When It Rains, It Pours

 I have learned a valuable lesson this week.

I should learn not to be so boastful. I was so incredibly excited to have missed Amarillo's terrible -27 below temperatures a couple weeks ago, and to top it off, to be soaking in the 70 degree weather here in Oakdale.

Maybe I should have held back posting on Facebook about how happy I was to be out of Amarillo at just the right time.

Maybe I shouldn't have sent a million pictures to Mama Texas showing her how lovely our weather was in comparison to hell freezing over in Amarillo.

Maybe then I wouldn't have cursed myself, Texas, and my mom with the terrible luck we have been experiencing this week with the rain and its aftershocks.

It started out fairly innocent.

Gray skies.

A little bit of hail.

All was fine and dandy minus a few puddles here and there. And a soaking wet boyfriend coming in from work.

Then, disaster hit...

My mom's house turned into a rain forest.

The ceiling just kind of opened up, and it was like having an arboretum in the kitchen. Except instead of beautiful flowers and plants, there were a variety of pots, pans, dishes, and mail.

My mom is waiting on a roofer to come out and evaluate the damage and figure out the problem.

Meanwhile, back at the humble abode where Texas and I live, we are dealing with our own problems...

MOLD!

Yup, mold. Mildew. Whatever you want to call it.

I was putting my flippy floppies back under the bed on Sunday after a nice warm day in Santa Cruz that weekend when I saw it...

On the walls.

Behind the bed.

Behind the night stand.

Behind the dog crate.

Behind the bed in the guest bedroom... on the other end of the house.

To top it off, when I opened the closet to look for the M word in there, I found another black predator... ants.

Of course, being the strong, independent, farm raised, deer killing woman I am, I immediately freaked out and called tractor driving Texas to come rescue me.

A few rainy days later, the Mold Inspector man (who isn't allowed to say the M word) came out look at the house.

The diagnosis??

Our house is wet. It needs to be aired out.

Huh?? I don't think our house will fit in a dryer.

The underneath of the house is wet. The floors/carpet might potentially be wet. The humidity inside the house is 20% higher than outside... even though it was raining at the time of inspection.

How will we fix this mess since technology has yet to make a house sized dryer??

Fans. Lots of fans. Inside the house. Below the house.

While all of this happens, Texas and I, along with all the critters, must move out for a few days. I'd hate to come home to my fur ball of a cat stuck in a fan.

I will keep ya posted on the rainy happenin's over here in sunny California. Keep dry y'all!