Wow, it's been such an incredibly busy and unusual week, I don't even know where to begin. I have so many things to tell you about.
First, let's begin with the watermelon Ed and I purchased about a week ago while grocery shopping. We bought it on a Monday evening, set it on the counter for a couple of days to await slicing, cubing, melon-balling, and on Thursday morning of last week, I noticed something was amiss. I had just gotten a refill on my coffee that I wanted to enjoy at my leisure. For whatever reason, I looked toward the melon, which sat near the back corner of the counter top, and I noticed there was liquid watermelon (sounds redundant, I know) on my kitchen wall. Then I looked at the melon and saw there was a hole in it. It looked as if it had exploded and spewed melon onto the wall and counter. I touched the melon and tried to pick it up, but quickly realized the entire shell lacked substance and it would have been like picking up a jellyfish. It was very unstable and smelly, and disgusting watermelon guts were oozing out of it uncontrollably all over the counter. All I could utter was "Ewwwww....omigod.... eeewwwww....hello?....ewwwww......omigod....can someone help me?....omigod!" I'm not sure what I really wanted anyone else to do, other than be there to witness this bizarre event.
I decided I needed to get it onto a cookie sheet and move it over to the sink. I gently shuffled it onto the cookie sheet, much like an orderly moves a patient over to a new hospital bed. I slowly and carefully moved toward the sink (which, trust me, was not far away) and what happened next, I'm not entirely sure. The melon started to move, wobble, whatever, and then kaboom! It tipped, popped, whatever, and rotten melon was all over my counter, the front of my cabinets, on the floor, on my pajamas, and in the drawers. I liken it to a puffy, dead animal carcass that you might see laying on the side of the road that's been poked with a stick by a bunch of curious kids.
Thankfully, Ed was working at home that day (or so he thought) and all I could do was scream in shock as I stood drenched in watermelon guts. Alex jumped out of bed and came down to see if I was okay. He thought I was seriously hurt. As soon as he saw I was only wearing watermelon, he went back to bed.
The clean up was going to require a professional. It took Ed a good couple of hours to get the job done. The floor had to be mopped, the counter wiped down, and drawers wiped out. I had to immediately throw my clothes into the washer. It smelled absolutely putrid. I, of course, threw what remained of the melon into a garbage bag and returned it to Kroger for a new one. No questions asked. I'm sure they could smell me coming a mile away.
On Friday night at 12:30, (actually Saturday morning), during the second record setting 100-year rain fall we've had in two years, we were awaken with a jolt to discover that water was spilling into our egress window into the beautifully finished basement and obviously had been doing so for sometime. It was a horrible sight to see. The outside electricity that powers the portable sump pump we've installed in the egress window area, went out, thus no pump. An alarm on the back-up sump pump which kicks in to support the main sump was going off and woke us up. When we got down stairs in all of our panic, we looked at the window well and it had at least two feet of water in it gushing through the window seams. I felt like I was on the Titanic seeing the water pouring in. It was a helpless, sick feeling. What was even more disturbing were the earthworms that washed in with the water. That was really the lowest point. Worms on my carpet, trying to burrow into my carpet was just too much. It's still too upsetting for me to discuss in detail, however, I'm happy to report that the insurance people sent a company out to dry the carpet (it is salvageable), rip up the padding, and clean and disinfect. I know it could have been much worse.
First off, it was ground water, not sewage, so that's a HUGE plus. Secondly, it's not like we had inches of standing water all over the basement, more like a gigantic puddle. No furniture, walls, or possessions were damaged, and I'm starting to see some light at the end of this tunnel. I'm sure there will be follow ups to this topic when I'm able to look back and laugh at it. Yesterday, Michael Rosenberg of the Free Press had a funny little blurb about his experience with his basement flood which also occurred on Friday night. Hopefully, I'll be able to follow suit some day and say "It's over and done with, like water under the pool table."
On Saturday we attended four graduation parties. I felt like I was speed-partying. We had our party scheduled all planned out and then it all blew up in our face as we got a late start due to water restoration people being at our house (who by the way, were wonderful). The plan for me was to pace myself on food and drink. However, after having been up until 4:00 a.m. and only getting three hours of sleep, and being an emotional wreck, I arrived at the first party famished and ready for an alcoholic beverage. By the end of the night, I was stuffed and my bladder felt as full as my egress window. However, it was a wonderful way to forget about our troubles the night before and commiserate with friends who also had their own water issues to deal with. The weather (thank you God) was beautiful and we are not expected to get any rain until perhaps Thursday.
Today is the second day of summer school for Cam. I was astounded to see how many people go to summer school. Seriously, the traffic is as bad as a regular school day! As I sat at the light waiting to pull out of the school driveway, it was funny to watch the cars pulling in. Parents (many still in their pajamas I'm sure) hauling their kid to the school at 7:00 a.m. on a beautiful sunny, summer day. The kids in the passenger seats looked as if they were vampires and couldn't stand to be in the bright sunny daylight. Eyes half closed, hands blocking the sun's rays, and body language that screamed "I'm so tired and I hate this."
Yesterday, however, there was a bright spot to my week. You may recall my SweeTarts jelly bean posting from a week or so ago. I had shared it with the folks from Nestle asking them how and when can I get some jelly beans all year round. Well, you'll be happy to know (or maybe jealous) that my new best friend, Patricia, sent some complimentary packages of these little treats which arrived yesterday. When the doorbell rang, I thought it was the water restoration people returning to check on their work. Imagine my delight when I saw a box at my doorstep that read Nestle. You've never seen anyone open a box faster. Patricia reminded me that these jelly beans are still only available at Easter, however, they are coming out with some new stuff and I will keep you apprised of whatever else may come my way (hint, hint, Patricia). It was really a double-edged sword for me. I felt so honored to be the recipient of free jelly beans, however, it would mean that I would have to share. I've instructed the boys NOT to open any bags of jelly beans willy-nilly and we will be allotting 10 beans per day to make them last as long as possible. Thank you, Patricia. You have no idea how much that made my day. N-E-S-T-L-E-S, Nestles makes the very best--jelly beans. Holy crap, I'm delirious and either need more sleep or more sugar.
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