Mike, Gone for a Month

Mike made his yearly trip south for the month of April.  It is really different around here when he is gone.  The house becomes messy, I eat differently, I enjoy the first week and then start to get lonely. When he comes back, I have to get used to him being around again.  I am not complaining though.  I think it is good for him and the girls to get together.

When he left, the Mississippi river started to rise  well beyond it's banks.  I went to the Farmer's Market for breakfast on the Saturday after Mike left and found the parking lot under water.  The deli was still open and they had a pop up market in a lot on higher ground.

My friend and I decided to go up on the sky bridge to get a better view of the water.

 The trains were having trouble getting through so they built the tracks up. This caused some issues with the city because they were concerned cars would not be able to drive over the tracks when the water receded.

This is a broken panel on the sky bridge. Someone told me it looked like a Monet.  I just realized people may not know what the sky bridge is.  It is a glass bridge that goes nowhere.

Last week there was a water breach in the Hesco wall.  I have never heard this word before but it is the name of the sand wall built to hold the Mississippi back.  When it broke, downtown became flooded with cars floating and people being rescued by boat. I believe it made national news.  So the water in all of the photos above is now much higher.  Some of my favorite stores are now flooded.

I have had people ask if the flood has affected us.  Luckily it hasn't except for maybe more traffic than usual because of all of the detours.  We are five miles from the breach (breach not beach) and on much higher ground.

The day Mike left, our new vanity for the master bath was delivered while I was at work.  I had no idea it would be coming on a pallet.  They left it in the middle of the driveway and when it started raining, I called Mike to have him call his friend to go over and pull it into the garage.  It was 265 lbs.
Yes, we are finally renovating our master bath.  We decided to hire someone to do it instead of us doing the work because it involves tearing out walls, moving plumbing, and moving electrical.

One thing I did agree on was to pull the wallpaper off the walls that are staying.  It didn't take me took long because not many walls are staying.

Mike had a good time while I was home working.

Molly had a new neighbor move in while Mike was visiting her.  Late one evening the police came to her door to ask if she owned a white Ford Taurus.  Well, that is Mike's car and it turns out the new neighbor's boyfriend doesn't know how to park a U-Haul.  Not only did he hit a truck head on, then Molly's car, but he hit Mike's car at least four times.  The owner of the truck witnessed it and called the police right away.  He thought the driver was drunk but he wasn't.  You would think when you hit something, you would stop what you are doing.

And now for some Easter photos.

1) Binx helping me get Janelle's Easter Basket ready.
2) What my sister saw in the front yard of a plumbing business.
3) Binx brought me the Easter Bunny and placed it behind the couch.

I am not sure how Binx did that since he is not allowed outside.   The only thing I can think of is the bunny must have been in the basement porch where Binx is allowed to hang out.  I was in the kitchen when he brought it to me hanging in his mouth and when I squealed, he decided to put it behind the couch.  I thought it was dead but when I scooped it up in the dust pan, I realized it was just in shock.  I placed him outside and soon he was gone.

Things like this always happen when Mike is out of town. Last year I had to deal with a bat in the basement in the middle of the night. 

Anyway, I hope everyone had an eggs-ellent Easter!