Progressing nicely

I've made it through the first week + and I'm feeling better each day.  One week down, five to go with the sling.  Thank you so much for the emails letting me know that I'm in your thoughts.  I'm wishing everyone a happy holiday season.  No cards this year, but still friends are in my thoughts each day.

Surgery tomorrow

I'm having surgery on my shoulder tomorrow.  It's a pesky rotator cuff and a spur on the bone - along with a lot of degeneration (how could that be at my young age????).  Anyway, since the shoulder hasn't responded to physical therapy and coritsone injections, I've made the decision to have it fixed so that I can at some point resume normal use of the arm - and especially be able to hold my grandson again!  Send up some good thoughts for me - I don't know when I'll be back on the computer.  Hopefully soon - even though my arm will be in a sling.  In case I don't get back online, let me wish you a Merry, merry Christmas!!!

Finding Noel

I've been doing a lot of thinking in recent days. I think the primary driving force is the book I'm reading: "Finding Noel" by Richard Paul Evans. If it was movie, it might be called a "chick flik" - I'm not sure. In any case, it has a lot of interesting thoughts and insights about life. It's a moving piece, which I would recommend to you. The thoughts and insights are especially poignant to me at this time..... possibly because I've been sick for a couple of weeks - I just can't seem to shake it - whatever it is. I'm facing surgery this next Friday to have my shoulder fixed (rotator cuff). I've been living with lack of use of this shoulder and varying degrees of pain since this summer. Not to mention that Christmas is not sneaking up on me, it's coming like a freight train, and I'm not ready. So it seems quite unlikely that I'll be "Finding Noel"....in terms of readiness and peace and serenity. This scenario is presenting an opportunity for me to remember what the real meaning of the holiday is....it's NOT about gifts and perfection of preparation. It IS about the gift of being with those I love, about seeing the tiny smile behind Evan's pacifier, about possibly spending our last Christmas together as a family in this house where we've lived for twenty years, about the birth of the Christ Child, about each of us living through another year in spite of challenges and joys......

The book "Finding Noel", among other things, deals with forgiveness. I have been unwilling, and still am, to forgive the parties who made our lives so difficult by letting our new home be ruined with water. I'm not sure if I'm unable or if I'm unwilling. But one can't forgive without effort, and so far, I haven't been willing to make the effort to forgive the parties. Terry Pluto, a writer for the Cleveland Plain dealer, wrote an article some weeks ago about forgiveness. He suggested that if we spent more time "thanking" and less time "thinking", we would be more able to forgive.

And then there is the "You Just Never Know" (YJNK) syndrome - which G and I often talk about. You just never know what someone is dealing with. I'm sure of that first hand - there have been times when I/we have walked through life with smiles on our faces, but in our lives we were dealing with powerful challenges, heartbreaking challenges. Perhaps I/we were not as kind to others as we might have been because of our own burdens.

I was reminded about "You Just Never Know" (YJNK) recently when we were planning the kitchen for the new house. Part of the kitchen cabinets were moldy, so we decided to just redo the kitchen since there would be significant cost to pulling the cabinets out and putting them back. Thus began a huge project. We were working with T to design the kitchen. He is such a compassionate person. At the same time, the experience of working with T was incredibly frustrating. G and I would cover a detail about the kitchen, and the next time we went to an appointment, we'd have to redo the same detail, because T had forgotten or lost his notes or whatever. If I tried to figure out how many hours we spent on the project, it would be impossible. Hours and hours and hours. Finally, the project got finished and the cabinets were ordered. G stopped by the store for some detail and sat down to visit with T. The conversation took various twists and turns, but in the end T ended up sharing with G that he (T) was involved in a serious auto accident in 1995. The accident almost claimed his life. Although he survived, he suffered some brain damage. In spite of the fact that he almost has a doctorate, his opportunities for employment have been very limited. So he is designing kitchens. And forgetting details. And frustrating people like G and myself. YJNK.

YJNK - there is snow here....G is out of town. I'm unable to do anything about the snow because of my shoulder. I'd checked the weather forecast and determined that next Tuesday the tempertature is supposed to be 40, so the snow would melt. I'd hoped I could last that long with snow on the walk and the drive - and hoped it wouldn't turn to ice. I woke up this morning and the walk and driveway were cleared. How could that be? We pay someone to clear the snow occasionally, but we always place a call to request the service. Then I went out to go to the drugstore. The "angel" had cleared my car as well. A random act of kindness - YJNK.

