Life Makeover – Update For January 2015

I find it best not to make plans in life. It never works out the way I planned. For example, My Life Makeover Series has not progressed like I wanted to. A few weeks ago I walked into my house and heard the sound of the shower running. No one was home except the cats. Needless to say I was freaked out. As I approached the bathroom, I saw Simon sitting on my bed with these big huge eyes looking at the bathroom. It wasn’t the shower, it was a busted pipe raining down through the ceiling!

I panicked and called my brother immediately. I didn’t know how to turn the water off, so by phone he helped me figure it out. He owns the house I live and he was in NY at the moment so he couldn’t rush home. Eventually he got here and started the long process of getting a hold of insurance people, plumber, etc….

Turns out due to the extreme cold temperatures we were experiencing, there were busted pipes all over the state. The first people to show up were the Servpro company. They came in, assessed the damage and brought heaters and fans to dry the walls and ceilings.

The water had also started pouring out into the garage.

In total we lost two bathrooms and part of the garage. The good news is that we didn’t have to go to a hotel. There is a full bathroom in the attic. The water and heat were restored so we were able to stay. I don’t know what we would have done if we had to take the cats to a hotel!

For now, Simon and Penelope are living in the attic. They are staying in the carpeted storage room, with is a huge room with an adjoining bathroom. I brought up all of their familiar things. My brother built them a “shelter” to they can hide from the workmen who have to get access to the attic.

The Good and The Bad

My bathroom is gutted except for the floor and shower. They may have to go too. I am alright with that since I didn’t care of the bathroom anyway. It appears that the vanity and medicine cabinet survived the water exposure.

The area in the garage that got flooded contained my stuff naturally but since I kept things in plastic bin, not too much was lost.

Lessons Learned

We did what we could to keep our pipes from bursting but sometimes things just happen.

What I learned is to know where and how important switches are in your home and how to turn them off/on.

When cleaning out my room so that the workmen would have room to work in, I discovered I have way too much crap. I am forced to deal with it and really it is not a bad situation to be in because I am forced to deal with it!

The construction has not started with and with the big snow storms coming, I am not sure when life will turn back to normal around here.

I am however, starting to write my Life Makeover posts and will be posting them over the next few days.