Beginning of 2009

i've had such a horrendous start to the new year, i'm going to rant a bit here before moving on to fairer topics. the last 2 weeks have been so full of...emergencies...it's been like boot camp. first of all, Phil leaves for 2 wks to bask in the lovely warmth of Vietnam. and most of the people who should be perhaps concerned for my well-being, showed only concern for Phil's safety. ahem! from the moment he takes off, i've been bombarded with illnesses from both children. first, a run to the ER for the first time ever in my life. fortunately, it was a popped elbow for Claire and they fixed it immediately. phew! next, Skye and i were up most of the night due to an ear infection. another run to urgent care and a day off from school for Skye. then, i breathed a sigh of relief - everyone seemed back to normal. then it was frantic packing for our trip to LA. sound crazy with 2 kids on my own? THAT was a breeze compared to everything else. so i'll talk about the trip and put up photos later. we returned to the oh-so-cold Madison. our kind neighbours had shovelled our sidewalk and driveway, i was so thankful, not realizing how much i'd be relying on them the next day. i was slightly worried when i saw that our bathtub drain was frozen. i had dripped the tap in the tub to PREVENT the freezing. the taps were frozen too. i probably should have called a plumber right away, but it was late and i had a girl throwing up all over the house on my hands. i fell asleep exhausted, hoping the worst was over. i woke up the next morning to the screams of Claire downstairs and what sounded like a pressure cooker going off. i ran downstairs to see water shooting out of a hole in the kitchen ceiling, all over the kitchen. i immediately grabbed a bucket and put in under the hole, only to have the bucket fill up in a matter of seconds. i ran down to the basement--water was up to my ankles. i had no idea what to turn to turn off the water supply. i ran, drenched in my PJs, to my neighbour's house. fortunately, he was walking out the door for work. he ran over and after several minutes of figuring out which handle to turn, he shut off everything in the house. thanks to Skype, i called Phil who was by now in Singapore and he managed to talk to our handyman and get a plumber out to the house. my phone was under the blast of the water and was completely useless. my kind neighbour took Skye and Claire in for the morning (her own children were home due to snow day) and i set about mopping up the water. once the plumber came, he located the source of the explosion and returned the heat and water supply to the house. we can't bathe for the next several days until the home insurance people come and inspect the damages, but at least we have heat and running water again.

i was so so exhausted i couldn't even cry. but, on the brighter side, i'm glad it happened after we got home rather than when we were away. and i'm glad Phil is coming home tomorrow. i'm saving the basement for him to clean up! we are very fortunate all the water drained out. i was really quite surprised. i was thinking i needed a sump pump or something, but no. it's just damp and cold downstairs. of course, the cold outside doesn't help.

it has snowed some more, so i need to shovel outside. what, with all the mopping and the shovelling, i'm really getting sick of this cold. instead of doing either, i'm blogging instead. i'll return to better topics another day.