It's raining, it's pouring- but the man isn't snoring

Midnight. Technically it was Wednesday but we were just going to sleep in attempt to end Tuesday when Mr. Zookeeper came rushing up the stairs and announced we had a problem.

I hurried after him to find our main floor living room was being flooded.  Water was seeping through the ceiling at various points and coming heavily by way of the ceiling fan. Mr. Zookeeper, being the awesome man that he is, took control and told me what I needed to assist in.  After killing all power to the room, we began what would turn into our middle of the night date. Geez, what some couples will do to be alone!

I grabbed towels and buckets while Mr. Zookeeper reached up and grabbed at broken pieces of sheet-rock taking no prisoners.  I am a fan of waterfalls but never really planned what to do with one in my living room. I suddenly had empathy for chicken little as I held my hands over my head and ducked about the room trying to avoid getting rained on or side swiped by the falling sheets.The culprit was a pipe that came detached from the upstairs bath. It was rather miraculous that the damage stayed where it did and didn't harm any furniture, walls or fuses. Instantly we saw this untimely incident as an opportunity to put in the additional recessed lighting we'd been talking about for years. We considered the possibility of remodeling the bath plumbing to accommodate upgrades in the future and I secretly imagined the draining carrying over into the dining room where we would be forced to pull down sections of ceiling that just happened to house splats of ketchup that I haven't been able to get to lately. Hey, when one door closes...

Mr. Zookeeper decided we needed fans. I decided it would be better for him to go to the store while I stayed back and cleaned up.  First off, I had absolutely no idea what to get. Second I am a big scaredy cat and don't go outside after dark. Fortunately, he knows me well enough that I only had to admit to the first reason.

My handy dandy Rug Doctor proved useful yet again.  I worked away soaking up gallons of water from beneath my feet. Mingled with sheet rock and plaster, I had the broom swiping away to break the material from the water so as not to block my filters.  Debris was everywhere.  My handy dandy Dyson also proved his usefulness.  I was able to get most of the loose particles cleaned up by the time Mr. Zookeeper came back. Here's what I love about him. He handled the situation without a single temper flare. There were no harsh words used or imagined. He simply went to work. He re-dressed to run to our handy dandy 24 hour Wal-mart and upon returning, he brought me Del-Taco. Yes, he did.  We laid down some towels and took a taco break. We laughed a little and then I sat on the couch while Mr. Zookeeper got on his hands and knees and proceeded to use the tool attachment for maximum suction. Three hours and several gallons of water later, we turned on the fans and retired to our beds.

Note to self. In the event of a ceiling caving in; the wild animals don't awake.  However, they are very unforgiving when morning comes and you are still making up for lost sleep. Puppy wakes me exasperated that I will never believe what happened downstairs! Tiger has already decided that Dad did it. Dad took away our ceiling and if it wasn't him- then it must have been the giant crab! Monkey was quietly trying to make sense of it all and Rhino looked puzzled as if wondering, no doubt, how this was going to affect his breakfast schedule.

Mr. Zookeeper headed off to work and had the whole project handled. The next day disaster clean up came out and pointed out the remaining hidden wet spots. (FYI:  mold sets in within 48 hours so you need to get it all out right away.)  Mr. Zookeeper stripped the wood of its carpet covering and the girls and I helped haul away the remaining sheet-rock. Rhino held the door open.  Tiger was beside himself.  We took down the TV.  A friend came over a few days later and helped Mr. Zookeeper strip the floors and ceilings. By the time the insurance handler came out, Mr. Zookeeper had the room all ready to be put back together. What a guy.

That all happened one week ago.  Soon, I will have a new floor and ceiling.  There will be more light in the room and the family television screen can be returned to its proper place. All will be right with the world once more... at least as well as one can expect when living in the jungle. I find it odd that for years I have been scrubbing that carpet due to calls of nature from a certain potty training drop-out and the random spills and drills of household living.  Not once did I imagine, "Hey, I bet someday we come down at midnight, grab some tacos and rip the whole room up."  And to think, my kids had absolutely nothing to do with it!  I'm still trying to wrap my head around this one...