At the drugstore, I once again encountered J, the pharmacist. I asked a question, and once again - as always for the past 20 years, his response was short, uncaring and totally unhelpful. We have been so frustrated with J that we have actually changed pharmacies to avoid him. Only at times when I simply don't have the energy to drive the extra distance (like today) am I willing to use J's pharmacy. For 20 years, yes, 20 years..... I've considered reporting this unpleasant person to the management or even calling the corporate office to complain. It seems that he makes our lives so difficult at the times we have the least energy. For some reason, however, I've never taken the step of reporting him.

As I was fuming again today with anger and frustration about his behavior, I thought.......YJNK. Who knows what is going on with J......does he have a handicapped child at home? Was he fostered or abused or neglected as a child? Did he have some traumatic experience in a war? YJNK. For now, I decided to just let if go and extend some forgiveness to J. After all, YJNK.

I'm going to return to my quest of "Finding Noel" and try to remind myself.....YJNK.

Thanksgiving!

We have reason to give thanks! Work continues on our home, and inspections continue. The new concrete is poured for the 3 ft. addition to the bedroom. We're looking forward to the target date of sometime in January for completion. We are thankful!

An experiment

I liked this article about how crazy our holidays have become. The writer suggests a Thanks-Giving exercise which I think is worth consideration:

http://livinginthemeantimes.typepad.com

A nice surprise!

We stopped by tonight to check out the progress on the house and found someone working there! On Saturday! Every little bit helps! The project is moving along, and I'm so grateful!

Well, how about that?

A call came this afternoon that the permits have been issued and work will resume tomorrow!

A little lull

Work has been stopped at the new house for a week now. I've identified that it's challenging for me during this time, because construction was progressing so RAPIDLY at the beginning. Each day, G and I would visit the house in the late afternoon and admire the progress. I think that, for both of us, that progress meant symbolically and literally that we might someday move on from our dilemma of the last 8 1/2 months. The lull is because Mark is waiting for the city to grant permits. It's a good thing - he wants to be sure, especially in light of the circumstances of our situation, that we don't get "crossways" with the city. I understand that our city is pretty political - so I don't know how slowly/quickly to expect this to resolve. In the meantime, we are continuing to take care of details and choices from our end. We're both busy practicing the "glass half full" mentality. In my mind's eye, I am finally able to visualize that the end results of the planning are going to be awesome and just right for us. That's a huge positive step for me. We'll return to our waiting and hope to hear from Mark soon.......

Another meeting - more decisions checked off!

We had another meeting with the contractor this afternoon. Yes, he has a name, - it's Mark. He graciously answered questions, showed us a window sample ( window in the bathroom where there wasn't one before) and so forth. Mark also made me smile, because he occasionally dropped little pieces of humor that reminded me of my Dad!!! How special is that??? Also, during the time, we made some more decisions. What size window, what kind of doors downstairs (the previous doors all had to be removed), what type of door on the new storage closet, and so forth. I'd forgotten how many, many decisions are involved with a process like this. I DID remember a bit - which is why I didn't want to build a house. Who would have ever thought that in the end we'd end up with an almost-building project. Unfair, but that's another story, and I don't want to dwell there. Anyway, more decisions checked off the list, and it feels GREAT! I think I will reward myself with a nap!

Things are happening!

The carpenter has been working for almost a week now. The plumber has been there too and done most of the plumbing. We were a bit disappointed that there won't be work for the next 2 days. The permits with the city aren't complete, so Mark feels he needs to hold off until they can be finished. Given our overall situation, he feels we need to be careful to "toe the line", so to speak, and stick to the rules. He hopes to be able to resume work next week. It's about time for G and me to get back to making a few more choices - we've had a nice little break and are rested up....back to work!

