Today is the day

THEY ARE STARTING ON OUR HOUSE TODAY!!!!! WOOT WOOT!

Since the last post I wrote about them gutting the upstairs and evaluating from there.  It turns out there were a few “uh-oh’s” in the roof as Rooster had suspected.  So it will tack on a little time for that before they can start the build out.  There will be like an 8’ft square section of the roof that will need to come off to fix a few beams for structural soundness, and then they will start rebuilding the upstairs.

While the roof and beams are being fixed the guys will sand down the studs.  Most all of them got charred but just on the edges, nothing to compromise the structural integrity of the wood so it’s safe to sand it off.  This gets rid of the odor and will keep it from permeating through the new sheet rock to be put up.  It also saves TONS of money since you don’t have to buy new lumber.  Then Cornerstone will come in and nutralize the home.  It sounds similar to what a bug bomb would be…?  They will come in tomorrow and fumigate the house.  No one can go in or out and no doors or windows can be opened for 24 hours.  Remember, since we are renters our insurance only covered our possessions, so when the crew came they didn’t clean anything that was part of the house, just our things in it.

After the studs are sanded and the house is odor bombed, we will be full speed ahead!!  I am so afraid to even say it outloud.  eek!

Home Sweet Home

Well I thought I would give y’all a little looksie into how we are living as of late.  For those of you just finding your way here to my blog, we are in my parent’s basement for the time being.  It is kind of a double edged sword.  On the one hand I completely recognize that, for our situation, we are in a blessed spot.  Our parents have space for us, and all of our stuff.  We aren’t having to pay rent on our house, which is a little extra unexpected savings, and we aren’t having to pay rent to live somewhere else.  We are in an area close to our house so our daily routines like work and groceries {HA to husband if he’s reading. He knows I hate grocery shopping} etc aren’t a big change.  Our commutes to work are basically the same.  Overall the space works pretty well for us.  We have set up our bedroom in the game room and there is a den and TV down there so we use that as our den.

My parents have been great to live with.  Maybe it’s easier for me to adjust because I’m used to living with them.  They give us our space and never come downstairs, we have as much privacy as if we were in our home.  But it just feels weird to live in my basement.  The place I used to be so scared I couldn’t watch Scooby Doo alone in because of all the windows downstairs at night.  We have our essential stuff set up for daily usage but everything else is in boxes wherever there is space to put them.  It never really feels clean because there is so much stuff, which wears on my spirit every now and then.  I think this is also the Lord’s way of teaching me to unclench a bit… 🙂  So here you are, fasten your seatbelts and enjoy the ride/tour!

When you first go down the stairs into the basement, you enter the billiard room.  We now refer to it as the holding cell.  As far as living down there, this room has no functional purpose.  The pool table has kind of become the surface where we put things we know we can’t lose, but they have no place to go.  It usually stays there until I can find a place to store it.  Some things will probably stay there until we move out.

Holding Cell

You’ve seen in the previous picture that behind the pool table is a little kitchenette area.  It’s got a sink and dishwasher.  There just isn’t an oven or stove.  It’s been nice to have a bit of a kitchen.  We use our toaster oven (thank you DD) a lot and when you’re cooking for 2, you really don’t need anything bigger.

The Kitchen

You pass through the kitchen into….

Game Room Entrance

… our closet/bedroom/den/office/vanity 🙂  You enter the room straight into our clothes we have out to wear on these rolling racks we stole from the attic.  Here’s a better look:

"His and Hers Walk-In Closets" more like "Walk-Around" closets!

Then you will look back to your right and see:

Fooseball table/shoe cover

Every single pair of shoes I own stacked under the pool table so they don’t take up space!  I have been made fun of for as long as I can remember because I keep each pair of shoes it its own plastic bin.  It for one thing, is easier to stack in smaller closet space, but that is the ONLY reason my shoes stayed clean!  If I didn’t have them in boxes, I would have had to wipe down and try and salvage the ones that I could, but some would be beyond fixing because of the materials they are made of.  So “ha” to all you doubters 🙂

Then look behind you and you will see:

Jim's Dresser/TV

It’s funny how even in this room that is much bigger than our old one, we still set it up the exact same way haha.  That is an old dresser of mine that Jim puts all his shorts/shirts in.  Usually we have a smaller tv on the dresser, but this one was in our den and we didn’t have a safe way to store it, so we just use it.

Next is our:

Bed

Pretty drab huh?  We usually have gray and white shams but it was just too depressing and not practical to put them up here.  Notice that the headboard is an old, uncovered upholstered one, propping itself against an AIR HOCKEY TABLE.  Pretty classy 😉  Behind that headbaord on top of the hockey table is a bunch of bags and miscellaneous stuff I didn’t know where do put, so I tossed it there.  Probably more so because of my tiredness of finding places to put and store things really.

But please notice the 2 little treasures I did keep out:

Bedside tables and Lamps

Love them.  A lot.  We figured they would just sit against some wall so we might as well use them for now.

