Christmas 2011 will sure be one to remember. Lots of great gifts, time with family, purchasing a new professional embroidery machine...and then there was the tree roots that grew through our pipe from the house to the septic. Leading to all the dish, laundry, shower water backing up into our storage room, and dirty water coming up the basement bathroom shower. Which was the "crappy" part of Christmas. JOY to the world. We left for a hotel with the kiddos, and the family headed back to St. Louis.
There are lots of little blessings in this. We cleaned out the storage room, threw out the wet stuff, caught up with the filing, and whittled down boxes for Goodwill. We had the plumbing repaired. We are getting the carpets cleaned, so we went through the playroom for more donations and cleaning. I had JUST rearranged my office and cleaned out in there, so at least that room was a little easier to move out for the cleaners. We are having drainage work done outside, so hopefully this carpet cleaning will remove the stains from those leaks, as well as the recent damage. Although we have LOVED working on the upstairs, we aren't quite ready to start a basement renovation so we'd like the carpet to last a bit longer.
Plus, what kids don't love swimming and sleeping in a tent in a hotel on Christmas? They were unfazed by the whole deal.
So after a few days of pouting, a lot of heavy lifting, I am finally looking at the bright side of this situation. A cleaner basement, reorganized rooms, and hopefully a fully repaired plumbing system. We built off the ground storage to prevent wet boxes in case of a future emergency. We're getting the septic checked/pumped for good measure. Also, the plus side of repairing so many issues in the first few years of owning this house, hopefully we'll have smooth sailing for awhile (knock on wood)...