Well, That Was Unexpected

Happy Treason Independence Day to all my American readers. If you haven't already read it, Signing Their Lives Away by Denise Kiernan (a friend of my sister) is a must-read for the holiday. It's entertaining, funny, and informative, and it celebrates the real humans who committed treason in the name of freedom 243 years ago tomorrow.

Now, for a couple of cards after such a long break. These were made over a month ago. I was playing with color layering stamps from Hero Arts. So much has happened since I made these two cards. 

This card was totally inspired by this photo on Pinterest, but June. June happened. I can't remember exactly the thought process that led to this super different version. Still, you can see the connection, I hope. And my signature white-on-white layering. These layers were made with 80lb Neenah Solar White, while the card base is 110lb of the same.

Note that I embossed AND die cut for this card. So out of my usual, but so possible because of Eva's gift of a Cuttlebug. Still so grateful for that! Thanks, Eva!

And then, this card evolved while I had the stamp set out.  The color combo came from a pin as well. Aqua and yellow. What a fresh and fabulous combo.

Okay, so June was a weird month.

First, while in Lakeside, OH, waiting for the start of the commissioning of a friend as a provisional elder in the United Methodist Church*, which was delayed by a tornado warning, I received a text from my hubby saying he was quitting his job. Wow.

That was weird. And wonderful, as George's skill set is in high demand in the Dayton area, so he landed a new job with little effort, no relocation required. He's currently goofing off between jobs, making homemade pierogies and roasted chicken and other yummy things.

Flashback to Father's Day when I woke up and found the carpet squishy underfoot. Basement flood. First, insurance said they wouldn't pay. Then, after a second flood, the restoration company figured out the problem was the sump pump. We have a sump pump rider on our homeowner's policy, so yay! It won't cover everything, but still, yay!

The second flood happened three hours after the restoration team of three big, strong men spent 8 hours ripping out wet carpet pad and floating the carpet with 16 blowers.

The second floating. Magic carpets make me sad, now. This
whole area is empty, awaiting new padding and carpet/baseboard reinstall. 

I completely lost it when I saw the water squirting up between my foundation and the wall of the basement. Squirting! Gushing! It poured through the cleaned out area, with nothing to impede its progress to completely dry parts of the basement. The second flood was worse, completely saturating the entire basement, ruining baseboards and drywall that had been unaffected by the first flood.

Hormones. I'm blaming the hormones for my sobbing phone call to the restoration company to tell them that all their equipment was running in a new flood and ohmygoshweareallgoingtobeelectrocuted!!!!!!

Perimenopausal hot flashes and vacillating between homicidal rage and thumb-sucking fetal  depression rendered me a (literal and figurative) hot mess in the face of the mayhem in my basement. 

Everything is dry now, but we can't move any of the piles of stuff until the restoration company does its repairs, which await insurance company approval, which is delayed by the higher priority of tornado damage in north Dayton from the Memorial Day tornados that did WAY worse damage to already impoverished areas of Ohio.

My craft area. So sad.

One great pile. I've started to go through this and throw away
damaged stuff or old stuff we should have thrown away years ago.

See, Eva. The Cuttlebug is fine.

A small bedroom stuffed with stuff.

The larger basement bedroom, also stuffed full.
What a mess.

Two unfinished areas are similarly chaotic. Our beautiful new sump pump is working away, keeping everything dry.

I'm just grateful we can get this all fixed up.

Mercy, grace, peace, love, and dry basements,
Susan

*The UMC has made national news since its February, 2019, Special General Conference made some unfortunate decisions regarding policies related to LGBTQIA+ inclusion in ordained ministry and same-sex marriage. I'll be weighing in on my religious blog, Transforming Common Days (which hasn't had a new post since 2017), once I can type without either crying or raging...neither of which is very helpful. Or Christ-like. But crying and raging are most definitely hormonal. Ain't perimenopause grand?

Whine over.