So here we are, it's my 2-week Christmas Break and the stinking weather is
forecast to be rainy THE WHOLE WEEK!!! Luckily there were a few days of reprieve now and again which was just long enough for things to dry out a bit before the next downpour hit! In a matter of a few days Bakersfield got record
amounts of rain and we almost attained our annual rainfall estimate within these
2 short weeks of December! Our canyon roads were blocked due to massive rock slides...down south they were dealing with
unbelievable mudslides and all around workers were busy trying to keep roads clear of water and debris. The city was handing out free sandbags for people who couldn't keep the water away from their homes. I was lucky, my
backyard was a daily lake that would eventually soak up into a
sponge-like marshy
consistency when the rains
stopped, but it stayed away from the house. Mom's house wasn't so lucky...her drains just couldn't keep up as you can see in the photos! On two or three different days I went over to help sweep the water away and twice we had to let
water out of the pool because the rain had caused it to rise so much that it was almost overflowing! However, on Thursday Dec. 23rd (the one in the photos) the water on the patio came all the way in and ended up about 4 inches
deep! On a previous day we'd moved all of the patio furniture as far back as possible but it was not far enough for this day! We'd gotten over an inch of rain in about an hour and it had been steadily raining prior to that! With
the ground already saturated the water had no place to go and after that 1-hour downpour all the planters were overflowing, the pool was overflowing, the neighbors' yard was overflowing into mom's yard and the patio was already underwater! So we opened the main drain in the bottom of the pool (which then sends the water out to the street through a big hose) and got all the water out by sweeping it from the patio into the pool. The pool ended up looking like a swamp but we figured we could fix that later and besides...the planters had been overflowing dirt and worms into it for days now! Our plan had worked--the water was gone and the
forecast actually called for a partially
sunny Christmas Eve with rain expected to return Saturday afternoon for Christmas. We all decided that Friday the 24
th would be the best day to drive to
Exeter to visit Grandma Nita & the cousins to celebrate Christmas because we wouldn't have to wonder if things were flooding while we were gone! Then on Saturday the 25
th with the help of Wayne (really we just helped him) we dug out some of the drain pipes to see why they couldn't move the water out...and what we found
was unreal! Wayne cut a section of pipe and with
plenty of brute force pulled out a snake like clog made of roots, dirt, and God knows what that was a full 4 inches in diameter and at least 3 feet long before it broke! Clearly that anaconda of muck was the reason water struggled to pass through! He got out as much as he could from the pipe that went underneath the cement slab and then replaced the pipe we could get to with a thicker pipe in hopes the roots wouldn't penetrate and grow inside of it again!
After finally deciding on a color (well not really, I picked 3 different colors that they are going to mix and pattern together to create my new faux wood laminate floors) I set the 
installation appointment for Friday, December 31st, 2010! I was so excited that Carpet Outlet Plus was open and able to get my job booked during my break so I 
didn't have to take any time off work! On Wednesday the 29th I went and bought semi-gloss paint because my bedroom was done in flat paint that was impossible to keep clean and I figured if my 
floors were going be shiny and new so should my walls! I splurged on the low odor paint and by the time I finished it looked AWFUL! I was so upset and sore...I'd never seen paint go on so 
poorly--it was streaky and looked matte in some places and glossy in others!? So Thursday morning (now running out of time to paint and let dry before the workers 
show up on Friday) I went back to Sherwin Williams and told the guy that for a high quality paint it was lousy! He had me describe my problem and then tells me that because they use a spray gun 
to apply the flat paint they only do enough to cover the drywall and don't use primer at all! So essentially I'd used really good paint as a primer--So frustrating!!! The guy assured me that if I do one more coat everything would cover evenly and look great. Thank goodness it did because I probably would've gone postal on the guy if it didn't! The second coat was on by early afternoon and I'd pulled all the tape off that evening and crossed my fingers that it 
would be dry enough for the workers! I woke up early new year's eve in anticipation of the workers coming and then the guy calls me and says they won't arrive until 10am (when I'd expected them by 8am)! I found myself with time enough to finish cleaning out my garage so that they could work in there and have breakfast! Once they showed up it seemed like they had everything torn out in seconds and the blue underlayment put down! I tried to stay outta the way but snuck down the hall or through my sliding door (from out in the back yard) to get pictures 
every once in a while so that I wouldn't miss out on the progress! At the same time, I found it hard to watch because I had chosen 3 different colors (a dark almost black, a chocolate brown, and a honey colored laminate) and I was worried that I'd scrutinize the pattern! In the end, I walked into my room and LOVED it instantaneously (which was a good thing considering I'd already paid for it)! Before I moved back all my furniture I wanted to go around and re-paint 
all the baseboards so they too looked shiny and new! Painting the baseboards terrified me because I didn't want to ruin my new floors with paint so it seemed to take me FOREVER! When it was all said and done everything looked great! Thanks to mom for helping with the painting--she did ALL the cutting in (a part I don't enjoy doing) and then 
while I painted baseboards she went around and got all the door frames! By Sunday everything was dry but there was one board that I wasn't happy with (it had a funny streak all the way down the board were the gloss looked dull) so I was afraid to put the furniture back until I knew how they'd fix it. My installer called me back on Monday and assured me it'd be fine to put in the furniture because if he needed to replace the board he could take it right out of the middle. It took over a week for him to "fit me in" but amazingly the streak rubbed out with a pink eraser?!?!? I was happy that it was a simple fix because I'd already tried cleaning it to no avail and was sure he'd have to cut it out and glue in a new piece! I'm now enjoying my new floors and with a simple sweeping it 
comes clean and I use my little mini-vac to suck up the debris. I only need to use the cleaner about once a week to really get the shine back! Now it's time to save my money so I can do more of my floors! :)
