is there any more pie?

Today was a nine-errand trip to town.  When I’m at the lake, a nine-errand trip to town would be considered normal.  Here?  Not so much.

The most important errand of all was picking up the Christmas cards at CVS.  I didn’t send cards last year.  I figure if I manage it every other year I’m doing just fine.

I haven’t told you about the Funny Grandson having a medical issue on Thanksgiving night and having to fly home with his parents early the next morning.  He ended up in the hospital, had very successful surgery and his parents, grandparents, uncle and aunt eventually recovered from the stress and worry.

Eventually.

He’s fine now.  He’s back in school, back taking drum lessons and madly hinting about what he’d like for Christmas.

But back to my day of errands….

The Saturday afternoon after Thanksgiving (as we waited for the latest round of test results from the hospital), right before sunset, Banjo Man, Will and I decided to take a short walk on a rocky beach to get some air.

I gave Will my phone and asked him to take a picture of his parents for a Christmas card.  I’d intended to get a full-family pic on Thanksgiving Day, but to my disappointment not one of us remembered to do it.

I’d forgotten to put on make up.  Or lipstick.  Neither one of us had slept well, hence the dark circles.  But Will took some pictures and we found some interesting rocks and breathed in some ocean air.

This is not our Christmas card.  Really, who wants to look at two old folks wishing them a Merry Christmas?  Why did I ever think that would be a good idea?

We needed more sleep.

So I am sending out cards with various happy events depicted in tiny photos.  It was a good year.  They all are.

I love getting Christmas cards, especially with pictures.

The errands today took quite a while.  Long lines, two car accidents (not mine), one almost-car accident (almost mine but not my fault), sunny skies, cold winds, a young man in the hardware store with rage issues and a highly anticipated Subway sandwich made up my hours away from the house.

I arrived home to learn that Banjo Man had taken on our homeowners’ insurance company and demanded action in a very loud, no-nonsense voice.  We’d been very patient, but we’re growing tired of people not showing up or calling us when they say they will.  Turns out our claim “disappeared” into a computer system last Wednesday and was eaten by rabid cyber wolves.

Or something.

So this Thursday morning a part of my kitchen floor will be ripped up and inspected for mold and standing water and leaks into the basement.

Thursday morning is also when the electrician has promised (promised!!!!!) to arrive to fix everything that is wrong.

It should be quite a day. 

My errands are done, so I will just sit by the window and wait for someone to come down the driveway.

Our driveway with new gravel.  Gravel is always good.

Friday morning surprise.

At 3:30 AM, the day after Thanksgiving, we took our Texas family to the airport.  It wasn’t part of the vacation plan, but the Funny Grandson’s mysterious stomach issues had occurred again and it was important that he get home to see his doctor asap.

Exhausted and worried, Banjo Man and I were back in bed before 5.  When I woke at 9:30 and staggered out to the kitchen to join Banjo Man and Will for coffee, it was to discover water had flooded underneath the Pergo laminate flooring more than two feet from the sink.   Banjo Man was collecting bath towels.

We thought our plumbing was fixed, but it wasn’t.  There is a little flaw…which means that when there is too much water going down the drain at once, the pipes can’t handle it and it overflows.  I keep a dishpan under that pipe connection just in case, but it has stayed dry since last winter.

And I forgot all about it.

And we had done a lot of dishes on Thursday, both by hand and by dishwasher.  A lot of water went down–or didn’t go down–that drain.  The dish pan was overflowing.

It looked bad, but I have to tell you that it didn’t seem like that big a deal at the time.  I was experiencing Major Grandmother Stress as I worried about FG’s health.  A minor kitchen flood was barely a blip on my radar.

I reminded Banjo Man that years ago we’d had a leak in the air conditioner in my office, resulting in a warped area of Pergo about 12″ x 18″.  It took a year or so, but the boards flattened by themselves and now you would never know.

We’ve been clinging to that hope, but it doesn’t look good.  The boards are warping in a 3 by 8 foot area.  We’ve piled all sorts of weights on them.

We used a portable heater to dry the area.

This was my idea.

Now we are using anything we can think of to apply weight to the warping boards in the hope that they will settle back into place.

This was Banjo Man’s idea.  It’s the very, very heavy top of my old white desk.

It gives me an excuse to stay out of the kitchen, so it’s not all bad.

But I think it’s time to call our homeowner’s insurance to see if they cover things like this.

Suggestions, anyone?