Day Is Done

THURSDAY was what I'd call a very busy day.  Wheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeew.  

Thursday morning the floor layer put the underlayment down in the Dining room.  Will return next week to lay the actual wood floor.  Finished underlayment work by noon.   

Hubby picked up one of our chiming wall clocks that was worked on so it could return HOME.  She has a beautiful chime.  She has returned to the wall in our HOME where I hear her ticking and chiming every 15 minutes.  This was the day we found out that we don't have until the 28th to turn in our fire recovery receipts.  The 25th is the deadline.  

We had until midnight to make our final replacement purchases.  WE WENT GULP.  THIS IS A HUGE HICCUP in finishing up our claim.  Not sure we can finish up what needs finished.  BUT WE'D TRY.

A mad dash to KANSAS CITY to look at area rugs.  Wild. 
Fire Recovery Deadline on the horizon.  A hiccup to say the least.  We thought we had until the 28th.  Welp...away we went to the big city to make huge purchases.

Deep breath.  DEEP DEEP BREATH.

I am lousy at ELEVENTH HOUR adrenaline power plays.  AWFUL.  HORRIBLE.  UPTIGHT and curannkey.  SNAP.  SNAP.  DON'T TALK BACK.

We looked at rugs in Nebraska Furniture MART.  It's hard for me to believe that we had looked at area rugs close to 10 months ago and hadn't made it back on UNTIL the last day of our fire recovery claim.  Completed.  CLOSED.  Life gets too busy at times.  My Father In Law's death, closing his estate, Gall Bladder surgery, recovery, life, life, life, recliner shopping, paint samplings, ceiling replacement, painting, floor laying... all came first before shopping for area rugs.

When replacing home items for insurance purposes you have to pay out of pocket the expenditures you make before the insurance company reimburses the insurance money to you.  There were some hurdles to replacing items that we wanted to include in the claim.  

Last night as the clock chimed 12 o'clock midnight, I finally let out a cry.  OUR TWO YEAR ANNIVERSARY was over.  We were shopping for the area rugs on our two year anniversary of the house fire.  Remembering that FALL day two years ago as I stood outside our HOME watching Fire Fighters at work putting out the fire.  The drama of seeing chocolate brown smoke pour out of the structure wondering what was going on in the inside of our HOME.  Not knowing the extent of the damage.  Not knowing the cause.  Praying for God's mercy that no one be injured.  It was a nightmare in the day light.  Becoming a survivor of this still doesn't register.  

Two long years of working on recovering from the house fire was completed at midnight.  During that time I hadn't bawled my eyes out.  Some tears.  Some aching heart.  Still in disbelief that this happened.  I went into a mode that had the things we needed to do on the back burner sort to speak.  My dear HUBBY worked so hard on every detail to take care of this recovery.  He knows the ends and outs of recovery.  I know what I went through.  Tis different than doing so much footwork and paperwork as he did.  I did what I could.  We both have.  

We looked at area rugs and purchased three large ones that will be delivered later in the month.  Possibly in November.  We're not ready for them as the main floor of the house is still under construction if you can call it that.  Juggling the timing of when they can be delivered after we have painted, had floors laid.  There are a few hairline cracks that appeared in the NEW CEILING that will have to be repaired.  More juggling.

HOPING BY THANKSGIVING that this HUGE PROJECT will be completed.  Always something and they don't always coordinate conveniently.  Maturity comes at a price.

After we paid for the rugs, we dashed to eat, locate the closest Wal-mart and Target.  Needed to purchase two dress coats, Yankee Candles, sewing machine and Longaberger laundry basket.  That just about was all we could do.  We went to TARGET and noticed a JC PENNEY next door.  Went there first to look for Ladies Dress Coats and found only casual jacket coats.  Started thinking I will have to look on-line for a dressier coat.  That meant getting home before the bewitching hour as the clock struck midnight.

Purchased some Yankee candles in last year's containers, a casual coat for me anyways because I needed one.  The sewing machines they had were not expensive enough.  Believe that we needed to buy a more expensive model to use all the insurance money available concerning sewing machine.  Yippee...Starbuck's coffee while shopping.  

Left Target to continue shopping over at Wal-mart.  Beside Wal-mart was a KOHLs.  They just might have dressier Ladies coats.  Nope.  By this time I'm thinking, yes...will have to order online when returning home.  Wal-mart had a more stylish Yankee Candle container and more scents than Target.  It was too late to actually go to a Yankee Candle Store across the state line so Wal-mart it was.  

Gathered up the rest of the candles.  Checked out the sewing machines.  These were still under priced, but went ahead and got a simple machine which was very close to the one I lost in the fire.  It rang up even cheaper than what was priced.

Made a judgment call to go ahead and get this as it was a hundred dollars less than what priced.  We told the clerk it was $197 not $97.  We tried and she kept checking it to tell us no it is priced at $97.  Usually you have to have a major discussion that the price is lower than what rang up, but in this case we were discussing that it should be higher!!!  We bought it at a discounted price.  I decided that we would pay for this out of our own pocket and not turn into insurance, but go ahead and order a more expensive machine online BEFORE MIDNIGHT to get the insurance reimbursement.

