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I just told you earlier this week that I had lots of plans of things to get done this week, but I got a little sidetracked to say the least.
I also wanted to write a blog post about choosing paint colors, because there are lots of walls around here full of paint sample blobs and the topic is on my mind (and I finally picked my colors!!).
One of my goals this week was to finish re-finishing my kitchen cabinets, and I’ve been using my dining room to work on all the doors.
In a cruel twist of fate, I was on the last side of ALL the doors, when I had to move the whole painting setup to the garage so that I could roll up the carpet here. Why, you may ask?!?!
The dining room is now blocked off to more efficiently pull the moisture out of the wood floor to try to save it (so it doesn’t have to be replaced and can just be repaired).
A few nights ago, I noticed water coming out of the wall in my garage. I checked every appliance in my house and every bathroom and couldn’t find a place where water was emerging.
But I did find water damage on the wall in the pantry, which was very weird, since it isn’t a wet place. That led us on a goose chase, and we had an HVAC guy out to check if the HVAC was leaking from the attic, but nope…
Turns out, when we moved into this house, 3 weeks ago from Saturday, the washer hose got plugged in without a very important washer. Whenever water went through that hose, the washer that made the hose connection tight was missing, so water just poured out into the drip pan in the wall, and then into the walls…
And there are so many walls connecting right here. That’s my dining room floor you can see through my laundry room right there, and my pantry floor to the right, and my garage floor to the left … See what I’m saying?! So many walls!!!
What I’m Doing Instead of Crying
This Water Lalapalooza 2016 has taken my week. Most of my plans have been tossed aside. Every day I can get one or two of the most important things done if I stay focused. Sometimes I just want to sit and cry, because I’m not even un-packed yet and this feels like the final straw, but what would falling apart do for me??
Life happens. We can count on things not going according to plan, and not in a dooms-day sort of way all the time. Sometimes good things take us off track too.
When life happens, we take the detour (because, well, we don’t always have a choice!). BUT, we get back en route when we can and we do what we can on the way.
I’m changing my plans with the rest of the week. While the de-humidifier and crazy-LOUD fans are running inside tomorrow, I’m going to go outside and spray paint a few things I’ll be re-purposing for the tops of my cabinets. I’m also going to straighten the garage so I have more room out there to work on some projects. That wasn’t what I planned on finishing this week, but it is productive too and I’ll take a win. Sometimes it’s just about Doing What You Can Do.
How’s your week going? As expected? Better??
Wishing you lots of smooth happy organizing ahead, or at least the ability to deal with whatever comes your way!
From my home to yours,
Mary
Mary,
1) It was so good to meet you last weekend. I wanted to spend time getting to know you, but you know how packed our blogger conferences are! (Maybe next time.)
2) I’m so sorry this happened. (Several years ago I came home from to a flooded first floor b/c a washing machine hose had come loose; I feel your pain.)
3) Thank you for making lemonade out of lemons and sharing it with us. You could whine and bellyache in an effort to get sympathy, but that wouldn’t be productive. You found ways to be productive amid the chaos. Huge score for you AND us!
Hoping for dry floors and walls soon, my friend.
You are so sweet! Yes, I was so happy I at least got to meet you! It was such a quick weekend – too quick. Here’s to next year!
Oh, I can so relate! Life is what happens when you make other plans. It’s better to have a positive attitude than to wallow in self pity. My mom used to say “this will never do” and it’s true. You just have to soldier on. Good for you. You are setting a good example for your kids. Thanks for taking the time to share with all of your loyal followers. Good luck!
Thank you so much for your comment, Cheryl. You are so encouraging… and I need encouragement too! 🙂 Bless you!
Ph, Mary. I feel your pain! we arrived at our cottage one time to find that the water heater had burst and we had water everywhere!! It turned out okay as it gave us the insurance money to re-do the cottage and update it!! We were able to get rid of the olive green carpets and the paneling – so much better!!
Should have started oh, Mary, not Ph!!
Sometimes a disaster can turn into a blessing! My Mom had a similar experience, she just got a whole new kitchen and all the updates she’s been wanting, thanks to a lot of water damage from a pipe bursting while she was away. Sure was a mess for a while, but it’s beautiful now! 🙂
That sounds like lemons turning into lemonade! I imagine the initial reaction was “ahhhh!!!!!”, but by the end “yay!!!!”. 🙂
Oh no!! It would have been nice of it to show itself BEFORE you started on a painting project in there! Sheeesh. I just love your honesty all the time. You show us real life, and what happens when it gets thrown for a loop! “…this feels like the final straw, but what would falling apart do for me??” YES! Totally this!! It does no good to worry and fret about things that are out of your control…even if they were things that were IN your control yesterday. We all just have to pick up and keep moving. Thanks for the reminder. Hope everything’s nice and dry soon!! 🙂
Luckily those are just sample paint blobs on the wall and I hadn’t started painting yet. Now I’ll paint it before all the furniture comes back in, lol, so there is a silver lining!!
Thank you, Tes, your comment really encouraged me!!!
Life does happen. So true. I love this post
Thanks, Mama!
I can SO relate! We have had a flooded basement 3 times in a year! Finally got it under control but it does mess things up. If you are like me…I say, GO AHEAD AND HAVE A GOOD CRY….Then, pick yourself up and go to work. It helps release some of the stress!
Oh no this must be so frustrating! Hope the repairs are quick! We had this happen in our half bathroom last fall, and it ended up being (sort of) a good thing since we got to rip out the laminate and have tile put down. Your dining room wood floors look gorgeous! Can’t wait to see more of the house.
Oh you poor thing! I am so sorry. Hope everything gets dried out and back together real soon.
Thank you – it’s on it’s way to drying out already. 🙂
HI Mary – So glad your things made it to TX and you’re getting settled! Sorry to hear about the water issue – ugh.
Something I’ve been using for a couple of years are paintable clear films. SureSwatch is one brand. They have them at Home Depot by the paint desk, at Sherwin Williams, etc. You paint the sample onto the sheet, let it dry and then stick the sheet onto the wall. I like it so much better than painting directly on the wall and our painter appreciates it, too, because there’s no need to try to cover a bunch of different colors of paint. 🙂
I thought about those paintable clear films, but I really wanted a ton of blobs all over (to test different lighting) and would have had to buy so many!! I’ll probably be the one painting, though, so at least no one else will have to be annoyed by them. 🙂 Great tip, though. I’ll remember that for the bedrooms.
Absolutely and I cut one sheet into multiple pieces exactly for the reason you state. I put them on different walls to see what the paint looks like in different lights. They usually come three to a pack so you can do several colors. 🙂
Awesome!