(A continuation from the post below)
So we made it through our anniversary weekend. Our eyes were clearly focused on the prize that awaited us at the end of the week. Some much needed R & R at the Hilton Hill Country Resort and Spa was the prize we were seeking. Gram was on the schedule the watch the girls for us and all we had to do was make it through 1 more week. Traveling is a big part of my job, and this week had me making a return trip to Baton Rouge for meetings with our support teams in our corporate office. This would be just a quick 2 day trip. Up on Tuesday morning, back on Thursday evening. Then, one more day in my home office, which was mostly blocked by a long webinar session.
So Tuesday, I was up bright and early. I caught the 7am flight to Houston without issue. When we missed the connecting flight to Baton Rouge, I probably should have taken this queue as my last chance to head home, crawl back into bed and try this week over again the next day. But that didn’t happen. It was late afternoon before we made it into the offices in Baton Rouge. The bulk of our day was pretty much wasted at the airport in Houston. While I was on my way to dinner with some co-workers, I fielded a call from Brenda. That evening she had taken Grace to swim class, and by now, they were home. It was about bath time, and Brenda had told me that morning that she was planning on getting the girls to bed early that night, so the call was not unexpected at all. Surely, my day in the Houston airport was the worst story we had to tell that evening, at least I thought so until I answered the phone to hear Brenda in tears.
Brenda is a pretty tough cookie. She likes her routines, and she has her quirks, but she has done very well to adjust to having both girls when I travel. So when she is in tears, then the news is definitely not petty. I asked her what was wrong and she began to tell me the story. As I mentioned it was about bath time, she had both girls in their bathroom, the bath tub was filling with water, and she was getting Hailey ready to get in. The toilet had clogged in the girl’s bathroom, so she sent Grace into our master bath to use the bathroom before her bath. Once Grace returned, she got both girls into the tub and let them play for a bit. After awhile, she noticed that she could still hear water running, which shouldn’t be the case since they were all in the girl’s bathroom, and the tub had already been filled.
Figuring that the toilet in the master bath was still running, she went to check on it to find, once again… for the second time in 3 days, a toilet overflowing from the bowl. This time though, it was just her and the girls. She got the water turned off and made her way downstairs to retrieve the shop vac, which was still on the back patio drying out from our weekend adventure with the powder room. Big problem though, now that she was downstairs, she could see the real damage. It was now raining in our dining room, directly below the master suite upstairs. This was a big problem, and a handy shop vac was not going to do the trick.
We are extremely blessed to have family nearby. I will be forever grateful that Tom and Cheryl, and Shannon and the boys were able to drop everything and come help Brenda. They moved furniture and tried to contain to them mess as best they could. By the end of the night, Blackmon Mooring had been out to our house and sopped up all the water that they could. The carpet in the master bath and closet was a total loss, so out it came along with the padding. They also had to cut a wide strip of the carpet along 2 walls of the master bedroom, again, along with the padding. The baseboards were removed and holes were drilled in the sheetrock to allow the walls to begin drying. Downstairs, the carpet and padding in the dining room was a loss, and again a long, wide strip of carpet along the living room wall. The baseboards were again removed, and holes drilled to allow the walls to dry. The mess was stunning. So much water. So much damage. All of this was much more than I could comprehend over the phone from a car in Baton Rouge.
The insurance company was called, the claim was filed and now we are waiting to hear the news. Tonight we will sleep in our home for the first time since Tuesday night. We have been camping over at Gram and Grandad’s since then. Needless to say, we canceled our reservations in San Antonio. That trip will have to wait while we recover from this. So instead of a spa day, we spent Saturday looking at flooring options and wall colors and fixtures. And definitely toilets. I can tell you that if nothing else, there will be 3 brand new, top of the line toilets in our bathrooms very, very soon.
Wow, what a week. There are lots of little life lessons we have learned this week, and a few big ones. But we aren’t giving up, and believe it or not, Brenda and I still love each other. Not even living with your in-laws for a few days can derail that. Once again, I know that we are amazingly blessed. It means the world to me that Brenda didn’t have to endure that whole mess on her own. Tom and Cheryl have been fantastic to us, helping us any way they know how. And we know it isn’t over yet. So if you know anything about laying tile or wood floors or plumbing, you can expect to hear from us soon. It looks like we have a few projects to work on at our house.
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Love you, Gram