A couple of mid-day observations...

It is HOT in Texas.

I love my new mattress. Fred and I were going to buy a new mattress for ourselves for Christmas but with the fire and all we got a new one sooner. I LOVE IT! I sleep really well on it.

The purpose of foot boards on a bed is so that your comforter, blanket and sheets don't fall off the end during the night. This "rental" furniture came with a headboard and metal frame but no foot board. I am forever pulling up my comforter and blanket and it is a bit of a pain.

Plastic bottles of BBQ sauce do break on impact. I had one slip off a shelf as I was rearranging the pantry and I now have a distinctive BBQ smell in my pantry.

You can not light a candle if you have no matches. I did briefly think about lighting some paper on fire from the gas stove but I quickly rethought that and decided to not light a candle last night and bought matches at Kroger today. My new Yankee Macintosh Candle is now burning in the kitchen and hopefully will cover up the BBQ scent.

OK, off to open a package from Stampin Up. I FINALLY have stamp pads! Yahoo!

30 good hours!

I will just skip over yesterday morning and say that it was not good, I was not at my best and it is history now.

After lunch the boys and I headed out to run a bunch of errands. You would think that at some point the errands would end, but somehow the list continues. I gave the boys showers in the AM to realize that they had no bath mat and no bath rugs. Oops. We hit Bed Bath and Beyond with some coupons and took care of those items. I also wanted to replace a couple of Yankee Candles that were totalled and was totally bummed to find no Honeydew Melon, or Sunflower in the display. What I did find was that Yankee Candles are REALLY expensive these days. I quoted a price to the insurance adjuster that was low by about $6. Yikes! I did pick up a couple of jars but I felt bad about spending that much on wax. That is music to Fred's ears I'm sure. He has always said that candles should just be made of wadded up dollar bills.

After BB&B we ran into JoAnn's and a I bought a set of 48 markers. They are a pretty expensive set and I thankfully had a 40% off coupon so they were a little easier to handle. We then ran to the Oreck store to buy some really expensive vacuum bags and then on to IKEA. We haven't been there in weeks. Will was all about the meatballs and I was excited to buy dish scrub brushes, four shoe organizers, and a base for a chair that Will got just before the fire. The seat survived but the metal base was trashed. Now he is set. We picked up some wrapping paper for upcoming August birthdays and a few other little things. It all added up to just over $50 so we also earned ourselves another $10 gift certificate to use on a later purchase. No problem with that.

After IKEA we headed up to the hood to pick-up pal Drew and headed back home to bond. I prepared for bill paying night while the boys got wild and crazy on the Wii. Drew left around 9 and is set to come back on Thursday. YEAH! The hours can not pass quickly enough. We LOVE Drew!

Today started slowly and all of the sudden the errand list had grown again. I needed to go to the post office, Staples to fax, I needed to buy some office supplies, wanted to get to Hobby Lobby to FINALLY get a 12" trimmer, and maybe Target for back to school shopping. Well, we had a little detour to Gatti Town that was a total ripoff in my opinion but of course the boys LOVED it and Will wants to go back for his birthday. UGH! The buffet food was mediocre at best and the game room is totally separated from the eating space so I could not sit at a table and leisurely sip my beverage and read, I had to go be "in" the action. Not my thing... you probably guessed that. The boys had fun though and were VERY appreciative of the detour. Props to mom on that one!

We are home and I have yet to put the stuff away but I will. I stayed up WAY too late paying bills and sorting piles last night. I still need to file but it is at least manageable from here.

We got the first inventory sheets from Liberty Mutual yesterday. There are 53 pages with 15 - 20 items on a page. There are still LOTS of items not on the list so that is kinda scary. It will all work out in the end but the process is long, arduous and not at all fun! Good news is that I will be able to help people wade through in the future if I know anyone unfortunate enough to have this happen to them. I hope I never have to share the knowledge.

OK, I am off to put away the purchases of the day. Then I need to go see when library videos are due. I hope it's not tomorrow. I really want to sit at home all day in my pajamas. Well, at least until Drew gets here!

Another day, a few more boxes...

I continue to progress toward something. not sure what my exact goal is but it looks very different than what my house looks like now. I am almost ready to vacuum the carpet that I found in my "space" but the silly people that cleaned up my vacuum threw away all of the extra bags that Fred stuffed in the thing as they carted it away. Now I have to go to the Oreck store and spend money and time getting new bags. I sure hope that the vacuum actually works. They sent back a few things that they said powered up that we found to be non-functioning. We were all ready for family movie night on Saturday to find that the VCR didn't work. By the grace of God I had just bought one at Target thinking that none of them survived. Guess i was more right than I knew... scary huh?

So I have begun the arduous task of writing thank you notes. It is overwhelming and I hope I have a year like a new bride. Hopefully it will not take so long but i am sure I will miss someone or more than one someone and I am sorry for that. Adding to the thank you note challenge... i can not seem to find my addresses. I pulled them out of my nice leather Franklin Covey Planner before we trashed it and now can't seem to find them. I have not looked terribly hard. Add that to my list for tomorrow.

Tomorrow we get Fred's desk. FINALLY! and then he can have the fun of putting it all together when he returns for the weekend. When I say putting it together I do not mean assembling, they do that for us, he just gets to store his stuff and organize files. Oh fun! I have not done the best job with mine but it is a work in progress. Also on the list for tomorrow is a trip to the library. I am going in there with two of the three books we lost in the fire. I am tempted to turn in the third book, we have it, but it REEKS of smoke and they might not appreciate that so much. They can have the Nancy Drew Graphic Novel and the Star Wars book and we'll get some fresh books to challenge our little minds. I am concerned that the boys' brains may be turning to mush even as I type. Gotta get them back in the game before we head back to school in 4 WEEKS! Yikes! I think I'll go plan the rest of the summer's curriculum TONIGHT! See ya!

