Damn You, Washing Machine!!!!

For your pleasure, let's recap our most wondrous day:

1.) Traci is doing last-minute prep to get the kids out the door to school when she starts to hear a water gushing sound. Then, she hears Michael yell, "UH-OH!" She turns around to see water spurting out of EVERY opening of the washing machine. The water is gushing like mad and does not stop even when she turns off the machine. The kitchen floor and all surrounding areas (hallway, dining room, coat closet, etc.) immediately fill with at least an inch of water. Finally, she shuts the main water valve off...phew. (In retrospect, we are extremely lucky this didn't happen five minutes later, as Traci would have been out the door for at least a couple of hours!)

2.) A 25-week pregnant woman is now faced with the daunting task of clean-up, while also keeping her two kids at bay. (Thank God for television.) Just imagine her slogging around with at least 12 towels and a mop. Both kids ventured in and slipped and hit their heads at least once. Mass sobbing all around ensues.

3.) Knock-knock-knock...it's the neighbors downstairs! Guess what? They already have two buckets-full of water coming through their ceiling. Happy, happy, joy, joy!

4.) A plumber arrives and determines that he can do nothing because it is obviously appliance-related, rather than plumbing-system-related. Cha-ching...$60 for the house call and no help.

5.) Call in to Maytag...oh yeah, we can send somebody....on TUESDAY OF NEXT WEEK!!! (Waaaah...do you know how much new laundry was created by this disastrous mess?)

6.) By this time Mike has come home, and he and Traci have agreed to split the necessary errands of the day. Mike and the kids drop Traci off at the laundromat while they attempt to send out presents at the post office and get the car's oil changed.

7.) Five minutes after drop-off, Traci realizes that she brought the clothes, but no detergent. Mike and the kids must turn around...

8.) Meanwhile, at the long-lined post office (it is late morning at this point...close to Michael's nap time), Michael starts to throw a grade-A-sized tantrum as Mike tries to keep him from ripping through the box and tube bins. Mike tries to send out three packages while simultaneously holding a squirming 2-year-old and having a four-year-old wrapped around his leg.

9.) Mike decides to just stop at a fast food place to pick up lunch since everybody is already under duress. The people at the drive-thru get his order completely wrong...the actual order literally does not come out to their waiting car for another 10 minutes.

10.) By the time Mike gets the kids back home, Michael is so out of his mind with tiredness and hunger that he literally rips through any open drawer in the house, leaving quite a tsunami in his wake.

11.) While cleaning up from lunch, Mike drops a big vat of taco soup which spills everywhere inside and underneath the fridge.

So, yeah, forgive us if we just want to curse our washing machine, go to bed, and never wake up again....