Sunday in the basement

I hear people talking about clearing out possessions from their homes of 40 years, 60 years, etc. We're trying to go through accumulations of 20 years in our home, and it's mind boggling. The task has brought to mind several thoughts I've read or heard, and a few I've figured out myself. If you haven't used it in ____ years, you probably don't need it. A given item may be important to my Mother/my husband,etc., but it's no longer important to me. The more stuff you have, the more stressed your life (I believe that one!). i'm realizing that when my Grandmother died years ago, others took the "prime" wonderful objects, and I was left with the discards (unfinished pieces of crochet, flawed ceramic items....). I'm no longer going to feel guilty if I get rid of those items - I can remember her other ways. The time is rewarding, thought provoking, tiring.....winter is a nice time to do it!

Very exciting!

The work did begin in our house today. It's amazing how much they got done in one day. We still feel so confident about our decision to hire Mark. It was amazing to see something positive, rather than something negative, going on in that house for the first time in 8 months.

Oh, and I forgot to say....

The bathroom cabinets were damaged in the flood. So new cabinets for the master bath and new tiny half bath were ordered yesterday too. Cabinets, cabinets, cabinets - and I'm thrilled!

The kitchen is planned and ordered!

The kitchen cabinets and flooring were damaged by water in the new house. Thus, we've been planning a new kitchen. What a lot of work and details. Tonight, we ordered the kitchen. It feels like a huge load off our plate. Hooray!

The Magic Day!

The magic day is Thursday! This Thursday, November 6. Construction will begin on our house. We like the contractor more each time we meet with him. Wish us luck!

Reconstruction may begin this week!

It appears that we will be able to begin reconstruction this week - perhaps as early as Tuesday! In a previous post, I mentioned that we were interviewing yet another contractor - one who was recommended by a new friend, Carol. At the time, I felt that it was a waste of time to interview someone else.....and yet we trusted Carol's opinion. Carol increased the size of her home by 1/3, (2 years ago), with Mark doing all the work. She has also used Mark in her office complex. So we interviewed Mark, who is also an architect. He suggested a few awesome changes that would make the house work better. His bid came back last week. We sat with him and asked final questions. It seems meant to be, and he would supervise all of the work. The work might be completed in as little as 8 weeks from the start of construction... or it could take up to 12 weeks. We hope to meet with him tomorrow and sign the contract. On November 12, it wil be 8 months since we closed on the house.

Some recent pictures of Evan

Make a Smilebox scrapbook

A New Chapter!

The mold is gone!  The house is cleaned up from the destruction and mold removal!  As I write this, G is having breakfast with Paul, who has removed the mold from our house.  G will give Paul the final payment for his services.  Paul has removed all damaged and contaminated surfaces, cleaned the air ducts for the first of two times, and tested all the air and surfaces to assure that there is no remaining mold.

How I hope you never need services like this, but if you do, be sure to call us for a reference. Paul's company is thorough, honest and reliable.  I may have told some of you this, but Paul has an agreement with a large church in Akron.....if the pastor knows of someone whose house has been compromised or ruined (like ours), but the person can't afford to have it fixed, Paul provides his services for free.  He has an agreement with his supplier of chemicals that kill the mold to provide the chemicals for free too.

Back to our situation....G says the house looks and smells wonderful and is squeaky clean - if somewhat "vacant" with missing cabinets, walls, etc.  I will see it this afternoon.  

G and I have an appointment at 2 p.m. to meet with a contractor to receive a bid for his work. He is an architect as well, and has drawn plans for making our bedroom larger (our bed wouldn't fit in the room!)  and making some doors accessible (most of the doors and/or walls had to come out anyway because of the damage).

So, as soon as we can make a decision about who will do the work, we're ready to move forward! We continue with choices, kitchen planning decisions.....we'll have to choose a new shower as the shower was mold infested and had to be taken out.  

It's a busy and somewhat stressful time, but at least we are moving forward, rather than backward or standing still.  It's a blessing.  Speaking of blessings, YOU are a blessing for your support during this time!  And once again, for your love and support we thank you!

wednesday #3

This is just one of many walls or partial walls that have had to be removed because of damage from the water. Notice that the flooring is gone. All of the flooring on the main floor was ruined by standing water.

Wednesday, part II

G tells me that because of additional damage that was found, the demolition work won't be finished until next week. All of this, of course, moves the other work further out, thus the moving date as well. I'm trying to take the advice of a new friend, who says "trust the process!". OK - I'm trying!

