This afternoon my oldest son and his wife held a baby shower at their place. It was also an opportunity for us to see the baby’s room, and admire some new furniture.

Everyone was just getting settled in, ready to dig into the cake, when my DIL’s mother let out a scream from downstairs. Their brand new water boiler in the cellar sprung a leak, and the entire cellar was 2 feet deep under water.

The entire family (about 15 people) formed a chain, sort of like an ant colony, passing books through the cellar rooms and up the stairs to the front hallway. Then we rescued Christmas and Easter decorations, boxes of shoes, old lamps, picture frames, huge cartons of stuff stuff and more stuff. The fire department came to pump the water out, and the company that built the boiler inspected their damage. They squeezed by us, scratching their heads at the sight of giggling adults in the face of disaster. My DIL’s dad is a cut up. He started making up songs to fit the situation. I haven’t laughed so much in a while; just had to share with you all. Gee now I know where the word “Baby shower” comes from.