rooms!) Then the storm came. And the thunder. And the lightening. And the winds. And lots of water. A lot. (If you've already forgotten how much, see first paragraph above.) My friends who were going to paint came to me with the bad news that there was water in my basement.

They thought it was a lot. It was nothing compared to before, but it was a fair amount.

So, we're back to square one, and our beautiful flooring is pulled back up.

Now we're a little unsure of the problem. The water seems to have come in the same way it did before, but the sump pump was definitely working. I could hear it working; I could see the bucket filling up with water; I could see the water being expelled from the nifty thing in the yard. However, there was still water in my basement.

There was a lot less water in my basement than before—despite the fact that the heavens were releasing a lot more water than last time.

So perhaps the crawlspace was only part of the problem.

And there is another problem lurking down there. Possible?

We think it is under the stairs.

I'll keep you posted on that.

So, we've been feeling a bit stressed, but crying won't solve anything!

While Jeff was downstairs sucking up water, and I was upstairs nursing Daniel, Jill went off on her own. Left to her own devices, she had taken off her pants, put on undies over her diaper, grabbed a book, climbed on top of the tall dresser in the guest room(!), and was reading her book. She was very pleased with herself. Pretty cute. She gave us a much needed chuckle.

So despite me wondering why I ever bought a house, I do know that life is still really, really good. So, if something bad has happened to you recently and you've wondered why. Wonder no longer. It's so I could look at your house misfortune and feel better about mine. Hopefully my problems can make you feel better about yours, too!

Side note: if you've had a root canal, do you remember how long the sensitivity remained? It is getting old having to wait for the water to warm up in the tap to swish after brushing my teeth and not being able to eat or drink foods from out of the refrigerator.

(Sorry that I didn't take a picture of Jill on top of the dresser!)