In Residence

I'm still getting used to being a resident of the Residence Inn, but so far it's okay. This afternoon, I was at the house for an hour and sustained 17 mosquito bites INSIDE. If I were still living there, I don't know what I would do.

A minor setback yesterday: the insurance company shipped my adjustor to Houston, so we had to start all over this morning with a brand new adjustor. The good news is that he seems more sympathetic than the last one. Time will tell. But again, I feel like Jeff, the contractor, is my own private guardian angel. The NEW adjustor, Tom, agreed that the foundation of the kitchen/bath had sustained too much damage and is approving taking the WHOLE back section of the house off and rebuilding it. New plumbing, new electric, new floors, new subfloor. All great for me in the long run. In the short run... adds a lot more time to the rebuild.

Again, no feelings of "phew!" until the numbers start rolling in.

This is my horoscope for the week: VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22): Many people who pray don't limit their conversations with God to purely spiritual and ethical matters. In fact, money is one of the main subjects the Divine Wow is asked to address. If you've never had the chutzpah to do this yourself, I suggest you try it soon. Higher powers of all kinds, from your boss to the loan officer at the bank to the Creator Herself, may be unusually receptive to your pleas. I'm guessing you'll be able to tap into financial help "from above," or that you will make a connection with an elevated source of wealth that has previously been out of your reach.

Going through this process, I can see how some crappy people would try to milk the "system." I just want to be treated fairly. It's a shame that I have the whole Katrina thing hanging over my head. I feel like if I am treated with a modicum of respect (which I have been thus far), I've "WON." Like, I'm lucky to not be dismissed or cheated.

Still, I feel desperately ignorant when it comes to the insurance system. And I don't know if I can learn about it fast enough to make sure that years from now I'm not saying, "Ohhhh... if I'd only known that when I was in dire straits."

Baby steps, you know? This Friday is my next (second to last!!!) chemo, and I just need to get through that before I start fretting again. This will be a looooong process; I need to keep reminding myself that it all doesn't have to be settled today.

One Week Ike-iversary: Movin' Out

So right now I am packing up to move to the downtown Residence Inn for an undetermined amount of time. For some reason (like I need a reason), I'm terribly anxious about the whole thing. I keep moving around the house thinking, "Well, no, this isn't going to be the fall that we build our patio" and "Gee, it's a shame I bought that outdoor fireplace. It's really only good in the fall" and "Was last night really the last night I'll curl up on my couch and watch bad romantic comedies for the next three plus months?"

Yes, three plus months is the unofficial estimate.

And that's the only number I have for you.

On Friday, the contractor and cabinet guy came at 8am to prep me for the insurance guy who showed up at 9am. Everybody stayed until 1130am. I am totally lucky to have hooked up with Jeff, the contractor. Insurance dude started by saying two walls would have to be rebuilt and by the time he left, Jeff had talked him into taking down the back of my house all the way to the floor AND giving the rest of the house a whole new roof. They're still bickering over a couple of other big ticket things-- whether or not the kitchen/bathroom extension needs a whole new foundation, whether or not to replace ALL the siding on the house... But overall, it was a very big win for us. And I don't mean that to sound like we "won"-- shoot, you can't win this kind of stuff. But it was a win because we got the insurance folks to do the RIGHT thing. So far.

Jeff says not to be too pleased yet, and I'm following his advice. He says the guy could still come back with lowball numbers for everything, and it would be like starting the negotiations all over again.

And that's why whenever anyone starts talking about how cool it will be to have a new kitchen and bathroom, I get a little annoyed. It's not like I have extra money kicking around to throw at this project. With all my medical bills, I am deep in the hole. So whatever the insurance folks are willing to pay is ALL I have to work with, not a penny more. And if they're not 100% fair (or goodness forbid, generous), then I am up the proverbial creek.

So even though I allowed myself to go through a couple of old Home magazines yesterday, I am definitely NOT in the "Woo hoo!! I can't wait to have crown molding!" mode yet.

Likewise, I LOVE hotels. I have often thought it would be lovely to be one of those people who LIVES in a hotel. But I just can't get very excited about this. Sheesh, just a little more than a week ago, I was saying that my house was depressing (largely, but not entirely, due to the fact that I've spent so many months sick here). Now I feel like I'm going to miss it very much.

