My house is officially a circus, and I don't even get to be the ringmaster.
I'm just shy of 38 weeks pregnant....last week I put the finishing touches on the girls' room, baby clothes washed, diapers stocked, bags packed. My nesting continued to the rest of the house- wash the walls, steam clean all carpets, "Hunny how much work is it to replace the shower stall?" was even in there at some point. But on my terms.... my schedule... in my control. If you know me, you know that's how I operate, I have to have a plan, and I can't feel like things are out of my control.
Well, God's a funny guy when it comes to that. He only lets me get away with it for so long before reminding me that I am NOT always able to be in control.
Friday evening I noticed some small water spots on the kitchen floor- I assumed they were from the dogs bowl, or that Lilah had a leaky cup. Then a short while later I saw more water.... what the heck. Then I noticed as I walked my feet were getting wet, I looked down and pressed on the floor with my toes and watched as the water seeped up between the flooring. Shit. Ari came home shortly after, we figured the ice maker was leaking, he pulled the fridge out, checked the hose, everything looked fine. So he checked the other end under the sink- no problem there either, checked the drains for the washing machine on the other side of the wall- nope, not that. So he decided he would call the warranty company. We called them Saturday, they couldn't send anyone until Sunday. So we waited around all day Sunday- the guy finally showed up around 7:30 at night. he searched around just like Ari did, and didn't find anything. Cut a hole in the wall to test inside there, still nothing, then they pulled the stove out, and right behind that and the cabinets was a steady stream of water coming from a cracked hose. Great.
So we've been without water to the kitchen since Sunday night. Called our insurance Monday morning and filled them in- I figured they'd send someone out to give us an estimate, we'd replace some flooring, collect a check, and have a baby. WRONG. Obviously I've never done this before. They send out Coit, a damage and restoration team, who took pictures, measurements, did leak tesst, moisture tests, asked a bunch of questions, yelled a lot in Russian, let the dog out, let the flies in, and barely spoke English. They were here until 8:00 last night, and finally when they left, my floor was gone as well, the kitchen was barricaded off with plastic tarps, and 7 HOT and LOUD fans were placed to start the "Dry Out".
They informed me they would return Today, along with the Asbestos and Lead testing company- around 9:30 am.
As we know I am trying to follow the Fit Girl 28 day program. I had gotten some food prep done Monday morning before the chaos ensued, but not much.I got the lasagna done which is dinner days 1,3,5 and 7. It's supposed to be Pumpkin Lasagna Rolls, but that sounds weird to me... so it said you could sub other veggies- I chose zucchini and spinach instead. Also since there's two of us I decided just to make a regular pan lasagna instead of rolls. I took the recipe and multiplied everything by 8 to make 8 servings.
Unfortunately that was as far as I got, then I wasn't able to access the kitchen the rest of the day. So I got up early today and figured I would make stuff ahead of time for the day and place it in the fridge in the garage so we could get to it as we needed it. Well, I got as far as getting breakfast handled for everyone and the doorbell rang. At 8:00 am.... surprise.... they were here early, and They got right to work so my plan was shot. They needed access to the crawl space- which is in my room, in the closet- sure let me just clear my bazillion pairs of shoes, out of the way real quick. Then the asbestos guys shows up, more questions, more access needs, then the manager from coit arrives... it's literally beginning to feel like LAX in my house at this point, people everywhere, hustling around, phones ringing, Russians yelling, the dogs running around crashing into things with her cone, Lilah is scared of the men in paper suits (they had to wear them to access the crawl space), it's literally a circus.
Everyone finally cleared out around 12:00. Gone for the day, hurray. They left behind the HOT and LOUD dryers, and my kitchen is still closed off, but at least I have my bedroom back, and don't have 6 strangers in my house. As of right now they are saying the wall between the kitchen and the garage needs to come down, and the cabinets need to come out, but they can't start any of that until the asbestos testing come's back. So right now we wait. I am rushing through laundry like a mad women since I won't be able to use my machines after tomorrow... I considered finishing my meal prep- but I won't be able to get to any of it so I don't know what good it will do. I'm honestly at the point right now where I feel so overwhelmed that instead of doing something I'll just do nothing because I don't even know where to start. I could pack the kitchen up- they didn't say to- but if they are taking cabinets out I imagine it needs to be done? Should I let them do it, or should I? Should I pack the fridge up and put everything in the one outside? Or will they just move the whole fridge to the garage for me? I should at least clean it out, half the food will be spoiled by the time I have my kitchen back. See what I mean- too much to think about.
So that's my reality right now. So much for the 28 day meal plan..... looks like I'll have to give that another go once this is all done and over with. In the meantime I am really going to try not to just say screw it and go back to eating crap- I am going to try and at least make good choices with whats available to me. Like last night we had to go out to eat, and I had a large garden salad, I wanted a Burger and fries- comfort food- but I convinced myself to make a better decision. I did make it to the gym last night in spite of everything else. So at least there is that.
Wish me luck as this continues to unfold. Pray for my sanity please.....and the safety of these workers- it's a crap shoot whether or not I'm going to have a breakdown.
