Our house has been torn apart. Literally. The night of April 12th, I couldn't sleep. About midnight I decided to follow my usual remedy and came downstairs to fall asleep while watching TV. It worked! But I slowly awakened to the annoying sound of the dishwasher running. "But wait, it didn't sound normal... Whatever, I'm comfy... I didn't think I set the dishwasher to run again tonight... Jeff must have... Argh! The running water is making me have to go to the bathroom!" I finally decide to get up about 3:30am and OMG! The carpeting is soggy! And the kitchen wood floor is a giant puddle! I yell up the stairs to Jeff that we're flooding somehow and he flew down the basement to turn the water supply off. He stayed in the basement while I gathered every towel we owned. I repeatedly soaked up the kitchen floor with new towels then threw them out on the frost-covered deck to drip dry. When I couldn't soak up anymore, I joined Jeff in the basement. I had no idea the water was raining from the ceilings in the basement. I began the towel routine on the floors again after placing garbage cans, plastic bins and laundry baskets under spots where it was leaking most. Ceiling tiles literally disintegrated from being soaked with the water. Jeff and I were so cold and tired from hauling our damp mess out of the house.

We placed our claim online at 7:30am. No response. I called the insurance company at noon to follow up because we were worried about our saturated living room carpet that we hadn't touched. The insurance company assured us someone would call the next day (!) and we could do anything we deemed necessary to prevent the water damage from spreading. Jeff and I decided to cut the carpet where it was wet and take it out. Wow! The carpet and padding were so saturated they just poured water as we moved them out to the patio. At 2:30 we did receive a call from ServPro, the insurance company's restoration team, that they would be to our house within the hour. That's more like it!

So from Wednesday through the following Monday, our home was an obstacle course full of loud dryers and special floor mats with a zillion hoses. Paige, Jeff and I were forced to eat meals out then spend our evenings up in our bedroom to watch TV.

The fans are now gone and so is our carpeting, mud room flooring and basement flooring. Now Jeff and I have to resolve our claim and choose who will repair it all.

My parents came down Sunday and stayed til Thursday to help me deal with my mess. I purchased a workbench for Jeff online through Craiglist deciding since all our belongings were in upheaval, it was time to organize Jeff's tools that had been tucked into the little nook below the basement stairs. I enlisted my Dad to build one wall where we'd set up the work area and he did it in 3 days! Pretty spiffy! Now, the organization begins!

Last Wednesday (13th) was also Abby's 21st birthday. She told us her roommates opened a bottle of wine at midnight to celebrate. Kristin was in town for a tradeshow and took Abby out for dinner that evening. Abby called us later and sounded like she had a really great day.

I'm still unemployed, which for the past 2 weeks has been a godsend. But I have to admit, I'm getting a little nervous. A couple leads here and there, but nothing's come of them. So I've invented a project for myself: to redesign Jeff's company's website. It's been under construction for 3 years! Jeff says I can anticipate getting paid, but maybe a discounted rate. Right now, that sounds good to me!

I'm back. Working full-time and personal blogging don't mix. I've finished my 12 week temporary assignment at Columbia St. Mary's (picture of their beautiful office building) filling in for their graphic designer who was on maternity leave. It truly was a fabulous experience – a perfect match. But now I'm home for a while til the temp agency finds me something new. Luckily I have a freelance project in the works that's kept me busy. Outside of that, I've updated my resume, my LinkedIn profile and created a logo for my freelance business. Trying to keep my skills sharp!

Looking back over the past 3 months I've neglected, here are a few of the Saunders family's big events.

We now know exactly what time it is in our kitchen again thanks to the purchase of a new stove! It's lovely and very clean. No more burners to clean now that I have a flat top.


And Abby's Prizm is $800 better than it was when we just had it fixed over Winter Break (new exhaust system and tires). She drove it home one weekend in February and as she was leaving to go back the power steering fluid completely emptied after just one trip around the block. Jeff filled it up and again! We had to let her take the van back while we took her car into the shop. Major injuries again: new belt, brakes (pads & rotors), brakeline.


Paige tried out and made the high school's JV softball team as their starting pitcher. Their first game was yesterday. I've added a link so you can check out her season schedule. Upon recommendation from the coaches, Paige also joined a select team, the Sussex Sundevils. Those games will begin in June (I don't have a schedule yet). Paige will turn 16 the end of May which means she can get a job and try for her driver's license! Abby's boss at Hallmark seems very interested in hiring Paige and Paige has the application to fill out. As for driving, Paige has completed 4 of her 6 Behind-the-Wheel classes so she's well on her way. In February Paige placed 4th at the Future Business Leaders of America Conference where she had to debate the benefits of businesses going green.



As of January Bryn officially changed her major at Carroll from Physical Therapy to Writing. She seems very happy with her choice, but I asked her to research job opportunities now so she can build supporting classes. Bryn joined the college track team, but is not able to participate at the meets because she still limps from removing the surgical screw in January from her bunion surgery a year ago. But she's a great team supporter: she attends every practice and every meet without fail. This summer Bryn has been hired as a playground leader for 5-year-olds with our local Park and Rec. She been assigned the early shift 6am - noon, but she's fine with it commenting that then she can just get on with her day!

Abby will turn 21 in just a couple days! My sister Kristin will be there to help celebrate. As a coincidence, Kristin has a tradeshow in La Crosse that day! Abby spent spring break in Panama City, Florida, with CRU this year. You can tell she had a blast by her pictures on Facebook. Abby is searching hard for a paid marketing or communications internship this summer in the Milwaukee area. She may have to settle for unpaid and then keep her job at Hallmark.


Jeff has become a traveling fool. Besides his monthly 4-day visits to the Martha Jefferson Hospital construction site in Charlottesville, Virginia, he's been to York, Pennsylvania and Denver, Colorado for new Johnson Controls building projects. Within Wisconsin, Jeff was driving Paige up to Horicon weekly for pitching practice.

We scheduled a family vacation to San Diego in August with our Hilton timeshare. Looking forward to the destination, not so excited about the plane ride.