Our Thanksgiving weekend did not go as we had planned. There were many unexpected challenges that came about. There was work where we least expected it.
Wednesday, as I was cleaning our room to prepare for Winter and cold weather, I saw a place on our walls where the paint was peeling away so I gently tugged at it because I am planing to paint that room anyways. But what I did not expect to find behind that paint was a molded wall that had been covered with cheap paint before our landlords purchased our residence. The previous owner had covered over the mold so the new owners had no idea what they were really getting. Over time, the cheap paint loosened and the truth was exposed.
Mold. Seriously?! At Thanksgiving?! Just what we needed to find! Luckily, we do know how to remove and treat the areas that were affected. And so you can guess how the weekend was spent.
We’ve taken our room wall by wall. One spot had to be peeled away, trashed and repainted with Kilz 2 to protect and seal the remaining mold which was affected only on the surface area. But there was more to be discovered. The opposite side of our room, by our window, the wall was brittle and breaking due to the dampness and mold growing there. It, too, had been hidden by the previous paint job and then by the furniture we had inside our room. So these walls had to be completely ripped out and replaced. I’m thankful to say that this is done and now we just need to finish it all off with paint!
So you’d think that God would say “Ok these guys have had enough” but NOPE. He decided to challenge us even more. As I was cooking our Thanksgiving dinner (I had the sides while Don did the Turkey and Ham and my Mom did the Giblet Gravy, Mac N Cheese and the Stuffing or Dressing as you prefer to call it), I discovered our sink drain was not draining out. Oh boy! Another challenge! The water was backed up with no where to go.
Yep, you guessed it! Our septic was FULL!
Hurricane Matthew still has the water level high, so add to that 7 people using the water, bathroom, shower and that equals a full tank! The septic decided on Thanksgiving Day that it had enough and wasn’t taking anymore.
Yep! This mess was our holiday weekend.
I’m thankful to say that Don has fixed the bedroom and our wonderful landlords had the septic emptied completely late last night. We did manage to have a great meal despite the challenges and we all shared things we were thankful for. Me? I was just thankful to have the meal done and my family fed.
Sometimes challenges happen and you come through them together, stronger than you expect to. You learn from them, deal with them and move forward. These were some pretty serious tasks we faced but we didn’t let that stop us from enjoying our time as a family or discourage us from our holiday.
When life throws you lemons, you simply add some sugar, some ice and have sweet homemade lemonade!