I missed it!

I missed my 1 year Blogiversary! I knew I started this thing last summer sometime, I thought it was July. It wasn't. The first post was on-line on June 23rd! I am really late! Yikes. I should have party favors or some sort of trivia game but that is too much work. How bout I just say thanks for checking in and come back often. From here my life can only get MORE exciting. No where to go but up right?

I continue to work on my office/dining room. I got about 10 boxes of Longaberger baskets sorted today. I am still missing some, not sure who has them, but will look forward to getting some of the bigger ones back soon. I bought a couple of big totes, and need to buy three more, to put them in. Fred is ALL about putting things into plastic totes. We lost a lot in the fire but much of our "stuff" in totes did better because it missed the water portion of the torture party. Unfortunately all of the totes that were in the house are trashed because the smoke stink becomes part of the make-up pretty quickly. Lucky for us Target has them on sale this week. Lucky me!

The boys' MP3 players are officially synced. I am excited that they bought the same brand that I had received for Christmas. I seem to have misplaced my charging/sync cord, in all of the chaos of the summer. I am now connected again! In addition to taking care of some technology issues I also had the opportunity to take the new mower out for a spin today. Fred took care of it last time and it needed to be taken care of. He had to get up and meet with the builder so I figured in sharing responsibility I ought to mow. My assessment... #1 The thing works well on small yard without hills (heard that line from my brother) #2 My yard is small but has just enough of a hill to be a pain. #3 I am terribly out of shape. #4 Texas is HOT! I got the front and side yards done and plan to get up early tomorrow and finish the back yard. It is in full shade early in the day so I may as well take advantage right?

Plan for the night is to get through three more boxes in my office then chill and try to finish the book I am reading. I thought I was going to read the whole thing in the car on the way home Thursday/Friday but an hour in I got a little car sick and had to stop. I kinda forgot I have that problem when I read and ride. It is not a good mix for me. Guess it isn't a big deal that I don't get the chance to ride and read very often.

Off to get busy!

Long but VERY productive day!

Well, the good news is that Fred had to meet the builder at the house at 8:00 AM and not me. They are slowly and methodically working their way through the 62 page scope of work approved by the insurance company. They have a line item in that thing to clean the hanging rod in the coat closet. Talk about details! Better him than me!

I took advantage of a few more minutes of sleep and eased my way into my day. Once I was up and moving the boys and I headed to Target to do some damage. Remember when a trip to Target cost an average of $100? The boys used to check to see how close or how far over I'd get to $100. My girlfriends in MI and I had a joke that a trip to Target ALWAYS cost $100. I wish I could get back to those days. The trip this morning cost just under $300! No wonder I did not indulge my children's' desire for Icee's. We came home and drank tap water! Not really, but we did come home and have cold meat sandwiches and chips for lunch.

In the afternoon I got busy on my boxes again and can now see above the chair rail in my office/dining room. I got to a point though that I could not go on until I purchased LOTS of photo storage boxes. Just before dinner I headed to Hobby Lobby, Staples and Best Buy with another trip to Target thrown in for good measure. I got some organizational pieces I needed. Document holders for the sale of house paperwork, a desk pad, Nic's new Kodak camera to replace his Flip Camera that he received for Christmas that was damaged in the fire. I also bought flour, sugar, storage totes, a desk lamp and air freshener. Oh yes, can't forget the DVD player and the movie "21."

So we have wrapped up family movie night, complete with popcorn with mix-ins. Not sure where the boys came up with that but it was tasty. Can popcorn with pretzels and M&M's be bad? Thanks go to Mamma for the M&M's. They were the perfect addition.

I need to work a few more minutes on my desk than head to bed. Tomorrow should be a less expensive day but Fred is headed to Mexico for the week so it will be bittersweet to have him run-off on us again. Gotta make the money to pay the bills. We have LOTS of bills this month. Please go to work honey!

Migraine is HISTORY!

Yeah! It took it's own sweet time but it is GONE! I got busy this afternoon going through soft goods and assessing how many sheet sets are still in tact. How many of our snuggle and watch TV blankets made it without a stink factor. I found a bunch of baby blankets that I hadn't seen in awhile and 7 afghans that we have received as gifts and hand-me-downs that have not seen the light of day for many years. Sadly, they had notes in their storage containers saying who made what and now the notes are gone. Guess I need to call and see if anyone has a good memory.

We made another expensive trip to Best Buy tonight. We are proud owners of a printer, two new MP3's for the boys and kid sized ear bugs, MP3 cases and speakers for my MP3 player that I hook up at my desk. I think we are on the verge of "wholeness" in the electronics's category. There are still MANY more categories to go but one getting checked off is a good start.

Nic and I did go to Kroger today and restock the fridge a bit. We got lunch meat and some ice cream and frozen pizza. I still have no flour or sugar or spices but I did buy brownie mix and eggs so i know what we'll be snacking on tomorrow. YUM!

Good news of the day... Will found his Webkinz Frog. I swear that guy made the trip to Indy with us but Will just found it under is bed. Strange. Good news though... Mom and Dad and Aunt Jen can now call off the search.

OK, off to kiss and tuck then probably dig into some craft boxes. I have tried to keep myself busy with other stuff, and there is plenty to keep busy with, but I need to assess and organize and see what needs replaced. The list grows...

migraine

I think I hit the wall today. After not enough sleep and not such a great diet and just a little stress I got a killer migraine. I have taken 4 Imitrex and am feeling a litte bit better. I am going electronic free and mellow for a bit. I'll tell the tales when I can.

Home

Well, the vacation home, but close enough. Boys are tucked in. Van is mostly empty, still plenty of crumbs, and I am tired. It took about 14 hours with a dinner stop at a STUPID Applebee's and a gas stop that lasted 33 minutes because it was shift change and you know the world must stop at shift change. More details tomorrow. Goodnight! Sleep tight!

