More delays

I am very glad I didn't plan my day around meeting a structural engineer yesterday.  Instead I took Carolyn to school, grabbed a few things from the house, then took James to the library.  I did venture into the damaged area and discovered 3 library books - 2 of them water logged.  I'm hoping there aren't any more underneath the ceiling drywall that is on the floor.  Definitely something we'll be giving the receipt to insurance for!  After the library we played at the newly renovated park in downtown Glenview, it is awesome.  We stopped by Jon's parents to grab their crockpot and then came back to the hotel.

Around noon Jon called the field adjuster, who told him that due to the extensive damage he has to do some extra work and talk to extra people before anyone else comes out.  But we can expect to hear today or tomorrow.  He did submit part of the report - where he gave the worst of the damage at 10 ceiling beams needing replacement.  This was enough to convince the office adjuster to extend our hotel stay for 2 weeks.  There are not any places with kitchens in a convenient location, so we will stay at the Embassy Suites until Sept 30 unless there is some huge change.  We get a wonderful breakfast each morning, access to a snack machine, and light snacks in the evening.  As long as the kids can sort out sleeping again (last night was rough), we'll be good.

I found out yesterday why Jon was so uneasy last week when the office adjuster called me.  She sounded almost skeptical of the initial report, stating a concern that no pictures were yet included.  It almost sounded like she didn't believe he'd been in the house yet was making his estimate with very severe damage.  I let her know that yes, he was inside and took many pictures.  I was very tempted to offer to send her mine.  And I wanted to scream at her - we're not lying, our whole roof/ceiling is caved in and needs to be fixed.  I know her job is probably to keep costs low, but we are not trying to pull a fast one here.  We just want our house back so our kids can get back to normal life.

As Joel Osteen said in his sermon this weekend, "All is well."  Although these are frustrating delays and the kids didn't sleep well, everything really is okay.  We are safe and have access to some wonderful things.  And it will all work out for the best in the end.  Thank you again to all the wonderful people that are helping us with dinner - we ate with my Dad and Patty Saturday night and with Jon's parents Sunday night.  The kids are looking forward to eating with a neighbor tomorrow night.  Feeling the love of everyone around us makes all of this easier.