That's what happens when your mind is busy elsewhere. This morning my mind was thinking are they up yet? What'll they want for breakfast? In reference to our oldest son and our daughter-in-law, visiting with us.

That's when I dunked a few things into the laundry sink, poured in a little soap and let the faucet flow. Then moved out of the laundry room into the kitchen. And forgot about the flowing faucet. Just as well my husband heard the water flowing and turned it off.

Not all that long ago he'd done the same thing. And we went upstairs for our morning shower, unaware the tap hadn't been turned off, wondering why the hot water flow for our shower (we've got a double-sized shower, ample room for two) was so low. Eventually we made our way back down to the kitchen to start breakfast. And that's when we were aware that there was the sound of running water...

The reason our shower was different suddenly dawned; hot water had been trickling away, thanks to the overrunning laundry tub whose drain smartly ensured the tub didn't actually overflow. Lesson learned, we thought smugly.

It wasn't until hours later that my husband ventured down to the basement level to do something in his workshop. En route to his workshop he passed through the finished portion of the basement and found something unusual there. The floor covered with water that had leaked down from the laundry room faucet, not the sink overhead for the period of time we'd been unaware of the faucet running.

It took quite some time for my husband to mop up all that water. Oddly enough, I'd just the week earlier given that floor a good scrubbing. Unsurprisingly, my husband decided it might be a good idea, under the circumstances, to repeat that scrubbing. A lot of extra work resulting from a hurried mind.

We've been careful ever since. And then I slipped up again, this morning. Good thing one of us was alert; the one who'd had to go to all the trouble of taking responsibility when the consequences of his slipped memory faced us.