On the road again...

Does anyone remember when we used to skate at the Coliseum ice Rink in Indy and this was always the final song of the night? I do.

So, we are mostly packed up here in Logan minus daddy who is in the shower. Since we are planning to drive straight through to Frisco I appreciate the shower more than many know...

We need to stop by 2205 to get a ladder, some clothes and yes, the dog. We would never leave the puppy. But I know that if we did he'd be happy to live with Miss Sarah. After that we listen to Jack and try to find the shortest distance between two points. I'll check in at the other end!

Happy Birthday Megan!

Check out this guy! He's mine:)

Sorry for the pause...

It has been a crazy wonderful fun exhausting weekend here in Indiana. The rehearsal dinner was tasty, Saturday left time for us to run some errands, hook up with BFF Denise in the snack-bar at Target and get to the wedding with time to spare. Ben and Andrea are official and beautiful and in love. It was a VERY nice wedding and a decent reception to boot. My boys were up and down about the whole night but it all ended up awesome. Sunday we shared in the celebration of two people who love each other after more than 40 years of marriage. My parents are a testament to patience and love and letting your spouse be themselves rather than trying to change them into something you think you'd love more.

After the celebration of new and old marriage Fred and I headed to Logansport for the next leg of our adventure. The boys got to stay in Indy a bit longer and hit the chillens seum and the Nashville cabin with granny and grandpa and aunt Jennifer and cousins Natalie and Landry. I hear it was a blast and continues to be.

I get the boys back today and then we head back to Logan to spend time with Mamma, uncle Matt, Aunt Mary and of course daddy. Not sure when exactly we will head back to TX. Hoping for Thursday but it could be Friday. The drive up was fairly easy and the drive home should go even faster knowing that my destination includes an awesome mattress and lots of exciting boxes waiting to be discovered!

We are here we are here!!!!

We got to Indy yesterday about 6:30ish. We landed at the Priser house, dumped our stuff and said hello real quick. A few minutes later I was back in the car headed to Tipton to see Carolyn, Dave and Mary Sue. The best news was that between point A and point B I stopped at Panera and got my fix. I had not eaten Panera since our drive down to TX and that has been 5 WEEKS! It tasted good!

So today I was in charge of child care while Jen went to help with tables and chairs for the rehearsal dinner. When she got home we putzed for a few then took the kids to the pool. My kids were great and played nicely with the neighbors of Jennifer. Natalie and Landry, not so much. They were tired, I think the boys kept them up too late last night, and it showed. The lasted about an hour then it was time to come home to coolness, lunch and quiet time. In that order. My kids got showers squeezed in too. The house is quiet and I am only slightly damp from playing with Landry poolside. I did not want to expose my healing skin so I didn't put on my suit, just my loose Capri hangout pants. They'll dry...

Fred is on his way from TX as we speak, flying through to wave at our pals in MI. Speaking of the MI girls. I just need to throw a shout out to Kirste, Keri, Cheryl and the Moms Group gang. I so appreciate your kindness to me, two years after I've left MI. Your support, prayers and generosity have meant the world. I am blessed and humbled to call you friends!

One of my goals for this trip is to squeeze in some time to write thank you notes to everyone who has been so generous during our weeks after the fire. It is life altering to go through a trauma like that and the kindness of strangers as well as loyal friends has seen us through. I feel badly that I know that I will miss one or two people, the generosity was tough to track at times, but know that I thank anyone and everyone who took the time to even think about us and help us work back to normal.

The next 36 hours, probably more like 48, will be busy but I will do my best to update and share photos of the fun. Stay tuned!

560 miles closer

We spent a fair amount of time in the car today. Left the Frisco USPS just about noon and started our trek North East for THE weekend! The boys did really well in the car and so did Pete. Fred found us a nice hotel room between Memphis and Nashville and we are getting ready to settle in for the night. I am tired but feeling really good about being more than half way there. Better get to bed right after I take the dog out one more time. Here's hoping we can sleep till 8:30 or so. G-night!

So close

We are getting close to heading out. Everyone is up and dressed and fed. I need to load the car and fill the cooler and then we run an errand to the post office and head out of dodge. I have not left TX by car before so this will be quite an adventure. I may check-in later tonight if we find a hotel with connections that I can figure out. Peace out!

I know I know, I need to get packed!

Well as I was digging into boxes to find Fred's tennis shoes, which I have not yet found, I came across some stuffed animals. One of them was a large puppy that my dad had bought for Nic when he was oneish. He looks amazing considering where he was during the fire and the debris that was found on top and around him. The next stuffed animal I pulled out of the box was a panda that Fred had built for William at a build-a-Bear workshop when he was oneish. The little voice recorder still speaks, "I love you William Evan Baker." in Fred's voice. The third item was the cat above. It is Nic's and he is heartbroken. It was a cheap stuffed animal that he won at a third grade class auction. Nic loves cats and wants one so badly. he loved this stuffed thing but it did not survive in good shape. The cheap polyester fur melted more than fluffed and it is very uncomfortable to hug. I told Nic we could make a new cat, maybe even at Build-a-Bear. he said he didn't like that idea and really liked cats that were given as gifts.

I am asking, if anyone sees this post and will be seeing us this weekend, if you happen into Wal-Mart, Target, Toys R Us, a hospital gift shop, a Hallmark store, and you see a stuffed cat could you would you buy it for my son? Please please please DO NOT buy him a real cat! But I would love for him to be showered with cats when we get to Indiana. To keep things even Will likes dogs. We lost a REALLY COOL Dalmatian dog firefighter puppet that reeks of smoke in it's rubber fire uniform. Maybe just to keep the love equal? If one person follows through, it will mean so much!

This weekend is so not about the Baker family but then again it could be. We need to be held and hugged and consoled and we need to tell our story a few more times so that we can continue to heal. It has been a long week already and it is only Tuesday. I am anxious to get to Indiana and move away from this chaos. I think I may not sleep much tonight but this weekend I will sleep like a baby surrounded closely by those who love me.