If your back is to the bed and you’re facing the TV, to the left is this:

Chest

Try not to cringe at all the clutter.  I know I am right now as I look at it and think about it being that way at home.  This is my grandmothers chest.  I took it with me to Auburn my senior year and it’s stayed with me ever since.  Our decorative pillows are in the plastic bags underneath for safe keeping.  The huge pile of clothes to the right is really just all the clothes spilling out of my laundry basket 🙂  The blue blanket to the left is spare bedding of my mom’s we used when we first moved home because we washed our sheets and couldn’t find them in the boxes and our comforter and burned up totally in the fire.

If you look to the right you will see this:

Step into our Office/Shuffleboard Table

There is a huuugely long shuffleboard table that takes up this entire wall of the room.  We laid a blanket over this part so the beads and sand didn’t get on our stuff and set my desktop up there.  We don’t use it as much since we don’t have hard wired internet down there, but the big screen is nice when I’m designing at home.  The printer is to the right and our fan for sleeping.  Farther down the table is my makeshift vanity area.

Vanity

This is where I straighten my hair etc.  I just set it up this week so I’m still getting used to it.  One thing that is cool is that above the table are my dad’s old records.  There is like 30 or 40 of them from when he was a kid/teenager.  You think we will be doing that with our CDs?

Right Side

Left Side

Some of the covers are pretty funny when you think about them watching over us all the time.  Such as these:

Oh and we also have tons of boxes under the table so they don’t take up space either.

That is about all of our main multi-purpose room.  If you walk through the billiard room again and turn to the left, you enter the downstairs den:

Jackson and Husband hangin' out

Which is also where Husband has set up, what I like to call the “Mobile Bullet Station”

Mobile Bullet Station

Please notice that Husband put wheels on the table so he can just move the sucker around and tinker wherever his little heat desires.

On a side note.  The picture below is of my wedding book and a few invitations I still have left to put in there.  For months it sat on the buffet table in our home and I was just too lazy to take it out of that ziploc baggie and display it. Maybe because I wasn’t finished with it, maybe because I was just lazy.  I’m not really sure the reason, but so glad I didn’t get around to it because I know for a fact that the soot and smoke would have ruined that beautiful, stark white book.  So thankful.

Wedding Book

I will leave you will the following picture just for fun.  Our game room has a lot of childhood pictures collages in it and I thought this one was fun from the  8th grade cheerleading days.  Go Bruins.

Green and Gold Forever

Fam Jam Update

Well this week is a big one.  And again, not going into too many details, because it is not my story to tell.  BUUUUT if you wanted to pray for us we always appreciate that, so I’m giving a quick update.  We’ll start with Soonie:

Soonie is doing great.  She went in for her third round of chemo yesterday (Tuesday).  They haven’t been fabulous but she’s definitely hanging in there, minus the first few days she feels pretty good and has been able to do long weekend trips with the family.  After this one she has one more and then has a smaller regimen of a drug that she will get once a week.  Her hair is out but she has a fabulous wig!  It’s like a totally new hair style and really looks great on her.  We went to lunch Monday with the clan and she had the cutest scarf on her head!  This summer, especially, has been so hot that I’m sure it’s hard to wear that all the time.  But she looks just as great in a scarf she she does with her full hair!

DD goes in for her first round of chemo today (Wednesday).  She was supposed to go in last week, but ended up having to get a few more tests done at the last minute.  Admittedly for everyone it was annoying, frustrating and obnoxious…. BUT everything came back normal and clear so we know now that she will be starting her treatment in the best possible condition which is reassuring.

Even though they both have completely different types of cancer, as of now their treatment protocol is the same.  Not that any part of this is great and happy, but I know it helps that they can talk to each other and talk things out.  Because of Soonie’s experience the first round, DD is able to be pre-medicated for her’s instead of having to wait for the second round like Soonie did.  I know none of it is fun, but I think there is peace for each of them {at least, I know there is for me} that they literally are not alone in this.  Sharing ideas, thoughts and research can mean the world.

Here is what they are doing as far as treatment:

*4 Rounds of Chemo with 2 drugs we call A and C {because I can’t pronounce the rest of the word ha} once every 3 weeks
*4 (ish? not quote sure) round of treatment with a drug we call T once a week.
*During this stage they are also participating in an experimental study for a drug in it’s third phase of testing.  It’s a double blind study for a few weeks so they and their doctors won’t know if they are actually receiving the drug, or just getting the placebo.  {However, because of some of the side effects we think Soonie is getting it..!! Pray for that.}  Then after that time frame they will get “unblinded” and if they were receiving the drug they can choose to continue receiving it to finish out the regimen.
*After all that, they will both have radiation, for some unexpected things found during the mastectomies.  But we don’t know much about that at this juncture.

Things you can {please, pretty please} pray for:
1. They would have favor with the nurses (we all know they run the show day to day anyway)
2. Their veins would stay healthy and show up clearly at each treatment (neither of them want a port)
3.  Their day to day living would be comfortable and bearable
4.  That they would know peace which surpasses all understanding
5.  They would receive the experimental drug {it is supposed to revolutionize breast cancer treatment}

OMG

Well, you haven’t head from me in a while because there hasn’t been much to report.  We’ve been waiting to get all the paperwork sorted out so that we can start remediation.  There was a bit of a delay from us filling out the forms since we know about the damage, to getting them to the homeowner to sign, since we’re renting.  All in all it took about a week which isn’t too bad.  We got word that the crew was going to start this past Thursday.

