Moving Forward

The past weekend was definitely anything but normal.  Saturday we were all exhausted.  Carolyn made it through soccer.  Then we returned to the house to meet a clean-up crew and board-up crew.  After some discussion, the clean-up crew decided to return today and not enter the house and it can be determined that nothing will fall on them.  We were able to learn some of what needs to be done to get back to normal.  The ceiling will need to be torn down.  The floor will need to be pulled up.  Everything in the room will need to at minimum be cleaned.  The carpets are most likely trash, but are just area rugs anyway.  The roof will need to be replaced over about 1/4 of the house, possibly more.  There is 1 large hole and about 6 other small holes in the roof.  We can see that one of the boards behind the fascia was pushed out of place.  We can also see that 2 rafters are snapped where the branch came through.  The entire ceiling is sagging, so it is possible that while other rafters didn't snap, they have experience too much stress and need to be replaced.  Of course, the may have even snapped some but we can't see them at this time.  There may be damage to the floor supports, we'll find that out as the demo begins.  We are unsure completely of any wall damage.  Any drywall that got wet will be torn down, we're unsure if that includes the wall where I was closing the window.  We don't know about any of the furniture in the room.  That will all be moved into the garage and if it's salvageable will be thoroughly cleaned.  The final thing that will need to be addressed is the electric.  We can see that some of the conduit in the ceiling snapped.  We're pretty confident that this is why there is no power in the living room or kitchen, which saved a fire from occurring.  Each time I have returned to the house, the ceiling has dropped a little further.  So it will be nice to meet with someone today to get the demo officially started.

We remain in the same hotel and asked last night if we can bring a crockpot.  So I will get that today with some meat to cook for tomorrow.  The fridge here is tiny and there is no freezer part.  So that makes things a little more challenging.  But we're pushing through and it will all be okay.  Yesterday we had lunch at the church picnic and dinner at Jon's parents' house.  Today we'll likely pick up dinner using the generous gift card my sister emailed.  If we're still out of the house come this weekend, we'll likely head to my dad's for part of Saturday.  It is wonderful to have such a supportive extended family in times like these.  Our neighbors have been wonderful as well.  Once we are back in our house I will be writing a bunch of thank you notes to everyone that has helped.  God has truly blessed us with the people he has placed in our lives.

Today we truly begin the healing process and start to put the pieces of our home back together.  God is in control and He will get us to where we need to be.