surprise

Do you like surprises? I love the kind of surprises that come unexpectedly and brightens my day without cause. The little surprise word or gesture from my hubby, a sweet card in the mail from a good friend, or the random act of love from one of my kiddos (the kind that really shows a mom she is doing something right). Who doesn't love those kind of surprises?

I was on the receiving end of some random surprises today. I was greeted this morning with a big kiss from my 7 year old, and the words "I love you mommy" even before I opened my eyes. My in-laws came today and brought me a homemade birthday cake and gift. My daughter willingly did the dishes for me since my back has been killing me for days. My hubby started the day with the goal of installing our new range in the kitchen (I have been without a range for about 9 months). While here, my mother in-law cleaned, and my father in-law worked diligently helping my hubby with the stove. Ahhhh- such sweet acts and thoughts.

How about the surprises that happen which cause sudden chaos and a rise of your stress levels? How do feel about those? Yeah, I know what you are thinking- I am not a fan either. Unfortunately, we had our share of those today as well. After a few loud "popping" noises while trying to hook up the stove, that project was put on hold for a professional. Not long after, while I was attempting to wash dishes, my T man came to tell me the upstairs bathroom was flooding- and boy was he ever right!! Nothing a shop vac and all of our beach towels (and most of our regular towels) couldn't handle. A few minutes later I was back to washing dishes when I heard a loud sound and almost immediately felt wet. Yep- the line under the sink where the dishwasher line attaches came off. I sent kids scattering off in different directions. One for towels, one to turn off the main water, another to get the shop vac from upstairs, and one to find Big Daddy to figure what in the world was going on!! In the meantime we realized the water from the upstairs bath was seeping through mouldings and light fixtures on the first floor. Things really went nuts. We decided to disperse our kiddos to neighbors until things were a little better under control.

Its not long before things settle down, we make supper, collect our children, and preceed to have a wonderful steak dinner. For dessert? The mouthwatering homemade Caramel cake with my kiddos singing "Happy Birthday" to me. Not a surprise, but bliss all the same. After dinner, I decide to let out the water I had used to wash dishes and guess what?!?! Another flood!!!!!!

Seriously- the pipe came loose from the sink and the water was just emptying under the sink!! We managed to find the last 2 towels that somehow missed the first two tsunamis and was quickly able to get the last attempt on my sanity cleaned up. The water managed to make it into another cabinet, so we currently have fans running to dry things up while we slumber tonight.

Before my in-laws left tonight, my sweet MIL kept telling me how amazed she was that I was so calm through all the insanity. I let her go on for awhile before I felt the need to confess that I had taken a muscle relaxer earlier to help with the back pain!!!
I must say- it worked like a charm!! Not much back pain- and my muscles were most certainly relaxed!

So that is my day of surprises- and it was enough for awhile. I hope.