December 3, 2003

Today started out so well! And really, if I have to compare good and bad, there was a lot more good. It's just that the bad was a doozy.

I was up early and had plenty of time to get breakfast ready, and spend some time in my personal devotions. To sit down with a cup of tea and my bible was such a joy. I know it put me in the best frame of mind to deal with the rest of my day.

Reagan and I started school by 9 o'clock. Excellent for us! I started a stew in the crock-pot while Reagan worked. We had made it through Religious Ed. and Language Arts before Dominic interrupted us. His beard trimmer had conked out and desperately needed to trim his beard. He asked me to go to Wal-mart and find him another. Since I had decided that this year we would buy an artificial tree (I know, I never thought I'd do it either!) I figured it would be a good idea to go.

I left Dominic with instructions for Spelling and Math and took off. I got a six and a half foot un-lit tree for $40! But that's slightly off topic. I came home to find the workman at our apartment fixing the shower in our bathroom and the dryer. Hallelujah! In Dominic's excitement to have tools in the house, he totally forgot about Reagan's assignments, so nothing much was accomplished in my absence.

In my excitement I tried out my dryer, and found that not only was it quiet, but it was actually drying my clothes. We turned out attention to the Christmas tree and within an hour it was assembled, lit, garlanded, decorated, and topped with a lit star! Reagan was thrilled, and so was I. I fixed lunch, put baby down for a nap and started cookies.

Reagan and I got back to work after I had a late lunch, and I decided it was time to do another load of laundry. Big mistake. Turns out that just as all had been put right, something went wrong! The fill valve broke on the washer and within the space of a few minutes our laundry closet, hallway, bathroom, and kitchen were being flooded with water. I couldn't believe how much water came out in such a short amount of time! My carpet was like slush. Every step brought up 1/2 an inch or more of water. It was actually moving under the carpet to the outside hall! I called the office and got maintenance up right away.

Now the house is in disorder. They had to bring up an extractor to get rid of most of the water, and there is a big carpet fan trying to dry the hallway. After all the work the guy did this morning we now get a brand spankin' new washer/dryer! I rewarded our hardworking maintenance men with fresh baked cookies, and one of the guys really wanted to stay for dinner as our house smelled of the stew that had been cooking all day.

Everything that was in the laundry closet is in my hall, and all the kids stuff in the bathroom is on their counter. Wet towels are in their tub. The fan is fairly noisy and needs to run all night. I had to bathe the kids in my shower tonight, which went over like a lead balloon with Piper, let me tell you.

If I was superstitious I'd say the fates thought I was getting too much accomplished. School work, devotions, cookies, stew, a meatloaf, the tree, laundry, a science experiment involving celery (finally!), a new experiment with the sea-monkeys, reading stories, and I had been planning to make home-made play-doh. The play-doh will just have to wait I guess.

So, all in all, not a bad day. Just one BIG crisis. This is definitely one of those days that I was happy to be a renter. I had people here so quickly, and I didn't have to write them a check.

So, again, there are many kinds of education. Today Reagan not only learned from books, he learned first-hand about mechanics as I had to explain to him where the water was coming from and why. And he saw mommy handle a household emergency with patience and a calm that I can only say had to came from above. It's a rare thing where I still manage to stay on top of day that's trying to get on top of me!