Gotta go wipe my tears and get busy! Love you all!

Not even close...

I am not even close to being ready but for some reason I don't even care. I just took the boys out to run late day errands. We ran by the realtor's office to drop off the move-in inspection report. We ran to Target to get books for the trip and more pillows. We then ran up to our home to check the mail and say goodbye to the neighbors and then we ran to get haircuts for the boys and Marble Slab ice cream to top off the running. We are now home, I just chatted with Denise and continued to avoid packing. I did sort some odd and thrown together papers from the hotel filing system while I chatted so don't think I wasn't doing something productive.

Right now I am going to put away the rest of the clean laundry and begin packing for me and finish packing for Fred. I also need to dig through some restored goods boxes to find wedding shoes for the boys and maybe sock. Although I may not work too hard on the socks since I know I can get more at Kohl's.

I am going now.... Really I am.... Go Susan! Get busy!

I had a plan...

So today is a BUSY day but it will all get done, and if it doesn't it will wait for me. I jumped in the shower hoping the furniture rental people wouldn't show up with my bed frame at that exact moment. Instead Fred called to say that the home phone is not working. I have a long list of stuff to do today and it was going to fly by as a I chatted my day away with all sorts of friends, phone hooked to by belt and headphones in use. Well, it seems that Time Warner can't get to me until 5-8 PM tonight so no chatting for me. That may be for the best but it doesn't feel that way right now. The good news, the Internet is working, so I can reward my hard work with a little surfing between boxes and chores. I'd better get to getting!

Back on-line!

As I type to the sounds of my kids trying to replicate a very poor tune on Rock Band I am patting myself on the back for surviving another day. I have each boy pretty much settled into their respective rooms. They have beds made, Will is minus a bed frame but that will come tomorrow, books on the book shelves, clothes in the dressers and nick knacks surrounding them with love. My kitchen is in working order but my fridge is still pretty barren. I did buy cheese slices and bread as well as PB & J for the first home prepared meal in the vacation home. I feel badly that it is not more extravagant but I just could not justify the effort, potential for sour food and the time to go food shopping for real. It's going to be a monumental task when it happens and today was just not the day.

We received our furniture this AM, our rental stuff shortly after lunch and then our soft goods. Somewhere between the real furniture and the rental the Cable guy showed up and a startling revelation was made. The people that lived in the house before us, the owners, never had cable or phone lines active in the house. The Cable guy had to run line from the box behind the house. Strange...

There are a ton of boxes yet to empty and sort through. We have a decent pile of "nonrestorables" that we have unpacked and have been unhappy with. A few more pieces of clothing and some odds and ends from various places throughout the house. I have yet to delve into "my" boxes but maybe tomorrow. I am trying to put it off so I don't feel compelled to play with my stuff or get sad because so much is missing. I will consider rewarding myself with a box or two each time I move the laundry through it's paces. Unfortunately they were able to deliver the washer and dryer today but there were no hoses for the washer or vent stuff for the dryer. Fred is out taking care of that right now.

One last thing then I'll let you progress through your life... So I have been harboring this guilt about moving, have a fire and moving again, blame it on Al Gore, I was really bothered by the excessive amount of natural resources were used and abused during this trial. We have likely used up a whole forest of trees in paper and cardboard. The Chemicals used to clean our stuff is probably not without it's hazards. Well, the silver lining... My hubby is out buying a new lawn mover, more excess right? NO! He's getting me the old fashioned kind that doesn't take more than ME ENERGY! He did not know about my guilt but has helped alleviate it all the same. Another gold star for Fred and some good old fashioned hard work for me. Don't feel too sorry for me. The yard is about the size of the footprint of my house in Iowa so it will only take me as long to mow as it used to take me to vacuum! Piece of cake!

Last note from Staybridge Suites... God willing!

So Will and I are packing up the hotel room so that we can try to spend the night in the "vacation home." That is the new term for the rental, thanks to Fred's boss. I kinda like it! We have the kitchen unpacked, lots of boxes moved around and we went to Sam's today and bought a BIG TV for the boys and some pantry staples. Still need to spend about $500 at Kroger but I may just wait until we get back. No sense in buying eggs if I am not there to use them right?

So, we should be back on-line mid-day tomorrow. Stay tuned! I did find the USB cord but left the camera at the house. Oops!

A good day!

We got out of the hotel a few minutes before 9 this morning and headed directly to the rental. We are seriously struggling with what to call each house these days. I hate to call them the burned house and the rental, not all positive connotation you know? Any ideas welcome.

Anywho, we got to the house just as the delivery crew was arriving with our boxes. There were a bunch of boxes. I got to mark a few off but then had to excuse myself to take the boys to Drew's. I get back just in time to scratch off the last 15 numbers or so. Then the real work began! I started to unpack the kitchen and was finding plenty of stuff that was not important. I skipped a few boxes based on the writing on the side. Not real important that I have the coffee pot unpacked TODAY. As soon as a coffee drinker calls for a reservation I'll dig that out. I had gotten a couple of boxes done and realized that we had not toilet paper, no soap, no paper towels, no water, nothing. A new experience for me, not being prepared. Guess I dropped the ball this time. I excused myself again and ran to the post office, Target and Subway. Made it back with all the stuff we needed and set back to work on the kitchen.

I have found dishes, glasses and silverware. We can eat cereal there and make popcorn, as soon as I buy cereal and popcorn;) Maybe tomorrow. Maybe not.

We ran up to the "Other" house around 4 and took the boys off the hands of my SUPER NEIGHBOR! They had tons of fun with Drew and were a little tired from the sun and fun. We headed back to the rental and started again on the boxes. We moved some stuff into the boys' rooms but couldn't unpack since they have no furniture until Monday. We did move the boxes into the closets. At least they are close.

