Hanging by a thread...

The last two days have been spent dealing with our insurance company (they have been awsome) and interviewing contractors.  This morning we made a decision, this afternoon, we signed contracts, and earlier this evening the process began when our computers were taken away for evaluation (they will either be thoroughly cleaned or deemed non-salvagable and replaced).

We spent a couple of nights in a hotel.  Tonight we moved into a friend's guest room.   Tomorrow I get to go see an apartment.   We have been told that it will take two to three months but to be prepared for five just in case.   I think we will all feel steadier once we are settled in to a new routine and have Jack back with us.

My yarn and fiber has been deemed non-salvagable.  It will be taken, inventoried, and priced.   We will be given the full amount for replacements.   Everyone seems to think I should be thrilled at the process of replacing my stash but I actually have pretty mixed feelings about it.   Some of that yarn is comercial and easily replaced but a fair amount of it is hand spun and/or dyed.   I can get some more but not just the same.   There was yarn in there that were gifts or  bought on vacations or brought to me by my son a souvenier from his travels with his father.   Those balls/hanks/skiens can never be replaced.

On the other hand, this is my chance to fine tune my stash.   There was a time when I bought yarn just because it was pretty or on sale with no real plan for it.  Sometimes that worked out, others not so much.   Then there is the fact that tastes change over time.   What I had to have 5 years ago, may not appeal to me now.     I really only started buying only with a plan after that year I spent knitting out of my stash.   I really am more disearning now.

The only bag I had out with me the day of the fire was my beach knitting bag and Hubby's other sock. I had just started a Mac & Me Summer Skirt, so that is what I have been knitting while we talk, and talk, and talk to the boys, each other, our friends and family, and of course, insurance and clean-up people.

This netbook gets taken away for evaluation tomorrow, but I expect to have my laptop back by Friday (assuming it is deemed salvagable).   Until, I am fully up and running again, I will be blogging from my Fire.  Please forgive any wonkiness.

Burnin' Down the House

Last night, while waiting with T1 to pick T2 up at a friend’s, my cell rang.   It was T2.  He told me that Hubby was trying to reach me because the house was on fire.   At first I waited for the punch line to this not very funny joke.   There was no punch line.   This was no joke.   I called Hubby and he confirmed that our house was burning.

We don’t know exactly why yet, but according the fire marshal, the fire started in our garage, in the dryer (yes, we clean out the lint after every load and the exhaust duct was just changed a week ago).   The flames shot up and around the inside of the garage, burning everything in it’s path.   It went up through the ceiling, into the attic and down our walls.   We were told that it was a mere two minutes from blowing the roof off of our house. 

The garage is a total loss.   The rest of the house was choked with black greasy smoke that has coated every last thing in our home.    There are burn marks on the ceiling where the flames reached out of the vents.    The smell is acrid and pervasive.   We have been told that it will be six to eight weeks before we can get into our house.

I am not a good enough person to say that this is okay because …    What I will say, is that I am grateful that Hubby was in the pool and the boys were out with me, when it happened.   T2 spent the day with a friend and Hubby and I spent the afternoon at the beach.   It could have happened while T1 was alone in the house.   It could have happened while Hubby was in the shower after his swim.   But it didn’t.  It happened while we were all outside.  And, Hubby was able to get Jack (our dog) safely out of the house, too.

I am overwhelmed with the magnitude of the task before us, but I am aware and grateful for the blessing that kept my family safe.   I am grateful for the neighbors who opened their home to us last night.  I am grateful for the firemen who arrived just in time to save our home.   I am grateful for the Red Cross workers who were there to offer help and the friend who took Jack on a moments notice.   I am grateful for the outpouring of love and support from our family and friends.

This sucks big time.  Still, I am grateful.