From July 21 to the present we have had an insane amount of rain. For at least the third time in less than two months our backyards have been covered in water to the point you couldn't see any grass. Although many in our area deal with flooding from the Susquehanna River, that is not our situation. As I drove home from work this evening I saw more and more roads were closed due to flooding, and many of those were very close to the river. The river had overflowed its banks in some spots. Our problem is that the ground is so oversaturated that there is standing water in many places. Our new sump pump (which we purchased last month when our basement flooded due to the previous pump giving up the ghost) is doing a good job, but yesterday we had some water in the basement this time because it came through some of the tiny windows. Again it was because the ground is just SO oversaturated. Last Wednesday a repair guy came to fix the elliptical. The company had sent the wrong parts; he's supposed to come again tomorrow morning as we received the correct part on Saturday. Here's to hoping he can repair it tomorrow and that we don't receive a bill for the parts or repair service. It's under warranty, but that could be a moot point if they feel it's due to water damage. Also, I am wondering if we should move the elliptical somewhere else in the house to make sure it stays dry, but I can't think of where else it could go.
Today Paul was going to take the kids to RB Winter State Park for a program for homeschoolers scheduled to take place from 9-3, but last night I received an email that due to the stream there having too high a volume of water, the event was cancelled. I quickly sent Paul a different set of lesson plans for today. This Thursday we had planned to drive to Williamsburg, Virginia. Due to Hurricane Florence, those plans have been scrapped. It is disappointing as we had plans to visit Jamestown, Yorktown, Virginia Beach, and Colonial Williamsburg. We are studying that time period right now. The kids were at Colonial Williamsburg in 2015, but they have never been to the other places. Paul's parents had planned to join us. I already received an email from Colonial Williamsburg suggesting that I call them to receive a refund for our reservations. I am planning to do the same with Jamestown/Yorktown tomorrow (it was one ticket for both places). The biggest expense was the $289 we paid for a three bedroom unit for seven nights. I am also going to see if they will give us a refund or allow us to change the dates. I have been a member of Interval (the time share company) for over 18 years and have never made such a request before. There was one other time we didn't use a week we had paid for. The other instance it had nothing to do with the weather but was due to me deciding to teach in the summer on campus. The kids are very disappointed as they knew the resort had an indoor and outdoor swimming pool, etc., but there is no way we are heading toward a place that is about to be hit by an intense hurricane! I am hoping Florence doesn't bring us much rain.
I had requested a personal day for September 18. I am attempting to cancel that request. I had already told my students since the first day of class that we would not be meeting on 9/18. They would be rather upset if I changed the schedule at this point. I had already given them an alternative activity in place of class. So presuming my request to cancel my personal day is approved, I think I will spend the day visiting student teachers. I visited two today, and I plan to visit two more on Thursday, which means I need to visit six of them next week.
It looked as if our schedule was totally clear for Saturday, but it turns out we'll be attending a funeral because Paul's Gram died today. She would have turned 96 years old in December. Paul and I attended his Nan's funeral (his mom's mom) and his Pop's funeral (his dad's dad). Considering my mom already passed away, it's not a shocker that now Paul (at the age of 48) no longer has any living grandparents. I was in my late 20's when one of my grandparents died and in my early 30's when my other two grandparents died (I never met my dad's dad). Even if Hurricane Florence hadn't interfered with our travel plans, it turns out Paul's parents wouldn't have been joining us after all due to this death in the family. Great Gram had been very ready to go to Heaven so to me it doesn't seem like a sad event. When a person lives a full life and is longing to go to Glory, how can we feel sad when they pass away?
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