To top it all off... When we blow the leaves, we blow them across the road because there is a big field right across the road. Well, yesterday I decided to go grab some more leaves before they got taken up by the park manager or waste management. I would suck the leaves back up with my blower, dump them back out when it was full, suck them back up again (which shreds them even finer) and then fill the leaf bags. My neighbors all must have thought I was crazy! A lot of people around here don't understand the value of their fall leaves. They just blow them all out on the road and forget about them. I must have looked like a crazy woman yesterday as I stood there sucking back up the leaves from across the street that were just blown across the street, dumping them back out again and sucking them back up! lol I don't really care what they think, because next year when my garden is flourishing with the help of some leaves, they'll all wonder how I did it! lol

MeeeOwww! That was just to funny! My husband did not laugh!(about the head injury)

I frequently repurpose old deli and yogurt containers. As long as they have been throughly cleaned, they work fine. A trip through the dishwasher does the trick as well. In both cases (this and the bleach routine Marina mentioned,) be sure to rinse the containers afterwards to remove any detergent or bleach residue.

Jsk, that is one big flood. Was water still being poured into the washer and it wouldn't stop? The first flood in the bedroom was ten years ago. Only damage was to the carpet which was removed. BTW, did you change out any decor colors when new tile and cabinets were installed? :) Gray, there's a turn off valve at every sink and toilet, plus washing machine but I also think ours are frozen in place because of hard water and never had to use them. Here's the story about our first flood which I hadn't thought of in years until today. We had just built our house and had only been here for about a month, tops. We're on rural water & have to read our own meter, and there's a pressure regulator on each meter. Rural water comes in full force without one & can burst pipes. Let me preface this by saying DH isn't much of a drinker. One evening his dear friend stopped by for a visit. They were yapping at the kitchen counter, each on a bar stool. It was late and I went to bed. Around 2am a noise woke me up. The bedroom is at the opposite end from the kitchen and UR. I ran to the kitchen and saw both men, well, they were in their 20's, enough said, and both of them were passed out cold with an almost empty bottle of Jack Daniels between them. His friend apparently had it with him. The noise was coming from the UR, and we had kitchen carpet at the time, and it was soaked and getting on the carpet in the DR. I screamed at them to wake up, the house is flooding! I screamed the same thing last week! lol DH turned the valve off behind the washer, which had one of those black rubber hoses which sprung a huge leak on the hot water side. No more rubber. Ever. Then the bozo started scooting the washer out of the UR, through the kitchen, to the DR which had a hanging light fixture over the DR table. It was tulip shaped glass with the bulbs facing up. Just the standard type. His friend was holding the back door open and when DH passed the table he took his arm and told the light fixture to get out of his way and he actually swung at it! He got a bad cut on his arm and it obviously required stitches. His friend said I should take him to the ER, and DS1 was only 2 and asleep in his crib. I told him absolutely not! He said I'm his wife I should take him and he'd watch DS1. AS IF. I was livid and said DH got himself into this mess so he can either drive to the ER or his friend would take him. He did. There's a lot of back dirt/rock roads they took to keep off the hwy. It was about 3am by then and I was so angry I called the head of our rural water and told him what happend. He asked if the builder put a pressure regulator on and I said what the heck is that? He told me and said it was the bulder's responsibility. I hung up and called the builder and woke him up and chewed him out for not putting a pr on. He said it was the rural waters responsibility. Hit head on wall ten times. Not sure who installed the regulator but it was done the next day. I went to bed. When the guys got back they went to sleep. A few hours later the friend went to his house and brought his shop vac and they got all the water, then we put a big fan on it and all was fine. Insurance paid for new carpet & and new DR light. ;) Looking back in hindsight it's hilarious. I'll never get that picture of them with the JD out of my heard.