Floods of 2010

Coming to you live from the former town known as Ames....

Actually, no, we're no longer an island like we were on Wednesday, but we're still in the process of clean-up! The picture to the left is from a friend, Randy. This is a street that I normally drive down every day to get to the interstate. It was closed for 2 days because of the water over the road. It's open now, but there's some major cleanup still to happen. The next picture is from one of the other main "drags" in town - Duff Ave. This is how most people get from North Ames to South Ames...that didn't happen for a while! This street houses Wal-Mart, Target, and most of our eateries. Wal-Mart re-opened yesterday - but I'm really hesitant about going there - it had lots of water in the parking lot, and looked like it actually got in the store - but no one will confirm or deny it. Target on the other hand is still closed. I drove by yesterday and they had boxed out in front of the store. My guess would be they're going through a lot of what Walgreens did a few years ago in Iowa City. Luckliy, the water receeded here a lot quicker than just a few years ago in IA City, so they don't have as much cleanup here as they did over there.

After working Wednesday at Walgreens, and knowing that I had to make it down to Des Moines to work Thursday and Friday - AND hearing that they shut down I-35 and the city's water due to possible contanmination, Steven and I looked for a hotel for this lady to stay at. I found one after about an hour of looking - thank goodness - because it's also fair week in Des Moines. (State Fair that is!) What timing.

We were fine in our duplex as far as water goes. We're in north Ames. They shut down 69 just north of us due to Ada Hayden flooding over the road - but it's back open too. Our storage shed on the other hand is another story. We had flash flooding earlier in the week and were called to come check things out. We took on about 2 inches of water then - and Steven knew he'd have to clean/throw away some things. After Wednesday's floods, he went to check it out Thursday and ended up spending all day out there - removing EVERYTHING, sweeping, drying, and building a platform to put things back on. We had to throw out a bookcase, a table that he built me for my sewing machine, some boxes, and a few odds and ends. Thank goodness OCD me got all of Benton's things out the weekend before - his stroller, his pack-n-play, etc! I thank my wonderful husband for taking the time to take care of the shed - he's a doll and I didn't even have to do any of the work!

I came home last night to there still being restrictions on water useage - they were asking residents not to use water wastefully - short showers or sponge baths, no dishes, no washing clothes, no washing cars (yes, people were ACTUALLY washing their cars), and no watering lawns. We flushed only when necessary. Thank goodness that restriction is being lifted in just a few hours! I have laundry to do! However - we still have a boil order in effect, they're saying until early next week still. Because of the flooding, we had a total of 8 water main breaks that crews have been working around the clock to fix. I thank them for their hard work and efforts! They found another break last night around 6 pm, but had it fixed at 11 pm. That's 9 water breaks! YIKES.

Enough about the floods....in store this weekend? CLEANING! YEA!! Mom and Dad are coming up next weekend - very excited, and our friend Neil is coming up sometime this week! We plan on going to the fair tomorrow if the weather permits and isn't too hot. We have a 3d/4d ultrasound scheduled for next Saturday! We're excited to see the little man again. And my first baby shower is next Friday night with the Ames crew!

Hope everyone has a fabulous week! Lots of love from our growing family to yours!!

Benton's Room

We've been very busy with Benton's room! The chair came in this week and Steven and I borrowed a friend's truck to go pick it up (Thanks Garrisons!) We got it put together (the base on the chair) and set in the corner.

The letters are on the wall above his crib - just waiting for Steven's dad to finish it. He's taking on the amazing task of making him a convertible crib. He's an amazing woodworker and we're very excited!

Some of the artwork is up on the wall - we got the HOGS pictures from the craft fair last year and orginally planned on putting it in the office - but after we found out we were pregnant, it really made me settle on a Razorback Themed nursery - so it was a must to put on the wall, especially with the sports balls in it!

We attempted to put together the travel system last week - and found out it was broken. So we took it back to BRU and exchanged it. Didn't end up getting the exact same one (because Chicco d/c the pattern we had - boo!) but settled with a nice green one.

Next week's agenda: Monday night - go meet and check out the possible daycare provider (in-home). Tuesday afternoon - doctor's appointment in Ankeny. We'll see if Dr Morgan really did schedule my c-section and not let me know :-S Wednesday - payroll at work (yikes!) and the conversion to my new system (ACK!) Thursday and Friday and ALL next week - filling in for the admin in Des Moines - so lots of playing with the new system! On top of all of that - I have lots of sewing to try and do. I need to make new sheets for the cradle (it's not a 'normal' sized mattress...so...). I have a few other projects that I'm thinking of trying - making some personalized burp cloths and onsies - we'll see how it goes!

Speaking of sewing - look at what mom is making for the room: This is the valance, it has white curtains with a Razorback ribbon running along the bottom.

She acutally just sent me another picture that I'll post next week of the completed curtains! YEA!!