The sales clerk that helped us had gone through a fire two years ago as well but she did not have insurance.  She said she went to the Salvation Army and other charities to help her.  This dear soul was just now getting furniture.  

Exiting the store around 8:30, we figured we'd be home by 10.  Time enough to order on line two dress coats, a sewing machine and a Longaberger laundry basket.  As I drove, HUBBY checked out these items on his lil 'ole phone.  That's using our heads.  

We figured out what to buy before reaching HOME and ordering online.  Once we got HOME, the computers came out to play and away we shopped.  This could be habit forming.  So very easy to spend $$$$$$ mula.

First came the dress coat for me.  Then a dress coat for Hubby.  It's a gamble not trying articles on, but am hopeful they will work and we'll be very happy with our purchases.  Then a sewing machine to foot the bill.  Last but not least a Longaberger laundry basket to replace the antique basket that cooked in the home fire.  We were finished by 11:30 PM.

Like I said the midnight clock chimes made me cry.  WE MADE IT.  In some way I thought reaching that 2 year mark to where the fire claim was closed would be a type of closure.  It is.  
PAUSE.  SIGH OF RELIEF.  BIG SIGH.  Pinch me.  It really happened.

Now do what is the next thing needed.
Finish up our main floor projects before THANKSGIVING and hopefully go ahhhhhhh.  Sigh of relief.

As the pieces fell into place we watched it happen.  We lived it.  We went through it.  We have watched, participated, prayed, panicked, pursued, planned, shopped, waited, grieved, grown......

Proverbs 24:3-4

By wisdom a house is built,

and through understanding it is established;

through knowledge its rooms are filled

with rare and beautiful treasures.

In two years we experienced the devastating house fire.  
Went into auto pilot due to the shock.  
Threw away so much personal property into dumpsters.  
What took years to accumulate was damaged or destroyed within minutes.  
The aftermath of this unfolds.  
Not sure how to feel.  
My salvation is in Jesus and I cannot put my trust in these things that can be destroyed in seconds.  I still know that we are to fill our homes with what we treasure, but after such destruction I have to say I feel differently about so much.  
I'm human and can grow weary in need of refreshment and restoration.  We all go through things that wear us down.  All. 
As the house was emptied we pulled aside what we thought we wanted for sentimental reasons.
Would be sleeping in a tiny cottage.
Had damaged household items, furniture, dishes and clothing taken to restoration and clean-up places to try to rescue and restore.
Shopped for a new fridge, washer and dryer, vacuum cleaner, micro-wave, coffee pot, cookware, dishes, utensils, some clothing, shoes, dish washer, skillet, crock pot, toaster, television.
My Dad suffered a devastating stroke and would die 11 days later.  Grieving continued.
2 months later my Mother in law died.  The grieving continued.
A 5 month wait before the textiles and boxes of material, teddy bears, clothing returned.  Most items were ruined.  A loss.  Some of the returning clothing smelled of smoke and chemicals.  Most of what was returned was trashed.  
After a 6 month wait the 675 boxes of our belongings were returned from a different company and put into a storage unit.
Sold the shell of the stone house to a contractor.
Bought a different house.
Relocated to a different community.
We loaded the 675 boxes out of the storage unit onto a moving truck then unloaded boxes into the different house.
Went through the boxes seeing what was saved and what wasn't.
Like opening Christmas presents not knowing what was inside.
The dishes, glassware, crystal were all beautifully cleaned.  Little damage.  Nic nacs and books, frames, dolls, keepsakes, etc.  Little by little all was viewed and more judgment calls made.  Even though some of the items had been cleaned they still smelled of smoke.  Some things were chipped or broken.
Furniture that was restored was returned.  We cried happy tears.
What was restored looked better than it did before the fire.  I couldn't believe it.  In awe.
Shopped for new sofas, chairs and new mattresses.  Waited for their arrival.
Slowly decided where to place things.  Still shuffling.  
Moving slowly.
Much paperwork was done with itemizing damaged or destroyed things.
Father in law died.  More grieving.  
Dealings with his estate.
Diseased gangrenous gall bladder got the best of me and surgery took place.  Recovering required.
A son had skin cancer surgery.
Another son started a different job.
The juggling of medical bills began.  Is very taxing even with health insurance.  Little by little it is being taken care of.  I'd rather pay the bills off quickly, but this isn't always the way it goes.
Life continues.
Update present house project messes are doable.  Takes more energy and adjusting.  Not wanting to complain, but rejoice that it's getting taken care of.
Finishing up last minute purchases and hoping to make the right choices.

It has been like trying to recreate what took 44 years of marriage to build and squeeze it into a two year period.  It can be done.  Just in a very different way.

I figure that the downsizing and stream lining continues.  Getting better organized takes time and muscle.  Good fruit from this.  Having compassion for those who have gone through trauma becomes part of the maturing process.

I would like to sit in the quiet of our HOME praising God for HIS GOODNESS.  Getting us through this tough time.  Wrap my arms around my HUSBAND and love on him.  

Whew.  

Two years summed up.  

Oh my.

Day is done,

d