So, I went by the house Friday at lunch to see how things have been going, when I pulled up the street this is what I saw:

Ain't it Grand?? A construction truck!

That gorgeous construction truck.  HUUUUGE news.  The crew started the process of gutting the house.  I said it earlier, but for those of you just tuning in: we are gutting the entire upstairs and all areas affected by the fire/burned and will then assess what needs to be replaced.  The company didn’t feel comfortable giving a bid without seeing behind the surfaces.   SOO I went by to “check on things.”  {I’ll admit it, I’m a control freak.}  But I just want to be sure everything is done right, the first time. None of this re-doing stuff.  So here are a few pictures of the inside.  Crazy to see the walls missing.

Looking straight up standing in the front doorway. The overhang above the guest bedroom/bath.

Looking to the right from the front entry.

Standing in the living room facing the kitchen and back of the house.

Back entryway to the upstairs. Our room is to the left of the guy on the ladder.

Looking up the stairs from our bedroom

Insulation at the top of the stairs.

Upstairs, with no walls. Still messy but lookin' good!

Looking down into the kitchen.

Burned out can lights.

The carpet practically discenigrated, leaving hardwood floors we had no idea were there!

Overhang above the guest bath.

It’s still hard for me to believe that this is actually happening.  I have been used to our poor house being frozen in time: covered in soot, nothing moved since July 9th, that it is weird to think progress is actually being made.  I feel like I have been floating through life lately and trying to hard to make my new circumstances a temporary normal so that I can {in all seriousness} keep my sanity.  It’s like if I don’t really stop and think about where we are currently I won’t have to be upset about it.  I have trouble picturing myself actually moving back in the {near} future.  Don’t get me wrong, I absolutely cannot cannot wait, but picturing it in my head now is like a blurry out of focus day.  Our countdown of being displaced is currently 1 month and 1 week as of today.  I am hoping that we will be back in in early November and hopefully by my birthday at the latest!  We are meeting with an adjuster tomorrow to talk about one of the beams possible need replacement that he didn’t factor into his estimate.  I hope it goes well, so far this company has been a complete PAIN IN THE NECK to deal with.  So I’m not getting my hopes up.  Fingers crossed!

Praise Jesus!

I never thought this day would come!  Uncle Rooster is taking some guys to the house to survey the damage and get a plan for CONSTRUCTION!!  Did ya hear me?!  I said CONSTRUCTION!!

Now growing up in a building family, that is one thing I’m used to: the headaches and pain-in-the-necks that come with construction.  But today, today my friends, this is sweet music to my ears!  I cannot even believe it.  Yeah for PROGRESS!!

Husband and I took Rooster to the house yesterday for him to check it out so he could lay out a plan.  Today he is there with the electricians and one of our building guys to get an estimate on the cost to gut the upstairs to the studds.

Part of this process has been dealing with the homeowner’s insurance company which has been less than pleasant.  I do realize in general it isn’t a fun process, but like I said previously, I will deal with that in a later post since we are still working things out…

But for now, meet Uncle Rooster or just plain Rooster, whichever I’m in the mood for.

Uncle Rooster

This is where you will find him 90% of the time while he is at the office: in my doorway buggin’ and pickin’ on me.  You see his office is at the opposite end of the hallway, but his assistant Kathy who is the keeper of all information, has her desk next to my office.  So he usually ends up in our little cubby hole.

Much like this. Obviously staged. Rooster knows which one of them really runs the show

Rooster lives on a farm, bails his own hay and raises animals with his wife LouAnn, I want to give her a nickname but it so so classic and fitting of her there can be no other substitute.  Now she is one tough cookie.  She runs the pediatric burn unit at Children’s Hospital downtown and keeps Rooster in line in her spare time, which we all know up here at the office is high near impossible 🙂

Being that he grew up in what he calls the “cuuntry” he also speaks his own language.

“Sure as fat meets greasy” means “yes”
“Bull no” means “no”
“Come on” is when he answers his phone and really means to say “This is Rooster how can I help you?”

The list goes on and on.  I’ll add a few here and there as they pop up.

But all joking aside, Rooster can really get down to business and get a job done.  He takes care of people and in this case will be taking care of us.  He took our electrician and site builder (? Not sure of their official titles.. is that bad that I work with them and don’t know that??) to check it out this morning.  This is what they came up with:

1.  If the wiring was more than 60% burned the whole house had to be rewired.  Praise the Lord that it was not, so they will only have to rewire the upstairs, which is what we were expecting cost wise.  We will also probably get him to add a few plugs to avoid another fire….!

2.  They are going to gut the entire upstairs to the studds and then look at what needs to be done.  Some estimates are hard for them to make now without seeing behind the wall board.  After they get to the studds they will better be able to tell what all needs to be done to restore the upstairs.

3.  There will need to be some work done on the ceilings as well and probably a fresh coat of paint on the whole place.