If you're wondering why we didn't write our Christmas card for 2013 you can blame one thing: The washing machine. After spending 2 weeks travelling with the boys and Alan living the bachelor life there was much washing of clothes to be done. After being home for no more than 18 hours I put a load of laundry in the washing machine then went to my room to wrap Christmas presents. I would guess that I was wrapping presents for about 10-15 minutes, when I got a feeling that I needed to go check on the boys in the front room. As I walk out I notice water on the carpet in the hallway. I got a bit upset, assuming that Derek had helped himself to filling up his own water cup then dumping it on the floor. Much to my surprise, when I get to the hallway I turn and find a lake. The washing machine had overflowed. I quickly shut it off and called my uncle who lives a half mile away. Now to try to imagine how much water there was, picture yourself standing on tile with water up to your ankles. Yep... that is how much water was in the laundry room when I found myself in this dilemma. And that is not even counting all the water that had made its way into the hallway, the master bedroom, the boys room, under the wall and into the master closet, under some more wall and into the spare room and gradually making its way into the living room. My uncle came over with a friend and we got a hold of a company that could come out that day to help us take care of this mess. Within about 2 hours ServPro was at our house ripping out the damaged carpet, and plugging in dehumidifiers and fans to dry everything out. However, to my surprise I felt like I stayed pretty calm throughout all of this. We spent that night at my aunt and uncle's house where more surprises lay in wait. Derek acquired an illness causing vomit and diarrhea. Something Keith had on the flight from Hawaii to California, but was done with it by the time we got back to Texas. Now Derek had it and quickly passed it on to me. After that night at the Larsen's we went to a friend's house. Now Alan is sick and out of commission. This bug seemed to last about 48 hours, but it really knocks you out leaving you in the bathroom wondering if you should be sitting down or bending over the toilet. After Alan was done with it Terry got it. We are now on to Christmas Eve with everyone being sick or getting over this sickness. By the time Christmas comes around Austin and Mike are out of commision.
Whatever it was, it all brought us closer to together. The boys had a good time opening their presents and we (without asking for help) received secret Santa gifts that we were very thankful for. Now over a month later that thought still brings tears to my eyes. Amidst all the negative things that happened and could have ruined Christmas made me find the true meaning of Christmas. We were able to spend time with good friends, care for one another, and see sincere acts of charity come about.
We got our carpet all replaced 5 weeks after the washing machine had its own bout with vomit and are so grateful we can fully live in the house again.
*We had an appliance repairman come and take a look at the washing machine to try to find out what happened. Well, this is what happened. Somehow something managed to break this plastic casing causing the water to leak out and never reach a point where it shuts off. In the repairman's 20+ years of dealing with appliances he has never seen anything like this.
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