On Friday(2/15), dh noticed the wood laminate in the kitchen was swelling at the joints. Saturday we found out why. A hose from the dishwasher wasn't connected/broke something. There was water standing under the dishwasher. Then as dh watched, water started pouring out under there somewhere.

He called several friends who are DIY-ers or work in the biz. Get a new dishwasher and call the insurance company. Yep, the floor is covered.

So on Tuesday (2/19)they tore out the wood laminate, the pad under the laminate, the old nasty linoleum. We're down to sub floor in the kitchen. And the subfloor was actually wet in one place. I have 4 (count them! 4!) heavy duty fans and 2 heavy duty dehumidifiers. It is loud. I had to go upstairs to make a phone call. And the joy! I get to have these things until Friday!

We bought a new dishwasher on Sunday. It was supposed to be delivered Friday. But since they will be back to get the equipment on Friday, dh said let's move the install. So now the dishwasher will come on Tuesday. But hey, look at the bright side - my dishes should dry on the counter in record time, right?

Day two of air movers in the house

---

The fans have been here overnight and well into the next day. UGH! They are loud. But at least I had a meeting this morning that I could take the kids to and Thursday is co-op. They did come this afternoon to check the floor. It's drier. Parts are still quite wet, not visibly so. They have a meter. Parts are still in the red. Most of it is in the green.

On a side note, dh called someone to look at the dishwasher since insurance wanted us to. The guy was a piece of work as dh says. He turned on the dishwasher, making the floor more wet! He did fix it but he also said "I wouldn't use it." I guess a hose actually fell off. Even though he re-attached it, it could easily fall off again.

__________________

Thursday: I took the kids to co-op. Someone came to fix the sink in the afternoon. It looks much better now. All the gaps are closed. They reinforced under the sink as well to actually hold the sink up in place. I thought it couldn't get any louder in the hose. Then the sink guys turned on an air compressor! OY! We can't use the sink for 24 hours! The pain!
__________________

Friday: The floor guys are supposed to come today to remove the fans and "dehu-s". I am so looking forward to things being quieter around here!

The Perils of Home Ownership

In a nut shell you are responsible for everything!

The outside needed to be painted again - the last time I was pregnant with M. So we hired someone to do it. He did a good job and just finished a week ago. While trying to change out light fixtures for us, he ran into a wiring problem. J called an electrician who came out last Monday morning, first thing and fix everything on the deck. Then the painter came back to pick up his ladders and touch up a few places. While he was here, we got an estimate for painting the foyer and re-papering the kitchen. Yeah! I get to choose new paper. Oh My! What am I thinking - I only have a month to decide, and buy, new wallpaper!

Then this weekend, J really started to look at the floor in the kitchen. Every seam on the laminate is swollen. He thought it was the sink as there is a seam on the sink that is not closed any longer. He took pictures of the floor and the sink and into Home Depot we went. (We got new counter tops and an under-mount sink from them almost a year ago.) But the person we needed to talk to wasn't there. That night, for reasons unknown to me, J pulls the kick-plate off the dishwasher. (I don't know if that is what it is actually called, but that's what I'm calling it!) First he sees water standing on the floor under there! Then as he continues to look, water starts pouring out of a hose onto the floor. This must be why the floor is swelling.

So J calls several friends who know this kind of stuff. They recommend getting a new dishwasher and calling the insurance company - it should be covered just like a leaky pipe. After church we went to Sears and bought a new dishwasher, this time they are installing it. (I'm still waiting for the call.)

Then this morning J called the insurance company - they will be sending an adjuster out. Our deductible is $500 and then they should pay the rest to replace the floor. Then he called Home Depot - yep, the seam should be closed and the work is guaranteed for a year so again, it's covered.

On a lighter note, we discovered a new way to cut the dog's nails. Make him stand up on his hind feet! K held him up while I clipped nails. It worked wonderfully for the front paws! His back paws, K held him, I put my back to him and clipped his back paws. One dog down, one to go!

Kid pictures Feb 2008

K does not like this picture of her. I think it is beautiful!

















I think this captures who H is.


















M laughs a lot. They got him to laugh!

Wordless Wednesday

No, it's not this warm here. But this is what the kids and I did this morning. Portrait Innovations is great!

Cute Shirt Koty!

Guess what H did this morning?

Christmas "presents" I could have done without

Mice!

I went into the garage for something December 24 and came *right* back in. DH looked at me and I said there is a either a VERY large roach out there or a mouse. He went out and didn't find anything. Then about an hour later, ds went out and comes back in a casually says "There's a mouse!" We use the 45 gal buckets from wheat for our recycling. It was in a soda can in the bucket. Dh got the mouse out of the bucket and then threw it off the deck. (Our deck is about 15 feet off the ground.) An hour or so later DS went out through the garage again and came back in "Mice. Three of them." In the recycling bucket again. DH took care of it again. This is soo not want I wanted for Christmas!

I got another not so wonderful thing for Christmas as well...

Soon after opening presents, my dog bit me. The one who is nice and calm. The one who is 15 years old and has never hurt a fly. The one whom I have always felt perfectly safe with infants! That one bit me!

In her defense, she was eating a bone. In my defense, I've taken food from her before. In her defense, ever since we got the younger dog, she has learned to defend her stuff.

I gave her a Christmas present of a edible nylabone, which both dogs love. She wasn't chewing hers so I was wondering if it was too hard for her teeth - she *is* 15 yo. Then she was finally eating it. But we noticed that hers was red. Then I took the bone out of the younger dog's mouth to check his. No, his is not red. So obviously, the old dog is bleeding. I was trying to check her mouth. She turned and bit me.

We got my finger under the cold water. But that hurt so we put water in a mug, with ice as well. DH put the old dog out. DD13 put her bone out with her. Then suddenly I was overwhelming nauseous. I asked dd for a rubber band in my hair. My mom ended up getting my hair up. Then mom put a cold wet wash cloth on my neck and I was better. All better!

My finger throbbed quite a bit. Good news though, my "I want to help cook" dd 10 helped cook Christmas day!

On a better note I did get an ipod for Christmas, a beautiful sweater from my brother and a gift card to Kohl's from my folks!