Rain, Rain, Go Away!!! :)

Yesterday morning started out very normal...wake up, do my daily Bible study, feed Rhys...I was even SO good to do my morning chore of dusting (even the ceiling fans!!). :) Then, I decided to give myself and Rhys some outside time with a short, 20-minute walk! The morning was going great! I was thankful that, although it was cloudy, it was not raining!! Outside, that is! {Keep reading...}

When I approached our front door at the end of our walk, I heard a LOUD roar. I quickly {with great panic, I confess!!} unlocked and opened the door to a waterfall pouring into our downstairs/main level from all of the ceiling fixtures...through the canned lights into our hallway, through the flourescent light into the kitchen, through the air vent and soon through new cracks, tears and holes in the ceiling! I was definitely in PANIC mode!

Of course, who do I call first, but my wonderful, brilliant, VERY CALM hubby! I knew he was about to give a presentation to one of his clients {whoops!}, but he was so GOOD to calmly walk me through turning off the main electrical breaker so that we wouldn't get electricuted. Brilliant idea!! Then, I assessed what I could without lighting and tried to relay all that to Russell. Basically, from what I could see {which was WRONG}, it looked like rain water might have been collecting on our roof, which finally gave way and was now gushing into the attic, which was then gushing into our home!! First, into the utility room, then, flooding into the upstairs hallway, filling the upstairs floor and finally creating waterfalls through the lower-level ceiling and flooding the downstairs floor! I had to let Russell go, but I ultimately called 911 { :) } because I knew they could at least come shut off the main water, which is exactly what those kind gentlemen came and did! Whew! I could calm down a little at that point {even with ALL that water still draining!!}. I'm not looking forward to getting our water bill this month! It was GALLONS & GALLONS!!!

This is a view from our front door. Obviously, by this time, the water was only dripping. I wish I'd thought to grab my camera to let you see the INdoor RAIN, only 30 minutes earlier!!I got smart and put out large coolers, our kitchen trash can, and pots & pans to collect some of the remaining water.

Below, a close-up of the canned lighting. This sheetrock WILL be replaced. It's drooping/swagging/uneven.

The kitchen ceiling was hit, too! Water poured through the vent and flourescent lighting...

...onto the kitchen floor. Lovely standing water below!

Below, the dining room ceiling, just below the WASHER & DRYER!! Wouldn't you be concerned that those heavy machines would fall through the ceiling!?!? I was! {And the washer was FULL of standing water!!}The carpet is 100% ruined! New hardwoods in our future??? :)

Ah ha!! My brilliant husband comes home and excavates :) until he finds the guilty source!!! Here is the culprit...the cold water pipe on the washing machine has a tear {piping which we've since found out through our insurance company is faulty and has been 're-called'!!}So, the CORRECT assessment evidently is...the cold water pipe tore, allowing for GALLONS of water to spray at a SUPER FAST speed up to the utility room ceiling...look below at how the force of the water caused the sheetrock's "popcorn" texture to come off!
Then, the water came back down into the washer to fill it up and overflow into the rest of the house. I snapped this quick picture below of some things just above the washer...the Brawny paper towels didn't soak everything up! ;)The following pictures are what the house looks like since last night...

Dehumidifiers are draining water from the interior of our home into our sinks upstairs and downstairs.

Below, notice we have FIVE machines running just downstairs

Upstairs, we have seven machines running! It's LOUD!!!

Rhys' room...a mess!

God has blessed us with a positive attitude about all of this. Russell is stoked :) about finally getting hardwoods! Of course, he left for a long drill weekend yesterday afternoon, so he's not having to live in this mess. HOWEVER, in his defense, he handled ALL the paperwork before leaving, and I CHOSE to stay home in the mess. Once I knew we could have most of our electricity turned back on, as well as the water, I felt like it might be best for me and Rhys to stay in the comfort of our home, not to mention to be here during the days for all the insurance and contract workers to come and go.

Current status: the air in the house is getting SUPER DRY! I'm not sure when all the 'construction' {tearing out sheetrock walls and ceilings, etc.} will start, but I promise you that Rhys & I will not stay here for that! :) You can certainly pray that the Lord would continue to bless our attitudes with HIS perspective and that the rest of this process will go quickly and smoothly! Thank you, and, for the record, I do praise our Lord for all things, even for the discomforts in which He is currently growing me/our family!! :)

P.S. I do admit...it kinda stinks that I spent all that time and energy doing my chore of dusting yesterday when all this happened. :) Oh, well!