Smelly Basement

Monday was our 7th Anniversary and although we love each other dearly, Monday was not a good day for us. The trouble began when Kianna came running upstairs with wet socks telling me she was so sorry. She had just flushed the toilet on the main level and it went all over the floor. Mornings are pretty chaotic trying to get three kids dressed, fed, and out the door so Kaylee can get to school on time. All that to say, I had no time to clean up the mess until after taking Kaylee to school. When I got home I scrubbed the bathroom floor and then opened the basement door to throw the dirty rags downstairs by the washing machine, which is when I discovered the REAL problem. The basement was covered in about an inch of smelly, disgusting, sewer water.

I'll try and spare you the gruesome details. We had a licensed plumber come out to assess the problem. However, he wasn't able to fix the problem. He said we needed to have someone else come and stick an auger down the drain, as the problem was between the house and the street. The plumber recommended a specific company so I had them come out and he was able to fix the blockage. Apparently, I am no longer allowed to discard feminine products down the toilet. I cried when he told me that. Oops, I said I would spare you the gruesome details. We then had another company come stick a camera down the pipes to assess their quality and the likelihood of this happening again. We were told our pipes are in decent shape, but to ensure this will not happen again we would need to dig up the front yard and have someone replace the pipes. We are not in imminent danger of this happening again, but it is something we will add to our list of things that need to be repaired.

Two days later, we finally have the basement back in working condition and actually cleaner than it was before. Our house no longer smells like sewage, but instead has the pleasant smell of bleach, which to me indicates it is clean once again. To top off our less than pleasant anniversary, Trevor slipped and fell down the stairs. His feet went out from underneath him and he landed right on his back on the wooden stairs. We debated taking him to the ER, as he was initially pale, dizzy, and had a decreased heart rate. However, after lying down for awhile and after I assessed his strength and sensation we decided he was okay. He was pretty sore initially, but seems to be doing okay now.

Through this whole ordeal, I have found a few things to be thankful for:

1. My basement is unfinished.
2. The majority of our stuff is still in Iowa, so we had very few things on the ground. Whereas, if we had all of our stuff, we may have had boxes on the floor and lost some keepsakes.
3. Remember that queen sized box spring I tried to force up the stairs the other day? Well I no longer need to lose sleep over it because it was on the ground in the basement, so will be going to the dump soon.
4. I was actually caught up on my laundry for the first time since moving to Michigan. Otherwise, clothes are normally all over the floor and would have been lying in the sewage water.
5. Our basement was in desperate need of being cleaned and I had been putting it off. I'm so glad I hadn't taken the time to clean it, only to have it damaged right afterwards. Sometimes it pays to procrastinate...
6. I only had to deal with a smelly house for two days, while some people actually live under those circumstances on a daily basis.

Although I have found plenty to be thankful for throughout this ordeal. I must admit that while going through this I was not a pleasant person to be around, just ask my kids...