Demolition to be completed soon

We expected demolition and mold remediation to be complete yesterday... that didn't happen, because more damage was found. However, we think that stage of the process will be finished soon. The mold removal, by the way, is guaranteed for a minimum of 20 years - that works for us! Planning for reconstruction has us really busy at this point! It's not unlike building a home. We've interviewed several contractors, and have an interview with another person tomorrow morning (he came highly recommended by a friend). We are trying to finish kitchen decisions. What a huge challenge the kitchen is! My goodness - so many details. We still have to choose floor tile, cabinet finish and hardware, countertop colors and a sink. We also still have to finish the design of the upper and lower cabinets. The shower in the master bath was ruined by the water, so we'll now have to go shower shopping. I'm hoping to include some pictures of the house while in the demolition process. I haven't seen it for about 10 days - but even when I last saw it, I was astonished by the scope of things that had been removed (flooring, portions of walls, kitchen cabinets, etc.). We think we'll feel a great relief once the kitchen decisions are finished and the cabinets are ordered.

Continuing the **fun?????**

I suppose that my daughter is feeling particularly creative on her birthday.  Particularly mischievous, to be sure!  In case you didn't read her comment to the previous post, she added 7 MORE quirks of mine.  Since it's her birthday, I'll be kind and post them here.

8. I organize my life with ziploc bags.  I love all sizes and shapes.

9. I don't like the cat noise "reerr" to be said to my when I'm crabby (at all, if you must know!)

10.  I don't like the back of my neck touched, ever.

11. Post-it notes are wonderful.  I put them everywhere.

12. Sharpie markers were created by God just for me.

13. Don't mess with me until I've had my coffee.  How about if you top off my cup, then go away?

 

And finally, she added:

14. I don't like to be teased about my little quirks.  They're not funny.  "Don't make fun of me".

Happy, birthday, Melanie!

 

The days of this blog being totally boring and housing oriented are OVER, thanks to my cyber-friend, Peggy, who lives in Australia.  I hope I get the chance to meet Peg in person some day!  Now, unfortunately, I'm new to blogging.  My friend Peggy literally used up all the bloggers I know....so I'm not following ruler #4.

Here are seven random/weird things about me:

1. I sleep with a pillowcase or sock over my eyes to make the room darker.

2. I don't like to wash clothing with towels (some, including the one I live with, think it's no big deal).

3. I don't like to watch a movie unless I can see the beginning of it.

4. Soft drinks and beer must be poured down the side of the glass so the fizz doesn't get lost.

5. I take a Kleenex to bed with me (and in coming days forget I've done that), so there are many Kleenex in and around and under the bed.

6. I have a super sensitive sense of smell.

7. I can't stand a dirty toilet - even a somewhat dirty one.

And now for the tagging: one deserving recipient!!:

http://themerritfamily.blogspot.com

Have fun, Melanie!

Time for an update!

I'm overdue updating my blog.  I've been busy!  Our contractor worked for one week tearing out damaged materials.  Then he went on vacation for a week.  He's back at work this week - tearing out more damaged walls, cabinets, etc., then he will treat and remove the mold.  In the meantime, we've been busy!  G has spent some time taking photos for evidence if needed.  We've been choosing colors to get our old house painted outside.  We've also spent tons of time planning how we want the new house's kitchen put back together - with a few changes from what it was like.  Next, we need to figure out how to finance this project until the insurance (hopefully) comes through.  We also need to choose a contractor to rebuild.  It's a busy time!  Thanks for checking in!

Work underway!

Work has been underway on our house for almost a week now.  There will be a break of a week while the environmental contractor is on a previously scheduled vacation.  In some areas, there has been less mold than feared.  In other areas, water damage and mold has been found where it wasn't expected to be.  But overall, it looks like there may not have to be as much destruction (and thus reconstruction) as we had feared.  Plus, this is PROGRESS!  We're  pleased with the progress and relieved that it may not be as bad as we'd been told - because this will, in the end, result in less expense to fix.  Thanks for all the positive thoughts you've sent our way!

GOOD NEWS FINALLY!

