Under Water

Today was "not so hot". I woke to the sound of water splashing in the basement. That's never good. 

We'd had rain on and off all week, and heavy rain the night before. In fact, it was such a deluge that the gutters overflowed for at least an hour and a half- maybe much more. (I went to bed at some point after that.) I DO know that a wash tub that we left on the sandbox for rinsing off feet was filled completely with rain water, and we got a record 2.3 inches of rainfall yesterday. So we definitely got an unusually large amount in a short period of time. 

Anyway, I figured that the hole through the basement wall where the well pipe came through was leaking. The previous owners had replaced the pump just before moving and the hole had never been sealed. It WAS leaking there, but that water was nicely going down the nearby drain. But to my surprise and horror, the whole middle section of the basement was wet. There's a hairline crack between the poured cement walls and the three rows of cement block on top of that. The water came in there, presumably due to the gutters overflowing. It had dried up already around the walls, but it had pooled in the low places in the middle of the basement, surrounding the furnace and flooding my children's GIANT cardboard playhouse under the stairs. 

This playhouse was very elaborate. It started with moving boxes and grew from there. My 14 year old son engineered it. It had lights, speakers, a carpet, rooms with doors, etc. The carpet was underwater. The cardboard was wicking up the water. The whole thing needed to be dismantled. Sigh.... the kids were SO disappointed.

To top it off, the baby was terribly fussy today. He would fall asleep, but wake up the minute I put him down. And he was drooly and grumpy and crying a lot today in an unusual inconsolable way when he was awake. For the few times I got him to be in bed, I was down in the basement tearing down and mopping and wringing out water. (I got at least 4 gallons out that way, as well as some lovely blisters from wringing out the mop.) 

Between the dehumidifier and my mopping effort, there is no longer standing water in the basement, just wet cement, a stack of dry boxes, and a pile of broken down and soggy cardboard. But by dinner time, my kids were a bit wild. The 5 year old and 3 year old, who fight naps terribly, but who can't make it much past dinner time without at least a short one, were not monitored during their naps because of my efforts. So I don't think they slept. In addition, the needy baby meant they didn't get much attention today. This resulted in over-sensitive tear fests, angry tantrums, and uncooperativeness. 

I ended up sending one to bed early for an out-of-control outburst. The rest I tried to ready for bed one-handed with a drooling, squawker on my shoulder. During our nighttime routine I discovered that our tap water was cloudy and yellow. Ugh!

All the recent rains have led to flooding. We live near a river that is supposed to crest on Sunday night or Monday morning. All the little creeks have backed up. And the tremendous rainfall last night caused temporary flash flooding. Now the water table may have been affected or surface water may have seeped into the buried well cap. Now the concern is about bacteria in the well. I'll have to figure out how to collect a sample and find a lab to test it. Wonderful!

As far as drinking and cooking, I always use filtered water from the kitchen tap, so we probably won't get sick. But Some of the kids rinsed their teeth before I noticed, and we'd been washing our hands in it all day too. Hopefully that won't cause problems. 

Tomorrow I will be extra careful. I'll have to buy some jugged water for that. And until our water returns to normal, I can't wash dishes or laundry. Of course I have a day's worth of dishes already waiting. And I have a whole pail of cloth diapers that need tended to. I don't want to let them sit until the water is confirmed to be safe, but I can't exactly take the diapers to a laundromat either. Great.  

Did I mention that although it was 86 degrees earlier this week, there is a freeze warning tonight and a chance of snow, or that I'm at the end of the first week of my husband's two week business trip? He'll be in Asia all next week. Thunderstorms have disrupted the family's sleep for two nights. The little ones missed naps for several days. My daughters also have a choir concert tomorrow at lunch time to which I am supposed to bring a homemade treat for the reception that follows. I don't know how I'll manage a grumpy baby, getting everyone in their choir duds, etc. making a dessert, AND keeping a bored, hungry three year old and his tiny brother quiet at the concert. The rehearsal was hard enough to swing. Let's hope the baby doesn't scream for the half our trip there or that the three year old doesn't go nuclear when it's time to get buckled into his car seat- a thing that has suddenly become habitual for him. Sigh.

Oh well, that's tomorrow. I had better go disconnect the hose now and get some chores done. :)