Will was master paper masher, picture him stomping grapes/paper in a box. His 70ish pounds was quite useful. Could have used the Grandpa claw masher but Will did his best! Will and dad will need to submit sealed bids for the job of paper mashing when we move back to the Castlebrook house.

OK, so we got Pizza Hut for dinner then Nic and I headed back to the hotel. He had another bad headache and I needed to do laundry. Speaking of which I need to go switch loads. Guess that's for today. I did take some pics of the house, the boys took the most actually. I will post them as soon as I find a USB cord. G-night!

The good, the bad and the "Seriously?!?"

So today was the day that we were able to learn the fate of our stuff. The good news is that the couches don't stink, the old TV's are shot and many of our things are going to be just fine. The bad news is that 2 old TV's are shot to we'll need to go shopping, Fred's dad's old Lazy Boy Chair was not recoverable and Nic lost two major pieces of furniture in his room. Multiple other kid furniture pieces are damaged and discolored but we are trying to figure out if we can replace parts or the whole can be repaired. We'll leave it up to our insurance adjuster to get some quotes and we'll talk possibilities when we get back from Indiana.

Now, for the "Seriously?!?" As I was checking over the furniture I was pretty pleased over all. The dining room table that had water pouring on it from the chandelier above is very warped and someone had some ink transfer to it while they were packing, again, we'll get refinish quotes and decide if it makes sense to refinish or replace. The big "Seriously?!?" of the day was the the fact that despite the fact that there is an elaborate tagging and bar code system used to track all of our stuff at some point during the process many items were double tagged and bar code stickers were adhered directly to some of the wood furniture. Now, I learned a lesson way back when, maybe about the time of the Pat Benetar lip sync, that stickers on furniture are not a good idea. Who the helk put stickers on wood furniture? I was torqued and let it be known that I was not happy with the irresponsibility and disregard that they treated my furniture with in sticking STICKERS directly on the wood. Plenty of stickers had been placed on paper tags and then adhered to furniture with wire or even blue painters tape... but what would possess a professional to stick the sticker to my headboard, my wood futon frame, my son's wooden bookcase, Will's bed frame? Can you tell I was a little peeved? Good, I think the guys at BMS got the picture too.

Overall, it is better than we expected. That is good news. We will be putting some of our furniture directly into use at the rental house on Monday. About 90 percent of our other goods that were boxed and cleaned and reboxed will be delivered to us tomorrow. We might be a little crazy accepting all of the stuff but I think we are so anxious to be surrounded by what feels comfortable and I am adamant that we need to protect our stuff from further damage, that we will just take possession of the stuff and keep it under our own watchful eyes.

Funny Story....

So on our way home from Frisco, sharing dinner and wine and pharmacy stories, Nic was playing Guitar Hero on his Guitar Hero Limited Edition DS. He was rocking out to Pat Benetar's, "Hit me with your best shot!" I started singing along and he and Will simultaneously asked, "You know this song?" As if I could not be so cool to know this rockin' tune. Well I went on to tell the tell of Shontel Jors, Shannon Sullivan and the on the fringe Susan getting coordinating powder blue t-shirts emblazoned with a rainbow from the little shop in the basement at Glendale. I told them about our cool ponytails off to the side and our well synchronized lip sync for the CTK Talent Show of 1981 I think. We were too cool for our own good. So Nic asked the appropriate question, "Did you win first place?" I replied, "No Nic, I don't think there were winners, it was just a chance to participate." "Well did you get a medal or a trophy?" he said. "No, just had some fun and thought we were cool for trying." "How about a certificate? Did you get a certificate?" He pushed.

I guess the idea of just doing something for fun is not enough for kids these days. Boy, do I feel old! I had a great time with Shontel and Shannon and I really think I could jump up on any stage and recreate the whole dance. We were pretty literal for 4th graders. It was fun!

OK, long day here and tomorrow will likely be even longer and more emotionally taxing. I am getting nervous about the fate of our goods. It could be really great or pretty tragic. I'll be sure to post either way, I always do.

Keeping it real!

Mellow is so my style...

That is my summation of today. Mellow. Not without its tasks and responsibility but very doable and not very stressful (except driving on interstate, only led by a computer chip named Jack).

The day started slowly. The boys slept in a little later than usual, but what is usual? Their little bodies are taking advantage of the comfort of a big bed all to ones self with plenty of pillows for any appendage that might need comfort. Will has 7 pillows on his bed and Nic has 4. I can not judge, I have 5 plus the "pretty" one. All for me for just one more night. Fred will come home tomorrow as we move forward on the next step of this journey. Wait, I am getting ahead of myself.

So after we got ourselves moving we grabbed a tank of gas and asked Jack to lead us to Ft. Worth to see some more of our "soft goods" at Gunns Restoration. These folks have worked miracles on some of our stuff but could not save the elephant souvenir from Nic's first trip to the circus or my beautiful crisp white shower curtain I bought last summer when we redid the bathroom in Iowa. They made my Coach briefcase look so beautiful you'd think it was new. They worked MAJOR miracles on some shoes and the BEST news! My shoes that I need for the wedding are in great shape. No shoe shopping required. Sorry Jen... They will go splendidly with my new outfit that I bought yesterday. Yahoo! There are other casualties of the fire but overall we are in GREAT shape. We are blessed.

After we grabbed some essentials for our one night of sleeping at the rental this weekend we headed back to Plano and made an important stop at Wal-mart. Aren't all stops at Wal-Mart important these days? We had been looking and looking for eye glass cases and cleaning cloths and these highly guarded items are only available in the optical department that keeps separate hours than the store. Finally I remembered during "normal" business hours and we are not owners of new cases and cleaning cloths for each boy. Too bad I forgot to pick up the 100 hangers that I was supposed to pick up so I could get our clothes switched over before we move into the house. The wonderful restoration people use wire hangers and I just do not like wire hangers. This is been my little burden since college, such is life. I had to make another trip to Wal-mart in between laundry cycles and not have a task to complete late tonight before I fall into bed.

