Five Months After the Fire
Well it’s been a while since I blogged. I discovered that I can’t live through a fire recovery AND keep up with writing. It’s one or the other. So many of y’all have reached out to me to ask how we are doing and it blesses my heart! You’re the kindest people on the planet. And now that things are starting to settle back to normal it’s time to catch you up!
In case you missed it, on January 26 we had a house fire. About 1/3 of the house had to be completely rebuilt (the inside only, the outside except the roof was fine) and the rest of the house had to be emptied, cleaned and painted. Lots of repair, replacing A/C units, carpet, too many things to name. We moved the few things we had into an empty house down the road (so thankful for the amazing neighbor who let us stay there) for almost 4 months. During that time it was my job to supervise the rebuilding project. Every night after the workmen left we’d walk through and inspect everything and the next morning I’d meet with various contractors to go over what needed to be done. Our general contractor was OK, but he wasn’t on site much. I had to stay on top of everything! I’m sure they thought I was a pain in the booty, but I didn’t care about that. Getting the job done well was my first priority. If you ever find yourself in this type of situation I highly encourage you to stay on top of the project daily and don’t assume the contractor will do it.
And while that was going on we had to figure out a way to do the boys’ school even though all of our books and school supplies were gone. Some burned so we simply repurchased them and went right back to those classes. But most of our school things weren’t in the area of the fire so they were boxed up and taken off to be cleaned. We improvised. We did a handwriting class and art and bought some books to read together that we didn’t already have and wrote reports on them. We did lots of copy work and kept busy learning new things. We tried to only replace what we really needed and not go out and start buying junk we would just have to move back over to the house when the repair work was finished. It was almost like camping inside. We made due and did without. In many ways it was peaceful….not to have a bunch of things to clean and be responsible for. Just us, some air mattresses and a few items of clothing.
Finally in late April we were able to move back into the house. We still had no furniture (that took a painfully long time to get the company to return to us and they still haven’t given it all back) but we could at least “camp” in our own house instead of down the street. There is still some work we need to get approved by the insurance company (which has been supremely frustrating) and we are waiting to hear back about our missing items, but overall we are home. It took me several weeks to replace the beds and find all of the things we needed. Sheets, clothing, rugs, window coverings, the list still feels endless.
In the process I am purging. If we don’t use it we aren’t keeping it. The house feels kind of empty, but I love it. No junky closets that need to be cleaned out or stuff to go through. No unnecessary furniture in any corners. I know where every item we own is and nothing is burdening me to get it done. I’ve also made it a goal to replace furniture pieces that just weren’t serving us well. For example we had a chest of drawers in the living room that our TV sat on. But it was too short and didn’t really work for what we needed, so I got rid of it. I’m searching around at garage sales and Craigslist to find something that’s a better fit for us. I’m doing that with a lot of pieces….making life better.
One favorite new area is my Young Living storage center. For several years I’ve wanted to get more organized with all of those products, books, member gifts, class needs, lip balm ingredients, and all the rest. So I decided to store it all in my bedroom, and I designed the storage and created it with some pieces I already had and some I built after we moved back into the house. Now I have it all in one place and that will make my life so much easier. Once I’m finish painting and adding trim I will give you a full tour of that space. It’s so wonderful!
Slowly, bit by bit, we are putting our lives back together. One thing that’s a challenge doing the whole house at the same time. Normally I redo one room, then move on to another. But this time it’s the entire house getting done at once. While it’s been a hard to deal with all at once, it’s going to be so cool to be done and not have another room waiting for me. I don’t even know what I’ll do with myself after this is all finished. LOL!
As of today, June 11, 2018, there is still a lot of work to do, but we are happily tucked away in our little house. We have our school books again and we are back in business there. We have chairs to sit in and storage for our clothes and trash cans. I really missed trash cans during those months we were out of the house.
The room where the fire happened, where 2 boys live, is being completely redecorated of course. We are all a little excited about that room and it’s pretty close to finished. Then I will give you a giant tour of that room. All of the rest of the rooms are about halfway done, waiting for me to have time to finish. I’m too busy with regular life this month to do any of it, but it can wait. We are content and thankful.
I promise will be sharing pictures as each room is completed. I can’t wait to show you all of the changes. I still can’t believe this all happened and it will be a while before we get used to the new digs. The whole house feels familiar yet unfamiliar at the same time. Weird.
This week I’m heading to Utah for the Young Living Convention. I look forward to this every year and I’m so looking forward to doing something that has nothing to do with cleaning houses or fire recovery. It will all be there waiting for me when I get back and the new products are something else to be excited about. Young Living never disappoints. Since we had to cancel a couple of trips we had planned after the fire happened, I’m delighted to be doing some traveling again.
Have a great week! And be sure you’re following my Instagram stories for fun, in the moment updates on the house and the convention! I’m @penningtonpoint