My Life (this last year)... and getting back on track!

If you've been a follower of my blog (or of my Facebook page) over the last year - you are aware that on March 31st of 2011 we had a house fire. Me, Hubby, and my 3 kiddos (and 3 doggies - and our cat) were suddenly out of a home.

All of our belongings were packed away, taken from the house and put in long term storage (except for the things that we needed for our day to day living). Our insurance company helped us find a rental house, and furnished it with rental furniture. Thankfully we were able to find a rental that was just a half a mile (as the crow flies) away. This would come in handy over the following months, as it became part of our daily routine to come over to the house and keep an eye on the rebuild.

It took us a few months to decide on a company to head up the rebuild. But by June, demolition crews were tearing out all the drywall and removing anything the fire had damaged... and the damage was extensive. The smoke and heat had made its way through the entire length of the house and came down into every space it could find between the walls, melting wires and charring support beams.


While we initially thought that only the attic, roof, and a few walls needed to be demo-ed... it turned out that the entire house needed to be replaced! This was shocking, terrible, but yet wonderful news.

I live my life looking for that silver lining in every situation and my HUGE silver lining was that I was going to get a brand new house.

We now had the daunting task of designing and building a new home. You know all those little things you've said you would change about your home if you could? Well... now I had the opportunity to do that. In hind sight - we forgot a few things - but hey - I'm not complaining.


So the rebuild began. The house was taken down to the slab and then slowly (but surely) built back up again. We got to move a few walls, enlarge a few rooms, and raise the ceiling height (this might be the best part - our home was built in 1979 and I could stand on my tippy-toes and touch the ceiling in the hallways).

If you (or any of your friends) have built a house, you know that nothing ever goes as planned. The schedule is a very fluid (not concrete) thing. The builders thought they'd get us back home by Thanksgiving... and then by Christmas... and then in January... well, that's how it went until we moved back in (a week ago).

Along with the stress of never knowing when the house would be finished, we had to keep contacting the insurance agent to extend the lease on the rental house just one more month... just one more month... just one more month... I kept hoping that the owners wouldn't say, "Sorry, but we've just sold that place. You'll have to find somewhere else to live." We were lucky. That didn't happen.

So, now I have been back in my home for a little over a week. I have literally SEVERAL HUNDRED boxes packed into our garage... along with furniture that we no longer want in the house (either because we've replaced it with something newer - or we've reconfigured a room and it won't fit in anymore).  I need to find a home for all that stuff.  Question: If I haven't used it in a year, do I really need it? Yup folks, this is the time to PURGE. I've always wanted to do that!

We are home now. And it feels good!!
 
All the little things that need to be tweaked, or fixed, in the house are happening... well, some of it is happening as I type this. Electricians, cabinet guys, fix-it men, etc, etc... But soon (I hope), life will gain back its routine. After a year of chaos, routine sounds really good. Routine also means that I'll be able to concentrate more on writing. Good news, huh...