When it rains it pours

Yesterday was one of those days where you step back and think "why is this happening to me?" It started as a typical sleep-deprived day. I hadn't slept all night because the kids kept waking up wanting to sleep in my bed, so by 5 am I gave up trying to make them sleep in their rooms and everyone was in our king size bed. The husband got up to leave for work at 5:30 am, so by then, me and the three kids got to spread out a litle more and had more room to sleep.

I figured I'd sleep till 8:30 am and begin the day, but when I woke up, the kids were still sleeping (they were up all night too after all), so I decided to go back to sleep. We finally woke up at 11:00 am, damn late but since I'm a stay at home mom and none of my kids go to school yet, it's all good. So we finally changed diapers and did all our morning stuff and marched downstairs for breakfast (at noon). While I was cooking, the kids found a piece of styrofoam from a gift someone had given to us (it was a really nice clock, but I forgot to dispose of the box and the styrofoam padding it came in, just left it by the front door thinking I'd throw it in the garbage can tomorrow.) Well, the kids got to it before I remembered to throw it out, and proceeded to tear it up into pieces and spread it all over the family room. I made a mental note to clean that up after I do the dishes (which included last night's dishes as well, so big mountain of dishes). After breakfast, I made the mistake of using the powder room downstairs with the faulty flush. This toilet has been giving us trouble for a while. It keeps running unless you tap the handle after you flush. Anyway, I use it and flush, and all is good. But then I decide to wipe my nose with toilet paper and flush that down the toilet, and the toilet OVERFLOWS! We are talking about gallons and gallons of water rushing out. I thougt it was going to flood the house. Then in a big gush, the toilet sucked the water down. Damn, I thought, now I have to clean the bathroom floor, in addition to vacuuming the family room and doing the dishes. Then the fire alarms in the house go off, every single one! I was like WTF is happening, can the disasters just stop??? Now the kids are scared and crying and I'm running all over the house trying to find the source of the fire but can't even smell smoke. I call the husband, but no answer. So I said, fuck it, I'm just calling 9-1-1. As soon as I got a human voice on the line, I went hysterical. I was like "Help, all the fire alarms in the house are going off, I can't find the fire, I have three kids in the house.....I don't know what to do!" (I started crying here, I'm so embarrased about that). The EMS guy asked me if there was anywhere I could go with the kids, and I was like "what? No!" So he told me to dress the kids for the outdoors and stand outside of the house while the fire trucks and police come. It was raining outside and we were all still in our pj's (the girls were wearing blanket sleepers with the feet attached). It would take me forever to get everyone's jackets and shoes on so I thought it would be better if I just got in my car with the kids and waited inside a heated minivan while help arrived. My 3 year old son put on his slip on shoes, and I grabbed the girls, my purse, cell phone, and house phone and car keys and ran into the minivan. We pulled out of the driveway and parked across the street. As I waited for help to arrive, I thought if the house burns down, at least we are all safe. Coats, clothes, diapers, all that can be bought again, but thank God we are safe in our car, and we can drive to my Auntie's house 45 minutes away if things get really out of control. Now I was really glad I decided to wait in the car. What if we were out standing outside in the rain and the house did blow up along with my minivan in the garage?? Finally the cops came, and then the fire trucks with lights and sirens blaring. The kids were delighted with the show, I was a nervous wreck.

After all was said and done, the Fire Dept. and Police told me what happened was that when the toilet overflowed, the gush of water seeped through the floor boards and down into the room below, which is the furnace room in the basement. The water soaked the furnace room and short circuited the fire detector. That detector made every detector in the house go off. Now we need to get the toilet replaced, call a water damage restoration service to clean out the water rot in our basement, and get a contractor to put up new drywall and insulation. Damn.

I went back inside and put the kids in their beds, threating to send them too the zoo if they woke up and cried for me, (since they are afraid of the zoo, this threat works, sometimes). I vacuumed the family room, cleaned the bathroom, did the dishes, cooked dinner, and then called the plumber and Serve-Pro, the restoration company. The husband had come home early from work to assess the damage and call the insurance company (he had called back while I was waiting for the police in the minivan) .

We are looking at upwards of a $1,000 in damages from this damn incident. All because I decided to wipe my nose with toilet tissue and double flush. I'm so tired. Today I tried to take a nap when the kids napped, but just could rest so I decided to blog out my troubles. This weekend we are going to the Home Depot to get a new toilet (one with overflow protection) and sometime this week our basment is going to get pumped. I've had enough fun for the new year, I just want to get some sleep now.