This has been a week! Mom turned 92 on Thursday and I had already accepted that I was only going to be able to see Mom from the deck of the group home and possibly get a glimpse of her cutting her cake and opening her card. But the snowy, icy weather didn’t even allow that, so for the first time in my life I didn’t see Mom on her birthday. I was able to take her balloons, cake and card over the day before her birthday and I’m grateful for that. But because there was absolutely nothing I could do about the situation, I just went with the flow. I loved the pics I was sent and I know Mom had a great birthday. Janet and her family even bought Mom a cool sweatshirt that said “I turned 92 in a quarantine in 2021 and none of you are invited”… that was Priceless!
Like everyone else, I watched in horror the news of the people in Texas literally freezing to death without power and water. I kept asking myself how is this happening in the United States in the same week that we landed a rover on Mars that is sending phenomenal photos back to earth. It was heartbreaking! People wanted to send help, but the news made it clear packages wouldn’t get to their destinations in time to help due to the travel conditions. So we all sat around feeling helpless. Not the time you want to just sit and do nothing. You don’t want to go with the flow, you want the water and power to flow as it should.
I woke up this morning looking forward to spending most of the day with Kendal who I hadn’t seen since the end of December. I got up at 5am to get some work done before Kendal’s arrival at 11am. Two minutes later, the start of my day took a little turn. I went into bathroom and stepped into about 4 inches of water, truly a first. I grabbed my mop and bucket and began bailing out the water while trying to determine where it was coming from. I called Michael and Sons as soon as they opened and was scheduled for an emergency call between 1:30pm and 3pm. Between Bible Study and virtual church I bailed water. When Kim dropped Kendal off, we all bailed water before Kim went out to grab us lunch. After Kendal and I enjoyed our lunch, we bailed water now coming from the shower, under the sink and under the toilet. Kendal bailed outside the bathroom and I did the interior. We then did an Art project and played with LEGO bricks before bailing more water.
We worked out in the gym and then bailed water. We went outside and played frisbee in the cold and then bailed water. At 3pm Michael and Sons advised that they were still coming but had a burst pipe at the job ahead of me and they’d arrive by 6pm. So we watched an animated movie and paused it to bail water.
Even after almost 12 hours of going along with my day and having a ball with my granddaughter, I wasn’t worried in the least about the flowing water. I had heat, and power and our day simply included a minor inconvenience of getting more physical exercise due to mopping than we had planned. Michael and Sons arrived at 5:30pm and determined that it was a clog as opposed to a burst pipe and that they’d have it unclogged in about an hour. It’s now 9pm and it didn’t work out they way we had intended. The clog is somewhere in my yard and they will be back tomorrow with a team of people to resolve it. So there’s more bailing of water in my future until tomorrow morning. So I’ll just continue to go with the flow. But as I type this my Mom is safe, I’m warm, I have electricity and water to drink and I had a glorious time with my granddaughter. Bailing water most of the day wasn’t a lot of fun, but sometimes we just have to literally go with the flow.
Conquering Life; Love and Dialogue with Loretta Veney 
Your post are alway inspiring and I love the photos.
Thank you my friend!! We had a GREAT time, she is such a cool kid!!! Even with the bailing of water, we saw it as part of the adventure!!
Oh, Loretta! Only you would have a flood in your bathroom, come up with “Going with the Flow” as the theme for the weekend, and write about what a wonderful time you had! Kendal is so fortunate to have you as a grandmother. What an example you are! It sounds and looks as if you and she made a great day out of what could have been a real downer. She’ll remember it for the rest of her life, I’ll bet. I hope by now all is well with the plumbing and all the mess is cleaned up.
It sounds like your mother enjoyed her birthday, her gifts, her cake, and her balloons. The pictures are wonderful. I’m just sorry you missed out on being to celebrate with her. Happy belated birthday to her from Minnesota!!! May she have many more celebrations, and may you be there for every single one of them.
I think so often about you working toward that retirement date, and I can’t wait to see what you do when you no longer have those demands to weigh on what you love and were born to do. Ted, my husband, has just decided that he is retiring from his job on April 2. He can’t tell his employer yet, because then they would force him to forfeit his remaining vacation time. I have to smile at how they’re disadvantaging themselves by not being able to plan for how his work will be handled until the last minute because of their own greed. It seems to me that everyone would be better off if employers learned that treating all employees well actually is good business and a good way to get to the work done. But somehow a lot of leaders haven’t learned that yet. The bottom line is still primarily what they see.
I hope your week is good, Loretta. Thanks for sharing your triumph over trouble!
Hugs and love,
Karen
Karen,
Thank you soooo much my friend!! It was quite the adventure!! it really was a Go With the Flow Adventure!! She really did have fun!! We just added it to the list of fun things to do. It helped tremendously that my mop and bucket are purple so that made it even more appealing and fun cause it’s her fav color!
I’m sooooo glad my Mom had fun!! She likes cake on any day so that was definitely a PLUS!!! She loves balloons too!! I’m just focusing on the next time we can celebrate, Mother’s Day! and we should hopefully be done with COVID by then. Her second vaccine and mine is at the end of this week sometime. I was able to get mine at her group home too, because there are more doses in a vial than residents and caregivers in the three group homes owned by the owner. I asked if I could also get it when they announced the dates and she emphatically said YES!! The owner bought her Mom and sister and two other residents kids also received it. My friend at Walgreens had told me that they always have leftovers when doing small group homes and they have to scour the neighborhoods and knock on doors to find folks willing to get the vaccine so they don’t have to throw any away.
I’m loving moving toward the retirement date and didn’t even put anything that happened at work last week in the post, as that would have brought the positive tone down a lot!! I’m soooo happy for your husband too!! Tell him I’m bringing JOY to visit!!
The workmen just finished up and now i’m going to finish up my workout!!! It only took two hours so I’m REALLY happy!!! Whew!! They were also able to clear the drain in my tenant’s bathroom!! Sooo excited! Issue solved!!!
Much Love!
Well, my friend you have done it again. You never cease to amaze me! 😱 First, that delicious cake, your mom so beautiful in her outfit. Then, Ms Loretta you turned your flooding problem into a (my words) fun filled adventure with Kendal. The smiles on your faces just showed the fun, love the two of you share in whatever you do. You bring so much fun, laughter, joy into my life. Thank you for another uplifting adventure! Much Love, Belinda
Anytime my friend!!! It really did turn out to be a fountain day!! Love you back!!!!