A week before Christmas, one of the dogs had gotten into something and needed a bath, so we decided to use the bathtub for the first time, (the only bathroom in the house was on the second floor). As we emptied the tub and were done washing her, Carl sent me down to the living room to get something to dry her with, as I came down the stairs and rounded the corner, I started screaming for him to stop the drain!!
The water was pouring out of the newly refinished ceiling; it was like a waterfall in the middle of the living room. It came down all over our new rug, freshly painted walls, and the Christmas Tree. Apparently the leaking tub had never been fixed by the previous owners.
The rug was ruined, the wall was repainted, and we had to fix the ceiling, AGAIN, it was a mess... but the tree survived, some of the ornaments made it through unscathed, others ended up stained and ruined from the rusty water... I kept those ornaments, and to this day smile when I see the rust spots on the globes.
Here is a shot of one of those ornaments on this year's Christmas tree:
Here are a few other ornaments on this years tree, one from my first year as an Aunt, and the other is our 2010 family ornament: