"Vacation"

To my five faithful blog followers, here is an update....

Our carpet is not dry. On Thursday we were told we could move into our house and that the carpet was dry. Not so much. We were at my parents and still helping them pack and arrived home around 11pm. Tucked the kids in bed and began to sort things out only to find many places in the house that were still wet and more belongings that were damaged. On Friday morning I called the rental agency who sent out a contractor. By 11am, all the rest of our furniture was out of the house and all the carpet pulled up. The carpet was mostly dry in fact, but the padding, walls, subfloor and baseboards were not. Seems there was a bit of a breakdown in communication between the carpet cleaner and the rental company. We were told it would be best not to be there, for obvious reasons.... tack strips exposed, musty damp air, and no furniture. So,all our belongings are once again in the garage. We grabbed a few things that day and headed to my parents to help them get all the rest of their house moved. Our dear, dear friends Mike and Naomi offered us a room in their home and we made a crash landing late Friday night into their home.
The boys think we are on vacation. They love Mike and Naomi's house and playing with their 4 kids. They get along great and are enjoying the one week long slumber party. Our dog thinks he is heaven; he now has a running partner in the form of another furry lab friend. Warren Sap and Clark Kent. They're quite the pair. There's lots of room to run and stomp through the woods and a bonus room that's been turned into a Wii marathon mania. Naomi felt she had to apologize for the low thread count sheets on our bed and the mismatched sheets on the beds she set up for the kids. She clearly doesn't realized how much we don't care about soft sheets at the moment and how grateful we are to them for giving us a place to go for a week or so. We will know more hopefully by Monday or Tuesday what a timeline looks like for getting back into the house we haven't lived in yet. At this point it's up to insurance companies and the rental agency to sort it out and really out of our hands.

I the midst of this I want to share some things and people I am thankful for....

1) Noami and Mike, who gave us a warm place to stay, then kept our kids so we could get much needed errands and tasks accomplished.

2) The warm fireplace that Mike keeps piling logs into.

3) That Mike's shirts fit me since I can't find any of my own clothes. (I'll get over it later).

4) Howard's coworkers at the school who have been so thoughtful and provided us with some extra cash to help with the added expenses this situation has given us.

5) My husband, who isn't mad at me for not staying home after putting clothes in the washing machine.

6) My dear friend Vicki, who showed up at my parents house with boxes and helped us pack up the kitchen.

7) The many people who have stopped us just to hug us and let us know they are praying for us.

8) Monica who spent 3 hours at the laundromat with me.

9) My parents and sisters and grandparents who have helped all week with our kids and a place to stay for the first week. Any my grandma who made dinner for our whole family several times last week.

10) That my kids have been mostly healthy during the last few weeks.

11) My parents house is empty. It's all clean. New owners will move in tonight! Sad but good. Lots of memories in that home. My sister was married in the front yard. Howard and I lived with them there on two separate occasions. Many family gatherings were held there and lots of friendships strengthened there.

My nose is doing better. I saw the Dr. last week who gave me sudafed for my sinuses and some anxiety medicine to take the edge off. (thankful for those too) My stress level and tension have been a little high. Can't imagine why? I've made it through 2 days without crying! Progress! Pure progress!

That's if for now. I will update when I know more. We appreciate all who have kept us in prayer and have offered help. If I met you with a blank stare last week or silence on the phone, I just didn't know what we even needed or where to begin. Please understand and don't worry, I'm sure when I know which end is up again I will be looking for help putting my household back together. And if you spoke with Howard and his frustration came out in a quippy kind of way, I'll apologize on his behalf too.

Much love,
Mandy