In a funk...

It has been a month of drama at my house.  First the washer breaks.  Don't you hate when things break down?  I do.  Then, something fell out of my cabinets onto my stove and shattered my glass top stove.  Next, we found water flooding into my basement.  After some investigating, we found that the plumbing behind the fridge had broken somehow- my wood floors under my fridge were completely warped and drywall was wet.  Called a restoration company.  They went into the basement and cut out three holes in the basement ceiling.  They ripped up the wood floors in the kitchen.  Guess what they found- mold.  They contained the area and have taken two weeks to clean it, treat it, and dry everything out.  Then they decided to see if any water had made it's way to the office, and it had.  They ripped the carpet out.  There are two containment areas in my house, and about five loud machines running in my house.  We usually have to yell to hear each other.  How in the world can so much happen under your floors without you ever knowing is beyond me.  Yesterday I decided to escape the construction zone and take my kids to "Jump on it" with their cousins while Jared attended a Leadership meeting.  When I went to leave, my car didn't crank up.  I get a jump start, but the car is making all sorts of noises on the way home and I am just praying it will make it home.  It did.  I pulled into the garage, turned off the car, and tried to restart it but it had died again.  We think it's the alternator.  Oh, and to top it off, both kids have an ear infection.  Really?  I am just wondering what is next.

Yes, I have been feeling pretty sorry for myself.  On the bright side, I guess just when I needed it most, this weekend was Stake Conference.  We actually got a babysitter to watch the kids so we could attend the Saturday adult session too.  It was a weekend of spiritual nourishment, and messages of encouragement.  Elder Karen from the first quorum of the seventy was there, and we were both so impressed with him and his wife.  First, they are from England so I could just sit and listed to their beautiful accents all day long.  Elder Karen is a convert to the church, he joined the church in 1987 and is already a member of the seventy!  That's crazy to me.  Their children are only 14, 11 and 7.  I can't imagine having young children and being called from England to come out to the church's headquarters.  I realized during this conference that I have been dwelling to much on my own adversities.  I've spent too much time trying to figure out "why me".  President David O. McKay made this statement: “Man’s greatest happiness comes from losing himself for the good of others.” I took some notes from Conference that touched me, and some challenges that I think will help strengthen me.  I need to pull them out and get to work so I can get out of this rut I am in.  Even after feeling so uplifted, it didn't take long for me to get dragged back down into the pits again once I was home.  I hate that.  I need to pull out of it.  (Hopefully as soon as this mess is out of my house my mind won't feel so cluttered!  I can't function in this environment!)

Here is one picture.  I will post more later- it's madness