Just when you think you're caught up

So I've been cleaning up the house a bit since I've been back. Unpacking led me to clean out the floor of my bedroom closet. By clean out, I mean stick stuff in a box and carry it to the basement.

While I was in the basement, I walked over to my bookshelves to put a couple of books on them... what's that? Ah crap. Mold. F***. From the Great Flood of '05, the shelves of the bookcases came into contact with floodwater.

I bet there's also mold at the bottom of the stairs, from when the carpet got wet and I couldn't do anything about it... yup.

[huge sigh]

I figured this would happen at the bottom of the stairs. Wasn't planning on the bookshelves getting moldy though, so now I have to trash them. Dammit. That really blows, but at least they can be thrown out and that's that.

So what do I do about the bottom of the stairs? I guess the carpet and baseboard will have to be ripped up and replaced. At least I'm lucky in that this is the only area with carpet, and I believe the only area with mold.

I will have to go dehumidifier shopping this week. I guess the wood in the basement is what brought in even more moisture... Dad told me I should get a dehumidifier last year, but I made it through ok without one. Guess not anymore.

Parts of my lawn got washed out by the huge amount of rain we had while I was away. I have to call the landscaper tomorrow and let them know. I attempted to water the lawn today with my new hose & sprinkler. I think I got most of the sprinkling. Then it started drenching it too much... I am just a disaster when it comes to this outside stuff.

I am now off to research dehumidifiers... glad I kept that subscription to Consumer Reports.