We've had our first bit of good news in 6 months!  We were released today by the insurance company to begin repairs on our home. We received the phone call this afternoon.  We don't have a settlement (or even an offer) from the insurance company, but at least we can proceed with repairs.  This will enable us to get on with our lives.  We really need to move on and try to regain some measure of sanity.  We can just hope and pray that things will turn out all right in the end.  But for now, we are elated to be able to begin demolition (of damaged parts of the house), then proceed on to construction.  Hooray!!!!  For all of your support in every way, we say THANK YOU!

No news is......bad news

We still have not received release from the insurance company to begin work.  So we're trying to wait and think positive thoughts - not getting too bent out of shape.  One difficulty is that our mold contractor is leaving town for two weeks, so there is a narrow window to get his work done.  His work being completed affects the rest of the construction beginning, obviously.

A pleasant side-story in this unpleasant saga:  In a conversation with the mold remediator on a recent day, I learned of an ongoing "act of kindness" of his.  He has an agreement with a very large church in Akron that the pastor will contact him  if a family needs mold removal services, but can't afford to pay for them.  In those cases, he does the work for free.  In addition, he has arranged for his supplier of the chemicals he uses to donate the chemicals.  I was so touched by his integrity and spirit of giving - something good to be reminded of after some of the circumstances we've experienced.  Watching some who have not acted with integrity has been one of the hardest lessons for me to learn in our saga.

Please continue to surround us with prayers and positive thoughts.

Hooray! A bit of hope!

Yesterday, with very little notice, the insurance company sent out an environmental company and a contractor - both to inspect the property.  The people were very respectful and seemed competent. This is a distinct contrast to previous experiences we've had with all the other people who have come out.  We were told by our mold expert, who was present, that the environmental people were from a reputable company - he personally knows the company.  At this point, we're trying to find out if we have fulfilled the required inspections fully. Our attorney is contacting the adjustor; we hope to know something later today.  If the insurance company clears us (meaning they have seen everything they need to see),  tear down of the damaged materials could start tomorrow! The tear down and remediation would take a couple of weeks. We have a very trusted and honest company to do that portion of the work.

Frustrating

It's been a long time since I posted. Our lives have been very frustrating. We are STILL waiting for the insurance company to show up and inspect our home. Even our attorney seems unable to get movement from them. Without that inspection, we can't begin mold removal or any repair, as we could be accused of "destroying evidence". Things have gotten tense now, as there is obvious delay on the part of the insurance company. Our mold person is ready to start the work Saturday, September 6. If he is unable to start then (because we're not released), he is leaving town for a period of time and work couldn't begin until sometime in October. The short version of the story is that it's possible that would throw construction into late October or November. We don't have heat in the house (the furnace failed; can't be replaced until all mold is removed and the construction is done, and the ducts are cleaned), so drying of paint, etc. could be a problem.

We're both feeling the extreme stress of this situation - I worry about G - I wouldn't be surprised if he worries about me. Between the two of us, we're experiencing anger, fatigue, and overall stress symptoms. If you are a person of prayer, we would ask you to pray for resolution of this situation.

Still waiting

We haven't heard from the insurance company. We need to be able to take steps to remediate the mold and move forward, but we also must wait until we can be sure that the insurance company has completed their inspections. We've put a call in for our attorney and are waiting to hear back. I wonder if some day I'll be able to post and there will be lots of good news and forward movement to write about......

The appointment - a disappointment!

We had the appointment with the insurance inspector on Tuesday.  G and I had allowed ourselves to be hopeful that this might be the turning point.  Once again, it was a disappointing outcome.  The person was unreasonable and disappointing in every way - a continuation of the company's delay, downplay, and low-ball strategy.  At this point, we're waiting to see what our attorney recommends as the next step.  G and I are both making an effort to be as positive and hopeful as we possibly can in light of the current circumstances.  The most frustrating aspect is that we can't move forward with repair and remediation at this point - as we could damage prospects for recovery from the other parties.  We would appreciate your prayers for peace, stamina and a positive outlook.

Another appointment

Our attorney has arranged for the insurance company inspector to come tomorrow.  It will be a different inspector, for which we are grateful. .  We are impressed with our new attorney.  He is on the ball!  Unlike our other attorney experience, where we sat for days - even weeks at a time with nothing happening, this person is "cracking the whip", so to speak.  He told us he'd contact the insurance company today and give them a week to show up.  Lo and behold, we get a call to expect them tomorrow morning.  He's also planning to contact one other party who has been involved in this whole thing.  We'll see how that plays out.  This positive forward movement is well timed.  G and I have both been pretty stressed out the last few days.  Perhaps something encouraging will come from this visit.  In any case, it's a necessary step we have to take before we can begin mold remediation.  Please continue to support us with your prayers and positive thoughts.