That being said, I AM looking forward to the free breakfast buffet and weekday Manager's Reception. That's kind of nifty. The insurance company is going to try to find a furnished apartment in my neighborhood, but I'm kinda hoping they don't find one! (Not to mention, a friend suggested that I try to get Marriott awards for my stay, and I can-- so that's also kind of nifty.)

Ok, back to the boxes and bags. Jas is due home on Wednesday-- just in time for Waterfront Wednesday, a monthly outdoor concert here in Louisville, which just happens to be a few blocks from our new (temporary) home. Likewise, nifty.

a couple more photos

Now What?

Now, we wait. Or, I wait.

As I said, the contractor called today and came by to make notes for the estimate. He's decided to put it as a total loss. Three of the four walls of the bathroom/kitchen section of the house sustained serious damage. The only wall that might be salvageable has floor to ceiling custom cabinetry with some damage, and it's hard to replace bits and pieces of that.

When we did a little more poking around, we also found that a wall in my bedroom sustained damage (my room is adjacent to the kitchen). So, there's that. Not to mention a dozen feet or so of fencing and some minor damage to the garage roof.

I didn't LOSE much in the way of material things as the tree came through the wall that sheltered the least amount of stuff in the house, thankfully. All of my appliances are intact. Even in my bathroom, my tub is fine and my potty is fine. Only my sink got cracked.

No matter what happens, I'll have to move out for a period of time while they work on the place. I'll be without a bathroom and a kitchen whether they repair or rebuild. Next Friday is my next chemo, and I have a hard time imagining going through that without access to a clean and safe bathroom, given my history with chemo side effects.

But there's a lot to be thankful for-- not the least of which is that school has been called off since the storm due to the power outage there. I'm so thankful that I have power and that the guys were able to make my house safe and relatively livable. And of course, I am thankful that I am safe.

I'll post an update when there's any big news.

Love to you all.

This is the status of the house right now, after the contractors had finished shoring up the roof and clearing out the tree. The process took them around seven hours.

What amazed me is that these guys were brave enough to get four of them on the roof to put up the tarp.

I talked to Jeff, the lead contractor, today (Wed), and he said they'd been working non-stop from 7am-1op since Monday with no injuries. He sounded vaguely surprised by that.

More bathroom. Thankfully the clawfoot tub escaped unscathed.

This is/was the bathroom. Interesting choice of ceiling color-- not mine, but hidden under the drywall. The bathroom used to be the most "renovated" room in the house. Last summer I got a new sink, light fixture, and medicine cabinet (all but the sink survived), and last fall I painted it. It was shark themed-- tastefully so.

This is my kitchen. At this point my neighbors are already helping me move stuff out of there in fear that (a) the winds will be followed by rains (they weren't) and (b) the roof would just give way. Already my linen cabinet and microwave are gone; they were behind the guy with the striped shirt. My neighbors kept saying, "We've gotta get your microwave out of there." And I kept saying, "Really? I've had it since college-- no great loss!"

Cute irony: the blue and white picture on the wall is a print I bought from our local newspaper in New Orleans. It shows the cathedral in the French Quarter in various stages of hurricane to New Orleans's rebirth. It was untouched.

Again. Big tree. House. Not much more to say than that. The tree uprooted in my neighbor's yard. Then, I guess, it hit my house and snapped in half. I never thought to ask someone what kind of tree it is. I'll have to check tomorrow. Or I could just look in my bathtub. The remaining limb is still kind of poking through and shedding leaves inside.

This is the view from the back alley to my house. Probably an hour after the tree fell, maybe a little more. Hardly artful,

but I was definitely in shock. That blue thing is our hammock.

Three Days Out

I don't really intend to blog about Ike and the damage that he caused to my house, but enough people wanted to see pictures that I figured I would just set this up. You'd think someone as "tech savvy" as I am supposed to be would think of a better place to post pictures, but you can blame it on "destruction fatigue" or "chemo brain" because either one would work right now.

So here are some pictures of the immediate damage and the day two cleanup.