Once we got glasses cases we went for lunch then headed back to the hotel for a "break" before our very busy social calender fills with dinner with a great neighbor and her daughters. I admit, I kind of invited myself but she was kind enough to take the bait, so we have no one to tip tonight!

After dinner we head back here and I try to make the place presentable for Fred. We pick him up mid-morning and then head to a secret location (that means I have no idea where we are going, but I hope Jack does) to see our furniture and see how it is coming along. I was so impressed with what I saw today that I am optimistic about tomorrow. It is a completely different company and they may not come through for me. Time will tell...

OK, off to get the last load from the dryer then head north. Looking forward to good food, healthy adult conversation and a break from this wonderful suite. Not much more that I need right now...

We now return to my regularly scheduled life.

Today is a new day. Yesterday I hit a wall, a couple of times really, and then slept really well and woke up much more back to my optimistic self. The day was full of downs and very few ups. The good news is that late in the day we had family counseling, our effort to help the kids deal with the trauma of the fire, and I got the most out of it for sure. While we were there Nic reminded me to cry, it will make me live longer. He had remembered that from the counseling session the week prior. he is too smart for my own good. The day ended a little rough, paperwork from the temp living co was not correct, Nic read a bunch of his new book without his glasses and got himself a real, honest to goodness, hum dinger migraine. He was miserable and I could so empathize but could not take away the pain. It was rough. I finally fell fast asleep for the first night in many nights after reading a few chapters of a new book. I should end my days like that more often.

Today was a big day. The boys got to go meet a new kid in the hood and hang out at his house for the better part of the day. I took full advantage of being childless and went to the MALL! Now, I am not a big mall shopper but I did pretty well I think. I found a new outfit for Ben and Andrea's wedding. Fred will either love it or hate it but I am feeling pretty good about it. I talked to a Tupperware lady about replacing some of my pieces that I lost to smokiness and then fed myself a BIG piece of pizza at the food court. Have I mentioned that I could eat pizza everyday of the year? I love pizza! After my tasty lunch I found my way to Pottery Barn Kids to just browse and pretend I had money enough to shop there. Well, to my delight I found some great quilts for the boys on sale and met some very nice ladies at the check-out while I was tossing up Red Stripe Noah or Navy Striped Noah. Navy was in stock, Red would require another stop. I called the boys, they chose Navy. Good boys!

I trudged through the mall with my WAY too heavy bag that I should have done a dock pick-up for. I made my way to JC Penny's to get the most comfortable pillows ever. We slept on them the night of the fire and the following night at our neighbor's house. Not sure if I was just that exhausted of they were great pillows but I am hoping for the latter. The best part was that for each pillow you bought you got the second for $1! I picked up some white, deep pocket sheets for the boys and we can now all sleep on our new mattresses in style. This is assuming that my bedding set comes out clean from the restoration people when I see them tomorrow. If not, I know where to replace that easily and quickly. Kohl's Rocks!

Finally I needed help to the car and headed to Sam Moon for a laptop bag. I must be cheap because I just could not find something I liked in my price range. Do I really need to spend $250 on a glorified brief case? I think not.

After Sam Moon I treated myself to a stop at JoAnn's. The JoAnn's fabric store in Iowa was so pitiful that I had not been in a "good" JoAnn's in literally years. I was in a "good" JoAnn's today. It was a good feeling. I bought a couple of things then swung through Kohl's to get the boys' some pants for the wedding and to look for a watch. No luck on the watch but the boys have pants to try on, check that off the list.

I was feeling done for the day so ran by the house to check the mailbox and found a Fed-Ex envelope with a Papa John's Gift Card inside. No note of who it came from, must be someone who knows I love pizza. Perhaps my personal OnStar provider? Thanks to whoever it was.

I grabbed my boys from the neighbor then we headed back to the hotel to relax for the evening. I have some paperwork to do and faxes to send and leases to pass along. Once that is done we'll probably enjoy a meal from the manager's reception, it is hot dog night! If that doesn't go over well we could always order pizza!

Thanks for all of the good vibes over my post yesterday. I am sure there will be more days like that but we'll hope they are few and far between.

I'm very close to the edge

I can feel it, I might fall soon! This orchestrating the move into the rental is proving much more difficult than it should be. We are trying to re-use some of our own stuff but the restoration co. can not commit to having things for us this weekend. In the meantime I am working with the Alternative Living Entity trying to line up rental furniture. Yuck! They can provide a lot for us but it is of course at a cost to our insurance and it's rented. I hate to think about cooking in someone elses pots and baking on baking sheets that must be returned in good shape. There is some pressure to that. In addition if I accept the rental stuff I will be stuck with it for at least two months and possibly three. I am more than willing to start replacing my stuff and a little time is good but I doubt it will take me two months to pick out a couch!

In my attempt to meld some old with some new and some rented I am going to burst. The boys can not seem to agree on decent bedding. Bed Bath and Beyond doesn't carry their awesome sets any more so we have to find a new style. Nic would have it camo or black and grey with skulls. NOT! Will has an opinion but is having a hard time sharing it. I am just about ready to accept the rental stuff and deal with it all later. How bad can the rental stuff be? I think it could be kinda bad. Ugh!

Add to all of this the fact that no one wants to deliver stuff to us on Saturday except the mattress company. Basically we will have some clothes, some linens and mattresses in each room on Saturday Night. We might be better off pitching a tent in the back yard and buying a camping stove. I will have no pots, no pans, no dishes, no TV and no cable until Monday. I won't even start in on being off-line and without a land line phone. Thank God and the person who invented Cellular Phones! Then, let me just throw the house together and pack for our 11 day trip to Indiana in my spare time. We are supposed to leave to head north on Tuesday but I think I'll be lucky to be ready by Wednesday. I don't even know if my luggage is coming clean? Maybe I can just use trash bags... Oh wait, I don't have any trash bags! Add that to the shopping list.

