Thursday, February 26, 2009

Water, Water Everywhere!

Don't things always have to happen at the worst time! The week that Kevin is actually gone all week long too, and not reachable by phone!

I looked out the front window this morning (not sure why exactly), and there was a bunch of water. The rocks were soaked, some water on the sidewalk, in the gutter (but I assumed someone was washing their car with all the water that was in the gutter). It looked like it was coming from a plant so I figured one of the tops had popped off the water drip system to that plant. I wasn't dressed yet & I only had a limited amount of time to pump before the boys woke up for their second feed of the day. So I figured I would pump, feed them & then address it. While I was pumping I thought maybe Papa would like something to do instead of sitting around all day because he loves little projects (he truly hates sitting around & always wants something to do or to fix). So I mentioned it to Grandma & she said Papa would come take a look.

Papa came by while I was in the shower & needed tools but since I was in the shower he had to run back to his house to get them. I saw he called while I was in the shower so I called him back & he was on his way back. Instead of laying down to snuggle with the boys for a nap I decided we would go outside & check it out & say hi to Papa.

So I took the boys out there...

...they were enjoying being outside...
and it was a whole lot bigger mess than I thought! Not an easy "little project" like I thought! There was water everywhere! In our front yard, our water shut off hole was filled, it was all over the sidewalk, in the gutters (which Papa told me he saw a bunch of water as soon as he turned into our track & he hoped it wasn't my water...yep it sure was!!! No one was washing their car!); water in our neighbors front yard, water valve shut off was filled with water, along with water on their driveway (sorry Erika!).


(From when I saw it, this was after about 2 1/2 hours after the water had been drying up from the sun! It looked a lot worse when I first saw it.)


Papa started digging where the first mega puddle of water was & we found bubbling even when he thought the water was off! He dug further West & found the hole. There was a 1/8" hole in the water main to the house. Papa told me he didn't think he could fix it because of the way the pipe was curving.

A friend across the street said his neighbor went through the same thing a few months ago & they called the Builder's warranty hotline, and Papa thought the same thing. I thought good idea...crap where would I find the phone number, Kevin always handles everything! ...thankfully he told me where his was & ours was there as well! So I called them, they considered it an emergency since we had to turn the water off to the house & they said they would call me right back after they reached someone in our area.

While I waited Papa ran to ACE to get some supplies to try & temporarily stop the leak so I could use the water. I put the boys to sleep & thought perfect I can wash bottles...wrong! Thankfully I had 2 clean bottles for their next feed! I was thirsty & went to get some water to drink...nothing came out of the fridge. I thought...oh I can do some laundry...WRONG!!! I couldn't pump because my stuff needed to be washed...I was a sitting duck with plenty of water outside & no water inside! I never really thought about how much I NEED water all throughout the day!!!


An hour later...still no call. SO I called them back...they apologized thinking someone would have called me by then. She had me call the plumber that installed the plumbing in the home. So I called them...about 10 phone calls later (back & forth between the builder & the plumber), babies screaming throughout most if not all of the phone calls, making bottles while on the phone & feeding 2 babies at the same time while on the phone. Papa patched it temporarily and Grandma came over to wash bottles while we had some water. It was a mad dash to try & do everything we needed to use water for before the plumber got there! At 5:30pm I realized that I hadn't eaten anything since my bowl of cereal at 9:00am this morning. So I started fixing my "lunch" & when it was all ready, the plumber was done! So I dealt with him, signed paperwork & paid.

6 hours later...we have the fix!

...And still a big mess in the front yard! And I'm sorry to say it will stay there until daddy can deal with it on Saturday! I went inside, at 5:50pm I sat down and ate my cold lunch & stale bread...but at that point it could have been dirt for all I cared!!!

We have no idea if it falls under warranty..but at least its fixed! What a day! I am so exhausted!!!!!!!!! Thanks Papa, for all of your hard work on what I thought would be a "Little Project"!!!

(The boys’ outfits were kind of perfect for the day we had...it says "Little Fish in a Big Sea")

Now at 10:00pm...I am off to have dinner! :)

3 comments:

Erika said...

I hate those kinds of things, and they always happen at the most inconvenient times. We saw the water and like you, thought a top had popped until we saw the plumber there later! Glad it's fixed now! No worries about the water...it dries! :)

Robin said...

Ashley! Hi this is Robin (Salas). Your boys are adorable! You look great and happy! Where are you guys at these days?

RaChelle said...

Hi Ashley from Utah! Your boys are so cute. Time goes by so fast. I am glad you get to stay home with your little guys.