Water, water everywhere...gives a good excuse for a deep cleaning!

Every few years we have enough rain or snow to experience severe flooding.  Not midwestern-my-house-floated-into-the-next-county flooding, but the type that washes out roads, downs large trees, and floods basements.  This year is such a year.  We got nearly five inches of rain in five days, and two of those inches landed today. In my basement. Yes.  And so for the second time since we bought this house (five years ago next month!), we spent a day fighting the rising tides, trying to reclaim our home.

I could be very upset. And, truth be told, I am a tiny bit cranky. My plans for several days are quashed, replaced by MEMA (Marie's Emergency Management Agency) and the massive clean-up required.  My whole body aches from hours of carrying five-gallon buckets full of water out of the house.  These things are true.  And yet I am determined to count my blessings.

• Blessing #1: I don't have a job that makes me leave the house all day, so I was able to catch the flooding in time.
• Blessing #2: A friend posted about the flooding around his work at noon today, prompting me to think "Oh, it's been an hour since I checked on the basement to make sure it wasn't flooding -- maybe I check again" at which point I noticed the entire basement was flooded with an inch of rapidly-rising water entering at both sides of the house.
• Blessing #3: Honey has a job that allowed him to rush home to help. (He may be sitting and working now at 9PM to make up for it, but at least he was able to drop everything at noon!)
• Blessing #4: Thin Man is my one reliable sibling in the area -- I can call, say "Emergency!" and know he'll be over to help.
• Blessing #5: We had all the supplies on hand from the last time our area had severe flooding -- two sump pumps, a wet shop vac, mops, buckets, and the knowledge of how to solve the problem.
• Blessing #6: It only took us five hours to get most of the water out. Fans are blowing, rugs are rolled up, and furniture is off the floor in an effort to get the last of the water dried out over night.
• Blessing #7: This took place during the day.  Last time the basement flooded it was New Year's Day.  Just barely.  We were coming back from celebrating with friends and I decided to check the dryer, only to step into the basement and find myself standing in water. I was (of course) a little buzzed and very tired and just wanted to sleep but ended up spending the next eight hours bailing water. (Side note: That was the last time I ever stayed up until midnight for New Year's.)
• Blessing #8: This forces a deep cleaning. I'm a fairly clean person -- I vacuum every day, mop every week, and tend to keep a tidy house.  This forces me into "spring cleaning," but that's okay -- I like a clean house and it will smell good by the end of the weekend.

Wow, that's a lot of blessings!  I guess this day wasn't so bad after all.