OK I guess you can tell that I really need a trip to Disney World about now! I can only be optimistic so long. I think I may be at the end of my generous rope. Just got off the phone with an insurance rep. he gave us permission/blessing to stay in the hotel for the weekend. he doesn't expect us to stay in a house without furniture. I can appreciate that but on the other hand I just want to start nesting and never leave. Not an option.

Please pray, I can use all the support I can get right now.

Monday progress report

The day started off a little rough for the boys. They were forced out of bed against their will by mean ol' me! Nic had a dentist appointment in Dallas at 10 and I was very uncertain of my destination so we left at 9:00. We got there with time to spare but I still needed to get there. I thank God and the inventors of the Garmin Navigation System for their contributions to my successful trips. The crack in Nic's tooth turned out to be a stain of some sort. Better to be safe than sorry though when it comes to his million dollar smile!

After the dentist we made a stop at the Time Warner office to talk about getting phone and cable at the rental house. They are not able to hook us up until Monday but we'll just have to take it and smile. I was not smiling when they gave me a price sheet of the potential charges for the cable boxes that were in the house the night of the fire. If none of them work we will owe over $1000 for the boxes and the modem. Guess we'll find out on Friday what that status really is.

Yes, on Friday we get to see our STUFF! We will get a good idea of what survived, what is MIA and what can not be saved. Since we bought mattresses this past Saturday, the good news is that if nothing else, we will have a place to sleep in the new/rental house. On Thursday we get to see our "soft goods" so we will also have towels and clothes. I am anxious to see how my shoes cleaned up. With Ben's wedding a little more than a week away I need to know if I have brown shoes or if I need to invest time and energy finding new ones. I am also very anxious to what pieces of my scrap space survived. There are a ton of rubber and acrylic stamps unaccounted for and I am hopeful that the restoration people have them and that they are back to new by the time I see them. Shopping for that stuff could be more fun than shoe shopping but some of my stuff is not available any more. Keeping my fingers crossed!

We did finally make it church last evening. We enjoyed the 6:00PM Youth Led mass at St Francis. I didn't know some of the songs but the boys seemed comfortable there. Gotta love a church that says mass the same no matter where you go. There is some level of safety in that. Will was pleased to take advantage of his recent First Communion rights and Nic said the wine here is not too bad. Everyone's a critic huh?

I have made arrangements for the gas and electric at the rental house and gave the mattress store our address. When we went shopping on Saturday neither Fred nor I knew the exact address. Oops! It's not like I don't have enough addresses in my little head already ya know?

OK, I am tired of being in this hotel room. I think we will run to Wal-Mart for the 15th time this week to get important stuff. I may bribe the boys into going to Hobby Lobby with me. I managed to salvage just a few things from the scrap space and I need a 12X12 container for the paper. After that we will go to Best buy to get my new camera. I thought I'd replace my waterlogged camera with the newer version of itself. When we stopped at Best Buy earlier today to get cordless phones for the house I hesitated to buy the camera because I had not read any reviews. Well, I have done the homework and am now ready to buy and start practicing on my loyal subjects. Look for smiling boy shots tomorrow!

Peace all!

Rebuilding our home...

No, I am not talking about the actual structure, I am talking about my family of 4 plus the dog and all of the stuff we love and want with us no matter we are living at the moment. We will be moving into the rental house next Saturday and won't know until Friday what portion of our own goods may be useful to us in the future. We have access to rental furniture, kitchen goods, linens etc, but we are really hopeful that our "stuff" will be back in our house soon.

As I sat doing bills last night at a strange desk, on a new computer, in a hotel room, I got a little sad. Our filing system, shredding system, and general processes are out of whack. I wonder how long it will take to rebuild that?

The boys continue to miss things and then turn around and get excited about replacing stuff. We are trying to hold off until we have more space and time. Likely not until after our trip to Indiana later in the month. My mental list is on overload but that is why I bought 100 sheets of notebook paper right?

OK, off to finish my fifth load of laundry. Gotta love Free Hotel Laundry. When daddy gets home from running to work we are off to linner and church. It's about time huh? I am still quite uncomfortable from my sunburn that I got yesterday while at the pool with the neighbors. You would think at 36 I would know my sun limits, guess you and I are both wrong. I am a dope, and now I am a dope in pain.

Wii got it!

I am happy to report that we are now the proud owners of a Wii game console. The boys had great fun late this afternoon, into evening, breaking it in. We picked up a couple of games but failed to find the prized gem of Mario Cart. That is on everyone's wish list, including Ben and Andrea's wedding registry, so we will have to keep our eyes peeled for potential opportunities. After the Wii stop we headed to Allen for a terrific lunch at the Cheesecake Factory. Then we headed to Allen Premium Outlets and got shoes for Fred, sandals for me, backpacks and clothes for the boys. We all were working on replacements.

Finally we stopped at Target to buy a certain wedding gift, look for an alternative power source for our sprinkler system, and get some batteries for the Wii. Back to the hotel for Wii time for the boys, movie time for mom (27 Dresses on my Laptop! Whahooooo!) and paper shuffling for daddy. He has all the fun doesn't he.

Our big Independence Day celebration consisted of hotdogs warmed in the microwave and mini bags of chips. All out for us I tell ya! In truth it was no pressure, mellow and just what we needed. No one to impress, no one to tell the story to one more time, just us.

Tomorrow we are getting together with friends from the hood and I hope to start writing Thank You notes. I made my list today and it is overwhelming in such a great way. Better do some hand stretches to get warmed up for all that writing.

Wii are so excited!

