Chaos?! …or a blessing in disguise?!

I'm sure it seems I've dropped off the face of the Earth this past couple of weeks…. life has been a little chaotic around here.  I think everyone goes through seasons of chaos, don't we?!

Before I share with you where I've been,  I just want to send a shout out to those of you who have missed me and noticed that I havent been posting.  It makes a girl feel good to know she's been missed!  Thanks to Jennifer and my other readers for missing me!  I'll be back later to add some photos and will hopefully even come back with a project to share (I had some ready for you last week when we ended up in the mess you'll read about below!)

Tracking back to Spring Break we had another accident on our stairs.  Lennon (my 3 yr old) tripped at the very top and put his teeth into the wood trim (covering the edge of the slate landing).  It was a scary mess at first but after a trip to the dentist to get checked out and antibiotics to prevent infection (for his cut up lips and gums) he managed to keep all teeth intact!  After a follow-up a week later his mouth seems just fine. …he's pretty lucky!  

We seemed to recover from that episode and with a now cautious on the stairs Lennon, we seemed to have moved on from drama and basements or stairs….I should have KNOWN better!  <wink>  ….

….Last Wednesday during one of my 4 scrapbook clubs of the month, Ryan was TRYING to fill the tub for Lennon to have a bath but the water just wouldn't heat up!  … you guessed it, the hot water tank had blown!  The water tank is next to our finished rec. room where my studio is.  So, thankfully Ryan caught it quickly, cleaned up the mess and turned the valve off to the water tank.  We made the necessary calls and arranged for a new tank to be installed the next day. …disaster narrowly avoided!  Phew!  We were feeling pretty thankful it wasn't worse!  Ryan came home a little early from work the next day to make way through to the water tank so it could be replaced …. but to our surprise the disaster we thought we had avoided was quietly making a big mess right beneath our feet! What we thought we had narrowly avoided was just slightly post-poned!   The floor was soaking wet and had run under and through our finished basement floors and part way up some walls!  The problem was suddenly much bigger than just a hot water tank.  Turns out the valve that was shut off, was broken so water just kept leaking through the basement!  With a busy schedule ahead,there was no time for panic, we just had to move into action…

I was actually supposed to be packing to head away to a scrapbooking retreat for the weekend after finishing up a round of 4 scrapbook clubs, a Stamp-a-Stack and a project class.  I was going to be returning from the retreat to run my 3 stamp clubs, a downline gathering and another project class, but the mess in the basement threw a small wrench into that.  …just a small one.  We had the insurance adjustor and the restoration company here first thing Friday morning.  Because my Stampin' Studio is in the basement and we have plenty of other goodies in storage downstairs I was asked to give instruction on nearly every item to be wrapped, packed and stored all while trying to pack up to take projects with me to work on for the weekend.  With the help of some friends (THANK-YOU!!!!) and a great insurance company that brought us a POD to move things out to, the job was much easier than it otherwise might have been!  We managed to keep our check-ups for the boys at the Dr. that afternoon, get packed and move out the necessary items so that the crew could rip out our floors.  They were very considerate of my business space in the bsmt and did what they could to protect my class space so that I can still run my classes until they come to rip out the rest of the floors and replace them.  They've honestly been amazing so far! 

I was hesitant to go away, but Ryan said to go away anyway since all that could really be done was wait for things to dry.  So, after a busy weekend away, I came home Saturday night and then Sunday morning had to clear 2-3 feet of boxes off my stamp table as well as furniture away from my tables to make space to create, prep and get ready for class and my downline gathering.  It's been a whirlwind of a time …some might call it chaos… but I'm going to go with a 'blessing in disguise'!  

The mess could have been far worse.  I won't deny that it's been hectic but in all honesty, we are feeling pretty lucky that contrary to other places in the World, a little water in our basement is able to be fixed by making a few phone calls.  All we needed to do was make a call to replace the hot water tank, bring in a crew & the help of plenty of friends and now we'll soon be on our way to getting some renovations.  There could have been far worse damage to my Studio.  Aside from having to replace all the floors (which will mean packing up all my studio stuff to put in the new floors) my supplies etc. could have been ruined and that would have been much more disastrous.  There may be some headaches along the way and there have definitely been some already, but in the end we'll have some of the renos we have always wanted (like a removal of the hideous red marble looking bar!)!  ..maybe we'll see about putting in stairs that aren't so steep and adding carpet to soften them a little?!  

…some of our friends tell us, 'if we didn't have bad luck, we wouldn't have any' … HOWEVER, I think we'll stick with BLESSING in disguise!  I'm excited for the changes this will bring!  There wasn't time to panic last week, I'll try not to let it set in now!  The boys have enjoyed watching the different crews that have come to help out and LOVED the truck that delivered the POD.  I missed it, but apparently it's quite the contraption!  

So, short story made long (this is me afterall!) I apologize that I've been MIA and thank-you for coming back!  I'll be sure to continue to post and hopefully I'll be able to get back to a regular schedule after the next day or two!  Thanks for sticking with me!

To thank-you for your patience I want to share a little blog candy/contest!  Please post a comment to share your 'Blessing in Disguise' and I'll award a gift by drawing a #!  Thanks Everyone!

Have a fantastic week!