My Used-to-be-Kitchen.
And then after they dumped that bulging ceiling of wet insulation!

Used to be Master Bedroom, Living Room and Dining Room…

Used to be Horrific Ugly Bathroom!

This photo is kind of interesting if you like doors that close and SEAL. This does neither. See the white stripe running down the center of the photo? It’s not paint or a door part.

It’s the OUTSIDE!!!!

Water Damage to the windowsill.

Even the entryway is getting gutted!

But you KNOW it’s not a big construction job until the Portapotty arrives!!!

Next step….choosing a contractor. We interviewed at least 3 today. They will all have to make a bid on doing the project and then we pick. They are all good. All had great ideas.
sigh
This will be a hard decision.

On a more serious note, so many of our friends have voiced their sympathy for this disaster. We are so appreciative of all the pats on our shoulders and support. We really are. It helps.

but

We are doing fine.
We don’t LIVE in the house and nothing of value was lost or damaged that cannot be fixed. We have insurance to pay for the remodel. I have time to work on it…..(along with planning two graduations and a wedding for the month of May!)

The contractors we spoke with this past week or so have told stories of other families who had similar water pipe breaks and even fires.
THEY are out of a home. No clothes, no home…they are staying at motels, and trying to get by.

Great people are stepping up to help us at the Lake.

It just sucks.

so, we met with the Insurance Adjuster today. He’s a really great guy. And it was an interesting give and take.
But OH, what we saw at TheHouseAtTheLake……

A copper pipe broke somewhere in that upstairs bathroom.

This is Matt’s bedroom downstairs…..and the fans. The fans my father put up. Well, good thing he’s got experience because they gotta go up AGAIN!!!

This fun TOY measures heat and water in a wall or piece of furniture. Really COOL toy! Randy ( our disaster specialist ) put his hand on the wall for like 10 seconds, then took his hand away and took a picture of that spot on the wall. It showed a warm handprint. Really COOL.

And THIS one for the Florida Folks….

We all had places to go and people to see today…but I made a fun brunch.
Swedish Pancakes!
I saw this on Posy Gets Cozy and Matt saw it on my screen and commented that it looked really good.
He’s right, it WAS good!

Shock, Denial, Bargaining, Fear, Anger, Despair, Acceptance.
Something like that.
The seven stages of Grief.
I’d like to add another one…
What Do I Do Now?

(this is how COLD it was in the house. Dan is wearing earmuffs. We all had on coats.)

In THIS phase, you just have to count on others. And trust them that they know what to do.

And we sit here and wait. Wait for reports. For diagnosis. For ideas.
While they work. In the wet and cold.
And today, they are removing all our belongings.
And tearing out the drywall in the basement.

I still can’t believe it.

was supposed to be an uneventful day.
It was supposed to be a day of reading and maybe watching a TV show, doing laundry and avoiding my craft room.

And the phone rang.

It was Dan…..and he had just gotten a call from the water company at the lake.
We had used NINETY SEVEN THOUSAND GALLONS of water and was something wrong………

I’ll say that again.
NINETY
SEVEN
THOUSAND.

So, he took the day off and we flew up to the lake. We were nervous. And here’s what we saw.

I would say there is water damage to 90% of the house. We don’t really know what happened….and we are in shock.
Our American Family Insurance Agent, George Hall, here in Blair, was a great help. We called and made a claim and the ball started rolling. After a lunch, Dan and I heard from an adjustor who will meet with us in a few days, a disaster clean up company, and a construction guy. The furnace guys also came out.

We were so cold all day. Walking around in the sloshy carpet, and we could see our breath in the house.

This was all late on a Friday afternoon…with the temperatures plummeting to around 5 BELOW zero.

These people came in riding white horses and wearing white hats and took over. They knew just what to do, just what to say, just where to start. They started right in sucking up NINETY SEVEN THOUSAND GALLONS OF WATER and then ripping up the carpet.

And those towels? (My mom will get a kick out of THIS picture). Those towels I won’t let anybody use because they were expensive and I can’t find any more to buy? The towels I LOVED so much?

Tonight, they are outside. Freezing in a bag. So they won’t get moldy.

And then, we went for a quick bite to eat before heading home. And we counted our blessings.
Nobody Died.
Nothing of any value was lost.
It’s all just stuff.
And there were people there working.

We are so lucky.

And then we headed to the plane, (it’s after 9 p.m.) and the temps and wind chill were now well into the TEENS BELOW ZERO.

And
that
little
plane
just
couldn’t
start.

So we jumped back in the jeep and went to WalMart to get a Looooooooong extension cord and we plugged that plane in to get warmed up and we sat inside the little pilot lounge place and watched TV. And counted some more blessings. And after 1 hour and 40 minutes,
the
little
plane
started.

And we flew home.

And we are very cold.

And we are STILL counting our blessings.