Not Quite as Long as the Last Long Post...

Well, we are back from the extra house, and have completed repair and cleanup of the latest disaster. Good and bad news on that front; the water was worse than last time. The sump pump hose outside the house froze because it was on level ground and not draining, and the pressure became too great inside the house, so the hose inside exploded, causing the sump pump to pump all the water that normally seeps into the house to go nowhere. So there was a lot of it when we got there. Also, in the middle of this vast swimming pool of icy cold water was our brand-new, less than two weeks old, $200 top-of-the-line dehumidifier that we got on the ultra cool basement guy's advice. It's ruined. Ask me how peeved I am about that. VERY.
We patched the hose in a very red-neck way (and I will give all that credit where it belongs; to my brilliant husband) to get the water pumped out so we could change the hose. There was no way we could do it with all the water; setting aside the fact that we couldn't see beans under the water (which was where the sump pump was, and the hose attachment), that water was freezing cold (since it was freezing cold in town) and we couldn't keep our hands in it long enough even to determine where the hose attached to the pump. It took all night to pump out. Hundreds and hundreds of gallons of water.
Soaked and weary (John much more so than I), we met with the people who want to buy our house in January when they are eligible for financing, and rent it until then. They are delightful. We got along right away, and were so thoroughly on the same page that the wife and I were finishing each other's sentences. I think this relationship is going to work out fine. We talked over the contract, added some things, took some things out, and our realtor got it back to us today all prettied up with our changes inserted. We both want a 2 or 3 days to really read and absorb everything, to make sure it's exactly what everyone wants, and then we'll sign. Hallelujah! Please toss up yet a couple more prayers that everything will go smoothly, now and in the next ten months.
After they left we thought showers, dinner and bed were definitely needed, and in that order. Unfortunately, the water heater's pilot light was out, and we couldn't get it lit. So, dinner (which was absolutely heavenly as we were famished), another unsuccessful try at the pilot, and we collapsed into bed.
Up the next day, and finally got the pilot lit, too late to do any good. We cleaned the basement to the best of our ability, replaced the damaged hose, got the outside hose running as downhill as we could, did some mild cleanup, and rushed home for Jonni's first ever school music class concert. Quick showers, quick dinner, the grandparents (all but my mother in law who stayed a couple of days at the house and watched the kids so we could go take care of our emergency) and some assorted aunts and uncles showed up, and off we went to the concert.
It was way cute. They did some stuff with bells and one poor little boy got clobbered right in the ear by his neighbor. He cried, and my heart bled for him. He was tough though, and went back to doing the concert. Jonni, to no one's surprise, was awesome. She knew the words to every song. She's been really nervous for a couple of weeks, and wouldn't even talk about the concert. After, we found out why; she'd been under the mistaken impression that she was going to have to perform all those songs and hand gestures and bell playing all by herself! What a relief to her it was when she found out she was wrong!! My poor baby, lol! Also, she's the tallest one in her class. Big shock there that she's tall, but the tallest? I was a little suprised by that.
I do have pics of her birthday and present opening and such, but I'm going to post those tomorrow as I'm tired now. I'm still recovering from two visits to the disaster house in less than two weeks, and all the adherent hard labor that accompanied those visits. I know you all are dying to see them, so I promise not to take too long.
Until then,
The Almighty Liz