That Nightmare ...

You know that nightmare you have ... only you realize you are awake? And it is real? Last night I drove up my driveway at 8:50 or so and heard what sounded like sprinklers running. I thought to myself "Who is running sprinklers at this time of year?" So I went to investigate. It was me, my faucet in the back yard had sprung a leak. My back yard was flooded around my house. Pure panic set in. Honestly my first thought was "But no! I am having people come to my house tomorrow, I cannot have a flood!" Never mind the cost of the flood, it cannot inconvenience my guests! So I ran inside to grab a flashlight, throw my things down, called Dad for backup, then braved the flood to shut off the water. Lucky for me the only damage was outside, and it was minimal. I survived my first homeowner flood.

My big plan last night was to make the majority of the food for tonight so I did not have to rush home and cook. I shake my head. Not so much, I flooded instead. So I thought I would get up early this morning to do that instead.

When I woke up this morning I thought it was mighty cold in my house. I got to work making this soup for tonight and walked past a heating vent ... blowing cold air. My house was a balmy 62 degrees. (balmy is sarcastic!) So I called Dad again, who thought I would be better served to call Uncle Ed, who installed the furnace, to come look at it. I did, he said he would be there in an hour. So during this hour I was able to complete the things I wanted to get done last night. Ed came, fixed the furnace in about 20 minutes, charged me a reasonable fee, told me my house looked nice, and left. I love Uncle Ed. My house started heating up, I got ready for work, and walked outside ....

... to hear the sound of a sprinkler running again. I was like "Cuss NO!!" (no I really used the word 'cuss' there, not a swear!) So I ran around back, my yard looked fine ... well as fine as it can since it was already icy and slightly frozen. I walked around my whole house and could not find anything wrong, but I kept hearing the noise. So I looked in my neighbor's yard and their faucet was doing the same thing mine was yesterday only bigger. Much bigger. So I ran to their door and started pounding. No one answered. I braved my uneasy feeling at just walking into the yard of someone I have never met to turn it off. It would not turn off. I went to another neighbor I had never met, knocked on their door, and asked for help. Carl seems nice. He grabbed his tools, and followed me over. I knocked again for good measure, no one answered. We discovered it was not the faucet, it was the pipe from the house had actually burst and there was no way for us to turn it off. Neither of us knew what to do, so we called the fire dispatch, but the police came. They could not get it off, so they called the fire department and public works to come over and shut off all of their water. They told me I could go then, which was good because my pants were soaked, I was freezing, and needed to get warm. My house is not warm yet, so I actually was looking forward to my office because it is nice and toasty! I am still cold, and I have been sitting here for 2 hours ... in sweat pants ... at my office. Professional? You bet!

So my real life nightmare adventure is over ... or is it? See in my nightmare I have a very clear vivid picture of my house falling apart some more. The guests coming over? A potential roommate ... who reads this blog ... and I adore!! So of course I want to impress her. Of course I want to rent part of my house to someone I know, respect, and love. So of course things fall apart because she is coming to see my house tonight. Of course. But then of course she is great and totally understands things happen which are out of my control, because she is pretty kick-cuss cool. (The thing with me using 'cuss' instead of choosing a swear is to let your imagination run wild! Fill in anything: kick-apple cool, kick-kleenex cool, ... etc)

It has been an adventure. And I would like to get off the ride for a minute. You know when you go to Disneyland and you ride the Indiana Jones ride, Splash Mountain, Space Mountain, The Matterhorn and Big Thunder Mountain fairly close together? And you really crave It's a Small World just so you can relax for a moment? That is what I feel like right now. All I need for the rest of the day is to sit on a blue boat and watch silly animated characters who have the same 4 moves that they rotate through and sing that annoying song over and over and over again. "It's a world of laughter, a world of tears, it's a world of hopes, it's a world of fear, there's so much that we share, that it's time we're aware, it's a small world after all." I need a Small World day!! Now having said that, the last time I was on Small World the ride broke down. We were stuck on the boat for a while.