Meeting and MORE homework!

We had our meeting with the attorney and his expert on Friday.  As it turned out, the senior partner of the law firm showed up - we were expecting the younger partner.  The attorney rattled off a list of documents, etc. that he needs...phone calls that we need to make, etc.  Mercifully, I was quickly taking notes or there would have been no chance of retaining all the information.  We are working on getting it all together for another meeting that is supposed to happen this Friday, August 15.   I think there is no doubt that we are making progress at this point, and that is a welcome sign.

A blessing in disguise

We thought we knew which contractor we planned to use - a contractor who did some insurance work at our present home a few years ago.  As we proceeded with this gentleman, we had questions raised by some of his actions and also by seeming omissions in his estimate.  About the same time, two dear friends each suggested contractors they had used.  In addition, I drove by a house a few blocks away where extensive remodeling was being done, could tell at a glance that it was really quality work.  So we're in touch with that contractor as well.  It could have been that our loss of confidence in the contractor we'd planned to use might have been a disaster.  As it turns out, I think it was a blessing in disguise - as we're dealing with some really awesome people at this point.  Wish us luck!

Another step forward

Our attorney just called.  He made an appointment with us to come out later this week with his "inspector" and personally view the situation at our house.  We feel this will be a significant step in moving things forward.  We're hoping, also, that contractors' bids will come in this week so that we can have more information to work with and to give to the insurance company.  Thanks for stopping by to check on us!

Not through after all....

 A couple of the contractors were slow getting back to us, so it turns out that we have 2 more interviews.  G thinks that the more estimates we can get, the better in many respects.  This is likely to be a long road.  We need to make decisions carefully and have a long paper trail and lots of records.  We're well on the way to both goals.  G is busy making the follow-up phone calls I mentioned yesterday.  Thank you so much for caring and checking in with us.  We'd appreciate your continued prayers during this journey - for stamina, peace, forward movement.

A busy week

It's been a very busy and somewhat tiring week.  We've interviewed many contractors.  Good ole steady, patient G has copied house plans for each person and has gone through the endless verbal details of which walls must be removed, where mold has been found (and has not), etc.  I have gone for a portion of each interview.  Since I'm allergic to mold and it causes my asthma to kick up, I've learned that I can't be there for very long at one time.  At this point, we've interviewed all the candidates - except for one flooring contractor.  As it turned out, two different friends gave us names of people they like, which was so helpful.  Now that the interviews are done,   G is going to call each contractor and ask that they expedite their bids so we can make a decision.  We're a bit unsure what the next step is - but as we catch our breaths and gather our thoughts this weekend, we'll probably be ready to "hit it" next week.  As an aside, we had mulch spread in the huge area under the trees in the front yard.  The next day it looked just awful.....clumpy, uneven, all moved around.  Our neighbor clued us in - it's the raccoons spending time there - fighting, digging - who knows what they're doing.  Someone is going to have to get out with the rake and try to repair the damage.

More interviews

I'm glad that we're interviewing multiple contractors - there was another interview today.  We got most of the names from Angie's list, so we know that they do good work.  When I was at the house for the interview, I saw fawns in the woods two different times.  It's one of the things we enjoy the very most about the house.  Someday - maybe soon - we'll live there!

Making progress

We met with two contractors today to get estimates to repair the house.  G had previously met with two other contractors.   In the next four days,we have several other appointments. By meeting several people, we are getting new information and new ideas, as well as a sense of who we might feel most comfortable working with.  After this week, we should  have a pretty clear idea of the cost to repair the house, as well as having written statements to submit to the insurance company (through our attorney).  We feel that we're making progress at this point.  We're still waiting to hear from our attorney after he talks to the insurance company's counsel.  Thanks for checking in!

slow, slow, slow!

