This day, this visit, is not going the way I had wished.

My best friend is here with her baby girl. They arrived yesterday afternoon, joining me at work first so that I could have her meet my boss. Traveling home from work together hit a snag because there was an accident when we were just a mile from home that added at least 30 minutes to the commute.

We then went to the store because I had not managed to do so before her arrival. [To my chagrin, I also had not managed to clean the bird cage, wash the dog, vacuum, dust, clean the bathrooms, or otherwise prepare for her visit.

We raced home from the store to speed feed her daughter and get her down in time to watch the season finale of CSI. We played a few games, watched a movie, and staggered off to bed because it was so late and we had the whole next day to play games, watch movies, and go out for a bit. One goal was to turn in the paperwork for my passport for our trip next fall. Her husband was to come the next evening and we would all spend the weekend together.

A great plan, eh?

Well, it rained. And rained. And rained.

And the basement flooded.

For hours and hours, I mopped and squeezed water in the bucket, the two gallon bucket that was filled six times. I put down every possible towel and even my queen-sized chenille blanket to stay ahead of the water. You know how laminate floors are supposed to "float" on the surface? Well, mine literally is floating on water down there. Every step squished out more water between the cracks. When all is said and done, the floor will be ruined.

My dearest friend did not complain once, even though it was extremely difficult for me not to spiral into despair at the situation. She was encouraging and helpful and pitched in to help rather unselfishly given that through all this we had a nine-month old baby girl who still needed to be fed and held and played with and put down for a nap.

When I moved here, I bought a wet/dry vacuum because of all the construction. The workers, in and out of my house at the time, had told me to get rid of the foam insert and use a pleated filter to better capture the sawdust. Well, you need the foam insert to use the "wet" function of the wet/dry vacuum. I had tried to use it before with disastrous results, i.e., water squirting everywhere when I was trying to clean up from the sewage pipe backing up.

My very dear friend, found the instructions, discovered the part I needed, went to Lowe's by herself, and brought it back home to "fix" the wet/dry vacuum. We were near the end of mopping as the rain had ceased and the groundwater flow into my basement had slowed (oh that the thing had been fixed hours earlier).

Ever the helpful friend, she challenged me to find the good in the situation:

• the wet/dry vacuum now works properly both ways
• I got the opportunity to throw out some things that I was not sure about keeping
• the closet was cleaned out
• I was not alone when all this happened

Still, I forgot to take my arthritis medicine, so while my back is already hurting, I know tomorrow will be worse. And...I burned my finger while preparing a late night dinner of sorts, so sleeping will be a bit hard since any moment it is off a piece of ice is rather painful.

Still...she is here. Her baby girl smiles at me. What more could I want?