Greetings everyone. This is Mark again. I enjoyed writing those few posts, so maybe I'll just do a few more. Don't worry, I promise Katherine will write some more too. Here's the latest news:
Katherine and Ben got back Thursday night. It was an immense delight to see them again. We're really enjoying being a family, going for walks, adjusting to our new routine, etc. However, the day after they got back, the difficult realities of the situation set in a little bit. Our temporary home was not baby proofed which required constant watching of Benjamin. The electricity was still not working at our flooded house. We didn't know how long the repairs would take - a couple weeks or three months or more. There is still a ton of work to do cataloging damaged household items, calling contractors, etc and how were we going to do that while still working and taking care of our active toddler? All these uncertainties made for a pretty stressful period. Fortunately, many of those questions have been answered and we're feeling fairly peaceful about what's happening. First is that we're more comfortable with our temporary housing. We're staying with a couple that are friends from our church small group. They're in their mid 50's and unfailingly generous. The have a house right in the middle of town, and it's one of these newer homes which has a small footprint but is tall. So we have the third floor all to ourselves. I think I'm going to start referring to it as our "loft." That sounds pretty cool. It's got a living room, two bedrooms and a bathroom. We moved some furniture around, removed some knick-knacks, found a better location for a baby gate, and got it pretty well baby proofed.
The electricity came back on this morning at our house which will make working there a whole lot nicer. (Count 'em - 16 days without power!) I met with a flood mitigation guy today who explained the process including that it would only take about a week once we get approval from the insurance company. It may take a few more weeks after that to have a contractor put new sheetrock up and replace floors, but hopefully this will take about a month, maybe a little more. Finally, Benjamin is all set to start his mother's day out program tomorrow. Originally we wanted him to go three days a week. Given the circumstances, we're going to start him going for five days and hopefully move to three days once things settle down a bit.
We have a number of really kind friends and family who've helped us with housing, babysitting, and a WHOLE bunch of labor right after the flood. They are a truly amazing blessing.
In case you're curious, last weekend's symphony concert was everything I'd hoped. Interestingly, I don't think the audience liked it very much. I will admit this particular piece of music is probably most enjoyed by a true art lover. It deals with weighty subject matter via sung poetry, and includes a lot of slow, reflective type music. Houston is not a real artsy type of city so I guess I'm not surprised. Maybe next time we go to New York...
2 comments:
Great post Mark! Don't the rest of you agree that he's a good blogger! We might have to change this permanently to a shared blog. I like reading his take on life.
We have many pictures of our house right after the flood. I'll try to take more of the state it is now, as well as that of our "loft." I think it's going to be an interesting story as we work our way through: "Ike, the Aftermath."
Also, I've been meaning to say thank you to everyone who has been calling us. We went way over our cell phone minutes, so we're keeping our calls to a mimimum, but as we find more time and get more minutes (Oct 8 begins the next cycle), I'll start returning your calls. Thanks for your patience in the meantime!
glad to hear things are happening, even as slow as it is.
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