The flood of '10 - I never shared this story??

OMG! I can't believe I crafted this wonderful, heartwarming post and never shared it?  Wow. Let's go back a few months to when the employment opportunities looks grim...my credit card debt was increasing...and the sound of water dripping still made my eyes twitch!

November 26, 2010:

I thought I wrote a blog post about the great flood of '08 in our basement, but I can't seem to locate it.  Boy, that was a crazy time.  Lots of memories were drenched in basement water from a hole in the foundation that created a mini waterfall.  We have three sections in our basement - two for storage and one is the kid's play room. It was all soaked that year. Ugh.

We learned our lesson after that...we put everything in plastic bins.  We no longer have anything sitting on the ground...we ripped up and redid our entire basement flooring because it is used by the kids every day.

We were NOT going to be victimized again.

That was until Wednesday around 11:30 when my daughter shouted up from the basement "Mom. I have a problem. The carpet is all wet!"

No Mother-bleeping-way!!!  This was not happening again.

Oh yes sister, it was.  Only instead of a running stream down the wall that covers the floor, this time it was a spewing sump pump pipe that had essentially burst so I had a fountain on my hands - like the pretty ones you see lit up in Las Vegas - only it wasn't Vegas, there were no lights and it WAS NOT PRETTY!

I cried. There were Christmas gifts "stored" in the same area as my new fountain.  Christmas gifts that were now soaking, soggy messes of cardboard and plastic.

I called hubby in a panic because, while I pride myself in handing most household emergencies, I had NO IDEA how to get a sump pump to stop pumping into the air.  After praying I didn't die from electric shock, I stood in the ankle deep water, grabbed the plug and gave a pull.  The water from the ground may have stopped spewing, but the water from my tears had not...then it took about an instant to realize it was over.  Nothing I could do but start to mop up. And cry some more.

And then almost instantly I thought of families whose homes have burned down before the holidays, have been evicted and have lost their homes to foreclosure...and while my carpet was soggy and some gifts were now headed in the trash, I still had heat and a roof over my head. 

The moral of the story - don't pile your Christmas gifts anywhere near water pipes. And be thankful for what you DO have, not what you wish you HAD.  We'll be okay.  A little worn out, but just fine.

It was *that* good

For him, it was a KNOCKOUT of a day:



For her, there were screams of delight, and that's all a mother could ask for:



Until next year, Christmas, when we meet again.

My Night Before Christmas tale...abridged version

Twas the week of Christmas and all through the house, the kids were still fighting like two rabid mouse (Work with me, ok?!)

The stockings were hung by the chimney with care, in hopes of a big snow storm that missed us, how dare!

The children were nestled, all snug on the couch, begging for popcorn, and candy and such.

Mama in her PJs and Dad in his sweats, had found out the Falcons had just beat the Jets (go Pats!)

When out on the lawn there arose such a quake, the girls from next door must be home for school break.

Away from the couch I flew like a flash, tore open the chips and settled down with a dash. The TV glowed like a new fallen snow, but there was still nothing on it that we wanted to know.

When what to my wondering eyes should appear, but Rob Thomas on TNT in some odd looking gear. With a star-studded tribute to Christmas on hand, I knew in a moment I'd be hearing a band!

More rapid than eagles my snackies they came, and I laughed and I cried when I called them by name:

"Now potato chips, Now cupcakes, Now Reeses and cheese! On crackers! On Veggie Dip! On Rice Krispies Treats! To the top of my tongue, to the pit of my stomach. Now dash away! Dash away! Dash away all!"

And then, in a twinkling, I heard in my gut all the grumbling and stirring of each little nut. As I drew up my hand and was turning around, more treats and goodies is what I soon found.

I was dressed in my stretch pants, from my head to my foot, and I know all that food I could easily put,

In my stomach, down my throat, in my belly with glee. But I had to stop quickly before it fattened me.

So I stepped away slowly and made a big sigh,

"Merry Christmas to all and to all a sugar high!"

If you promise not to tell...

You can read about what I bought a couple of special young ladies in my life for Christmas here: New England Mamas

And can I just add that I am in COMPLETE denial that Christmas is a week away. I just started enjoying holiday music on the radio and the 5th rerun of Rudolph on ABC Family.

Bah humbug. Give me one more week to soak it all in, please!

He's never coming down

That little blob covered in 6 blankets and 37 stuffed animals is my son. And he may never sleep close to the ground ever again. He did tell the Elf on the Shelf to be sure and let Santa know he has bunk beds now, because last time he came he only had one bed. Details, details.

Starlight is a fraud

That elf on the shelf that we have - he/she's a fraud. Nothing magical about it at all.

My kids have done the following to each other since he/she's arrival:

hit
pinched
taunted
teased
cried
whined
tortured
screamed
shouted
swore (new phrase from my daughter while doing homework last night was "Suck it". You heard me. Suck it. I think she saw the horror in my eyes and said, "Is that bad?")
whacked
pushed
elbowed
kicked
fought
and all around ignored my threats that Starlight is watching and will tell Santa everything.

So if you are thinking of spending the cash, don't bother. And for those who watched Modern Family last night - can you really follow through on canceling Christmas, cuz I'm just about there?

First flakes of the season

This brought a little bit of Christmas joy to our house this weekend.

Pretty, right? But I still can't help feeling that things are a tad off this year. This year was the first year I didn't take the picture of the kids for our Christmas cards. I missed shouting, "Get closer. Stop making goofy faces. Pretend you love each other. Closer. Smile. Smile. Smile."

We went out to choose our tree yesterday and when we put it up it ended up being 2 feet too short for my liking. We were trudging through a mud pit at our local farm (in my favorite UGGS - go ahead, call me petty, but I love those boots) so we sort of rushed picking out a tree and the kids were cold and repeating "Mommy, do you like this day? I don't like this day with all this mud."

We took a horse-drawn carriage ride - around the parking lot - of the local strip mall in town - in the freezing cold - and then visited Mrs. Claus and her very, well, uhm, well, "Elfy" Elf. He was certainly into the role.





To date, we haven't gone to see Ole Saint Nick yet. Every Christmas event we've been to we've missed him by a few minutes (or a whole day) and now the thought of squeezing in a visit to the Mall Santa is not top of my list.

I have no exciting gifts for anyone this year. I can't think of anything that screams "Wait-until-you-open-this-you-aren't-going-to-believe-what-is-under-the-tree-I-am-the-most-creative-gift-giver-ever!" It seems iTunes gift cards just don't solicit that reaction. *Sigh*

I know - I know. Those are all "things" that are making me sad. I'll turn it around. I just need a little Christmas magic and for that I lean on the spiked egg nog sights and sounds of the season.

We attended hubby's company Christmas party last Friday. It was fun pretending to be part of an organization of more than 12 men. I forgot what that was like. My daughter took a picture of us dressed up...then her brother wanted in on it...with the snowman...and I swear our house isn't sinking to the right.



Tomorrow I volunteer at the Santa shopping day for the school. I shall steer 3rd and 4th graders to the perfect gift for their parents - for under $10.

Wednesday is supposed to bring more snow and I'll get out to do more shopping this weekend and maybe something will jump out at me as creative and fantastic as a gift. Next week is the Christmas Show for the K, 1st and 2nd graders at school - that is always so fun(ny).

I hope you are finding ways to stir your inner-Christmas spirit. Share them so I can join in. Or check out what some of the local ladies are doing here: New England Mamas