I didn't plan on two postings today. We just called to check in with our attorney and learned that he's been waiting all week to hear from the other attorney - to whom he faxed a letter on Monday.  It was probably good to let our attorney hear from us - just as a reminder.... he will contact the other attorney either today or Monday.   It's just amazing to me how slowly things move in a situation like this.  

Details, details!

There's so much work to be done getting estimates!  Then, of course, the real challenge is choosing  reliable, honest contractors.  The upside is that G is very good at being at a construction site and watching the work be done.  I  remember that when we built our house in TN, a worker returned from lunch, having obviously had something other than Coke or Dr. Pepper with his lunch.  As he put the fireplace in, it was leaning significantly to one side.  G and stopped in the house to check on things and found the impending disaster.  Anyway, we feel buried in details at this point! Please keep us in your thoughts and prayers as we take baby steps to come to the end of this challenging road!

Homework

Our "homework" is under way - gathering estimates from contractors, etc.  There's a lot of detail to be attended to, and I have to give G credit for doing most of it.  He's awesome. One of these days when we have a housewarming party, it will be in large part due to his effort that we're in the house.  He's gone now for a well deserved recess from the work - a massage.  Thanks for checking in with us!

Our meeting today

We traveled downtown today and signed the papers to retain our new attorney.  I feel a bit of a burden lifted, just knowing that someone besides us is going to be working to get things straightened out.  It has become pretty obvious that more expertise than ours is needed in order to reach an agreement.  He will first contact the insurance attorney, and we can expect to hear from him in a few days.  We feel very comfortable with him and just hope that this time we've made the right decision.  We have some homework to do - gathering estimates and the like.  Perhaps when that is done, we can really relax a little - especially G, who has been "busting it" for quite some time.

So that was back in March - what now? It's July!

We hired an attorney. Unfortunately, we didn't research attorneys as well as we should have. We ended up running up a sizable bill and firing him. Since that time, we have interviewed 7 more attorneys. We have finally found an attorney we intend to retain. We will meet with him on Monday afternoon, July 21 to sign the papers. At that time, we will on how to proceed.

In the meantime, the insurance company (seller's insurance) has come in a couple of times and stood us up for a third appointment. They attempted to settle the claim for a fraction of the actual damage. Mold developed in our home and the carpet delaminated. The heating system quit because of standing water that caused it to seize up. G and I have hired a highly trained mold expert to monitor the situation. He will eventually supervise the tear out of all contaminated materials and remove the mold.

We have been blessed by the support of friends and family. My brother has given us valuable advice from his prospective as an attorney. My cousin, who is in real estate, has also resourced us with awesome advice. Friends have called and spent time with us. Our kids and my Mom have been great. A friend from the church who is an insurance adjuster with a different company has tried to help.

We would ask that you keep us in your thoughts and prayers as we begin the latest part of our journey (meeting with the new attorney) next Monday. We want to bring this nightmare to a resolution as soon as possible. We would like to move into our new home and sell our present home. Thanks for reading and thanks for caring!

The Cliff Notes Version of our story....

We have found it  difficult to keep in touch with friends and family as much as we'd like in the last few months. We decided to create this blog so we can keep you apprised of our situation more easily. We're been challenged in terms of time and the stress level of our lives. Here's why:

We purchased a new home on March 12, 2008. We made the decision to move (to a different house in the same city) because we both needed first floor living quarters for health reasons (we're not as young as we used to be!).

In late February, 2008, we found a house that we just loved - with first floor laundry, bedroom, bath, etc - everything we needed for first floor living. There are guest quarters upstairs.  In addition, it has a heavily wooded back yard, which we've wanted for years. So, delighted to find this home after lots of shopping, we signed the papers to purchase it. Long story short, when we entered the home after the closing, we found it flooded with almost 15,000 gallons of water.

How could this happen?

1 - our realtor didn't offer a walk through
2 - someone has withheld the truth about the flood from us.

Why didn't we turn the home back? We tried. Yes, we love the home, but we tried to give it back.   We called a day or two after the flood and were told by the title company's attorney that we couldn't rescind the sale. After meeting with 8 attorneys over the period of 4 months, we've been told it would take a minimum of one year - more likely two (and we'd have to pay attorney fees) to turn the house back.  

The flood most likely began two days before we closed on the house. The seller's insurance did accept responsibility for the claim.  From that point, things have gone downhill.