At 3 in the morning on Halloween, our baby girl woke up fussing because she had been teething. This was the millionth night in a row that she had done this and I was going crazy (different kind of crazy from my usual crazy), but Daddy got up because he heard something else other than just a fussy baby. I rolled back over (Because I am a mean mom) and then I heard him say from the bathroom, "Oh no! Oh this is not good." I thought he was having stomach issues (Poop - you know what I mean!) I got up to check on him and walk right into a puddle on my closet floor!
Our house had flooded! Freaking water EVERYWHERE! It destroyed our master bathroom, the master closet, the master bedroom floor, and our downstairs family room. It went through the ceiling and was spraying our entire downstairs like a giant sprinkler because the fan was on. All because some little piece of plastic on the toilet decided to stop working. It was seriously a piece smaller than a nickel! To to reiterate what my Sugar said, "Oh no! Oh this is not good." However, I wish it was just an upset tummy.
(Total Blessing sidenote- We were supposed to go out of town earlier that afternoon but we changed our mind last minute. Can you imagine if we had left? We discovered the flood only a few hours after it had begun. Our whole house would have been destroyed after a 3 day weekend in Utah! Thank you Heavenly Father for looking out!)
Once the insurance people figured out all the damage, and the steps to fix it, it was determined that we would have to be in a hotel. Our kids were STOKED to be living in a hotel for a ****few**** weeks, I was not entirely thrilled. However, I was thankful to not have to be home while they did construction. We checked in on November 3rd!
My babies loved the...
"Rolly cars,
giant beds,
soft pillows,
and sweet tubs."
These tubs weren't any different from our tub at home, but we did get to do this activity that I refused to do in my own tub. I had no idea what it would do, but the hotel was okay. Ha! I am terrible.
While in the hotel, they had to remove all the damaged water areas - walls, ceiling, and flooring, deal with asbestos (UGH!), and then put it all back together. We were told at first, "You'll be back in your home by Thanksgiving!" I knew this was a bunch of crap, but still kept my fingers crossed.
This is my closet area. Only my part of the closet had to be boxed up. Some 40 boxes later, they were finally done. I am not exaggerating. That means I was the only without access to her clothes. Clearly, this was not going to be a good thing! My Sugar wears scrubs every day so he didn't care. I could still get into Afton and Jack's rooms so they were fine with clothing. But me, no. Are you feeling bad for me? Well, you should be dang it!
While they worked on construction, we had to continue our normal everyday life as if we weren't living in a hotel.
That meant...
breakfast and dinner in the hotel eating area,
getting our homework done on the hotel putting green,
finding places to explore,
play,
and try to enjoy some nature.
Time was passing, progress was being made, but Thanksgiving had come and gone. Remember their promise?
We just took pictures in front our house as we came to check on progress.
I tried to be patient, but I was going a bit crazy!
Can you believe that Super Why found us even in a hotel?
The hotel concierge delivered him to our table at dinner.
Their faces made me realize that living in a hotel did not have to be Hell.
They were making the most of it and loving every bit of it.
I needed to change my attitude.
I usually have to be the one to change her attitude.
Ugh, I hate admitting that.
BUT it's true.
Santa offered words of encouragement.
My babies sang in the hotel lobby for FHE one night to the folks at the concierge desk.
Some dinner guests even joined in. "It was just like on Elf Mommy!"
We made our own Christmas tree, thanks to some sweet friends in the ward giving us the supplies.
We made gingerbread houses in our tiny hotel kitchen.
We maintained communication the whole month with Super Why.
But, like a real Christmas miracle, we made it back into our home on December 24 - 1 day before Christmas. I think they finally had enough of dealing with the crazy, impatient, highly volatile Mom, harassing them everyday about the progress, so they did whatever they could to make it happen. Just like my Mother-in-law always says, "You catch more bees with honey," and I think they really wanted to help us out by ending our Hotel Hell experience.
Such sweet people they were.
The house was complete, except that we didn't have any furniture in the downstairs room. It was still in our garage! But that made lots of room for our Christmas tree and all the presents that Santa brought.
In retrospect, the hotel was not that bad. True, I consumed a great deal of Dr. Pepper and chocolate during those specific almost 2 months of our lives that we were trapped there. But it was not nearly the Hell like experience I thought I was living, as I look back.
3 of these boxes may or may not have been eaten by mostly me.
But maybe it's because I'm not living there anymore that I can say that. That's probably it. Nah, that is exactly it!
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