We have had multiple people keeping an eye out for a Wii for us. It all pays off today! We are headed out to EB Games to get one of our very own! It will be a very powerful tool to use with the boys today so that we can also get some important shopping done. On our list... Mattresses and some more clothes and shoes for Fred. Off to get ready. I'll check in later with pics!

Happy Fourth of July!

Two days lots of progress

So as of this afternoon we are lined up to move into a rental house next Saturday. It will pretty much be a drop and run move in since the boys and I are headed to Indiana the following Tuesday for the wedding of the year, anniversary of the century and some additional family responsibilities and fun! The house is about 15 minutes from our real house which is a bummer. The good news is that I almost have official word that the boys will be OK to attend our neighborhood school as long as I drive them. Guess I'll remain unemployed for now. Slave to my children you know. Some would call that being a woman of leisure and I'll search for some of that leisure stuff just as soon as I have my house redecorated and such!

In other news, I think that I am now an "official" Texan. The boys and I waited in line today for the all important Texas Drivers License. It was worth the wait since there were no tests involved beyond the "read line 5" and "tell me what colors you see along the bottom row." In a brief lapse of synaptic action I blurted out the the first spot was red when it was actually green but I quickly recovered and moved on.

Once I had my license the boys and I headed to the USPS to get the mail and it was full of treats. We got a book from Kirste, a special care-package from Julie and her boys, and a couple of bills. I took the good and the bad and we headed back to the hotel to pick my dad up for lunch. One last meal at Steak N Shake then it was time to decorate my van with new license plates and prep for taking dad to the airport. I got a little nervous as we headed west, traffic ahead was looking messy, but we made it in good time and I took advantage of the heavy traffic on the way home to make a couple of stops before landing back at the hotel.

I am looking forward to just 9 more nights here. It really is a decent place to stay if you find yourself homeless. The pool is indoor, no sunscreen required, the breakfast buffet is plentiful, and the managers reception is just enough of a party to entertain the boys. We are so grateful to the Staybridge Suites and their very friendly staff for taking good care of us and letting us have our dog with us.

Our weekend will be bountiful with some playing and shopping and lounging. We need to find three mattresses and some pillows. We are hoping to get our own linens back next Thursday. The boys need new comforters and all of the pillows were scrapped out so we need to get those things. We will also be shopping/selecting on-line, some items to be used in the rental house. Not knowing the state of some of our goods makes it hard but we will figure it out as best we can.

Off to polish the boys in a shower before we settle in for the night. It is a good feeling to know that we can sleep till noon tomorrow if we want. No contractor to meet at the house, no major project or house hunting to do. Maybe a little shopping, depending on what we can find open, and probably some swimming. I am a bit anxious about fireworks, not sure how the light and noise might make the boys feel. Guess we won't know until we try.

Does this make sense to you?

So we had an interesting day today. Ups and down from start to finish. Dad/Grandpa got up with the boys at a decent hour and they went to breakfast downstairs. When they got back upstairs I threw on some clothes and he and I headed north to get the mail, get a bill from the Library for the three books that perished in the fire and to attempt to get the Fire Marshall's report. The mail collection was a bust. They let me put the hold in last Friday without any issues but now that I wanted to collect they wanted ID. Well, I don't have my TX license yet so the lady told me they didn't have anything for me but an advertising circular. I couldn't question it but I felt like I was not getting everything I had coming to me.

After that dad and I headed to the library and I attempted to return the 8 books we accounted for and ask for a bill for the three missing. The lady was very nice and said that if I could get a fire report they would forgive the loss. I told her I would do what I could and return. She gave me a big hug and off we went to... the fifth floor. Sacred Mayor's office and the ever powerful City Secretary. She was a brick wall but we were not deterred. Dad and I headed to the Main Fire Station and tried to get through the secretary there. They hire tough chicks here, they did their best, but we got lucky. The chief of the department happened out of his office and dad started in with some "formal" introductions and started talking apparatus and the next thing we knew we had been invited back into the inner sanctum and were lucky? enough to get a report of the evening from the chief's perspective and the formal report that we had been seeking. A few minutes later we left with the report, two coffee mugs and a better understanding and more respect for the Frisco Fire Department. Those guys are committed and they all did their absolute best to save our home. I have no doubt.

After the big meeting we headed to Chuck E Cheese to meet Fred and the boys for lunch and gaming. We had lunch then headed to our first family counseling appt. The boys did well and Fred got a gold star for how he was dealing with the trauma. The boys and I will go back a few more times but Fred got a free pass. Always the overachiever that Fred.

Well, I thought I'd take care of that license situation so we dropped the boys off to Grandpa and Fred and I headed to the license branch. When we found it we were both a bit overwhelmed. There were nearly 100 people waiting in chairs for who knows what. We got to the clerk to find that not only did we need more documentation but we could not get licenses until we had a registered vehicle. Is it just me or would it make sense to license a driver before they can register a car? There was no discussion with the supervisor with a badge and a gun so we left empty handed. Our first stop after that was across the street where we had the van inspected. We got the "green form" that wasn't even green and then headed to the license plate office. Fred called to make sure they were going to be open and found out that we needed cash to pay for the plates. We pulled out "jack" the Garmin and found a Wells Fargo branch. With cash in hand we continued on to the plate office and were so pleasantly surprised. Virtually no line and a very pleasant and calm office worker took very little time to hook us up with plates and give us directions to an alternative drivers license branch in McKinney. So going there on Thursday.

The rest of the evening was pretty mellow. Fred and dad went up to the storage unit to sort and inventory the contents. I am working on some laundry and the boys are just chillin. We like that activity the most.

Tomorrow we are headed to Ft. Worth to check out our clothes. That will take the better part of the morning then maybe we'll try again to get licenses or maybe we'll just swim the afternoon away. fred found some magazines in our stuff at the storage locker so maybe I'll get to steal a few moments of peace? It could happen?!?