Tuesday, August 28, 2007

We're baaaack...



I woke up Friday morning, went downstairs to let the dogs outside, where I saw our our 15 year old neighbor in his backyard. This is not that unusual (he lives there, after all), but he didn't look like he was ready for school. I asked him what was up and he told me that due to rising flood waters (check local listings), school had been cancelled. He then informed me that he was helping his parents get rid of the water that had seeped into their basement from the 3 1/2 inches of rain we had gotten the night before. After making sure there was nothing we could do to help, I went back inside and relayed the story to Jen. She promptly asked me if I had checked out basement. My reaction? "We have a sump pump. I'm sure we don't have water."

Famous last words...

When I went to the basement, sure enough, all the carpeting was soaked. Thankfully, there was no standing water, and nothing of dire importance was ruined, but it really put a crimp in my plans to spend a relaxing day finishing our book for book club that night. I spent the next seven hours cutting up the remnant carpeting in the basement, moving furniture out to the garage, using the shopvac, and moving fans around to help the drying process.

For one heart-stopping moment, we realized the our computer's CPU had been sitting on the floor under Jen's desk, and so had been exposed to the water. Luckily, when I carried the computer upstairs and plugged it in, everything worked. The only causualty was our DSL modem. Hence, the absence of posts on the blog, and the free reign that some people (mrs.) have had while playing our trivia. As you can clearly see, the new DSL modem showed up today, and we're up and running.

In addition to the excitement of my birthday and water in the basement, I was thrilled to have author (and friend of this blog) J.A. Konrath in my store on Saturday. We had a decent turnout for his book signing, selling quite a few copies and making it a good day. J.A. and I then met Jen and Peanut for dinner and beers, and we had a great time at Grotto's. (J.A., if you're reading this, thanks again for dinner and introducing me to Banana99. I think.) I can't stress this enough: if you get a chance to meet J.A. Konrath, take it. It'd be tough to find a nicer, funnier guy. And he's nearly famous, so he's got that going for him.

We wrapped the weekend up by having dinner with my mom and Maria on Sunday evening. It was great to see them and I know they had fun getting to see Peanut in action.

Well, that's it. Relaxation, panic, hard work, laughs, drinking, great food, and great company. What a weekend.

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

You're forgetting that the other casualty of the flood was our printer....sigh.
It was an eventful weekend, no arguing with that!

Anonymous said...

Get out the bucket brigade.
Better get a good dehumidifier.

My friend Phyllis just couldn't get into 'Whiskey Sour'. I'll mail it back to you in the next few days.

ggpa

mountainmomma said...

Hey guys! I am glad Jen told me about this so I feel I can keep up! I am sorry to hear about the flooding, but since it has been 102 here for the last week, I would kill for some rain! But such is life below the Mason Dixon Line! Happy late B-day! Miss you guys!

The Mrs. said...

I'm guessing Marquette isn't going to be hosting any home games this week.

So sorry to hear about the modem and printer, but not so sorry to keep me from playing trivia while you were out. Muwhahahaha!

Anonymous said...

So...after your evening with J.A. Konrath...will there be a 5th book?

Swanny said...

Anonymous-

Of course. I don't think it's a huge secret, so book five will be available in June of 2008. Rumor has it, it's the best of bunch.