We Have a Wall!

Check. It. Out!

It's a WALL!

Garage wall from the rec room side.

A WALL I SAY!

Garage wall from...well, the garage.

Everyone who's been within 10 feet of me in the last eleven months knows that I was not going to feel like we were making progress until I saw a wall go up. So, there it is folks. Our first wall. 

Oh, how I have needed to see a wall in my house again!

Now our house is going to start to look like a home again instead of a demolition or construction site. The cabinets are being built now. The power company is coming Monday. (Ahem. We've heard that one before.) Once the power is hooked up, the insulation crew can start working. And then we can build more walls!

It's Electric!

This, is a light bulb moment if ever I saw one.

See how that works? Hold plugged in light cage in hand. Insert bulb in mouth. Voila! Light emerges from head. 

I sure hope they have it all worked out better than that because we are about to be electrified. The electric company says we've passed their inspection and they will be running full power to our house soon. That means we can get rid of this half-wired mess:

Temporary electricity.

 

The wiring is installed. 

New panels.

Think we have enough? Holy moly. I sure hope so. 

That funny looking orange goop in the pic? Fire Foam. 

Fire Foam. 

It seals all of the holes around pipes and wiring thus preventing the spread of fire and smoke through the walls. Those metal plates? Nail guards. They prevent nails from penetrating the wiring. 

New outlets. New wiring. New panels. We're going to be almost electrical-fire-proof! I don't care. I will still not own another slow cooker. Ever. (You reading this Big Guy? You want chicken and black beans, you're gonna have to cook that stuff in the oven, sir!)

Be Still

Wow. The last few weeks have run us over. So much has happened. Where to start?

Since I'm writing this at midnight, I'll just add a quick list of happenings.

• Tuna was released from the orthopedic surgeon. Our little SCFE is all healed up! This is huge news. She had very high odds of losing her hip when she broke the ball clean away from the femur the summer before last. The hip healed and she learned to walk again, but we were not out of the woods until the bone completely fused around the stainless steel screws. She is out of the woods now!  
• School started! Woohoo! This means I have my office...er...dining room table back and the house is quiet so I can actually devote my remaining brain cells to work. You know...work...that thing I do to make money. (I do need brain cells for that. And a table. To myself. Quiet space!)
• We passed the next codes inspection.
• The insurance check arrived and cleared the bank. 

Wait...what? That's right! We got some moolah from the insurance company! We can pay people! And when you pay them...they work! We're looking forward to insulation next week.

Exciting stuff right there. Insulation and back-to-school celebrating. We celebrated our last night of summer freedom with skyscraper sodas.

The Fish, Little Bean, Tuna, and Rough Stuff with one massive ice cream soda.

How to end all of that end-of-summer sibling squabbling: fill one giant glass with ice cream and soda, add 4 straws. Ahh...enjoy the silence.

Little Bean gave her approval. (Or maybe it was just a sugar high.)

Little Bean on an ice cream high.

 And...

This arrived!

I cannot even put into words how happy I was when this sign arrived! I might have squealed a little when I opened it. We had a sign like this on our wall before the fire. We bought it on vacation several years ago in a little shop in Eureka Springs called Sleepy's. The Big Guy really likes this verse and the night of the fire it seemed to speak to many of us. The sign just seemed to glow in the light of the flashlights as we walked through our home with the Red Cross and firefighters. 

Several months ago, I contacted the shop owner and asked  pleaded for a new sign. They don't have them anymore, but the wonderful man agreed to make me one and he shipped it to us, no charge. I am almost teary just writing this. I love it! I cannot wait to hang it on our new family room wall. 

If you're ever in  Eureka Springs, please...stop by the shop and hug that man for me! 

Next post: Insulation! I know you cannot wait to see photos of our new insulation! 

Our Journey In Numbers

Three hundred twenty days. That's how long it's been since our house caught fire. It's been three hundred twenty days since we've lived in our home.

We present to you, our journey in numbers:

4  Temporary homes we've lived in since the fire. (2 sets of 3 hotel rooms, 2 rental homes)

500 New 2 X 4s used in reconstruction.

2 New garage doors.

         3,500 Square feet of House-Wrap.

180 Sheets of plywood.

60,000 Nails.

40 2 X 10s.

Countless Acts of kindness, hugs, smiles, donations, and offers of support. 

Stay tuned...

The end is near. 

(Haven't heard that one before, eh?) 

With the Jester on the Sidelines in a Cast

We went to the skating rink Friday night. Against our will. The last time we were in a skating rink we left in an ambulance. That was our introduction to the SCFE. Ah, "face your fears" the Big Guy says. Usually. Usually he says that. He did not say that about skating Friday night. We were both feeling a little uneasy about letting any of our kids near a skating rink again.

But, the Fish's friend was having a skating party and we can't keep 'em bubble-wrapped forever.

She was doing great. And then it was time to stop. I never thought to teach her how to stop. (Go ahead...nominate me for Worst Mother of the Year Award. My kids will be the first to vote.) She leaned forward onto those little toe-stopper brakes and...

Well...you know the science- an object in motion will stay in motion, blah, blah, blah.

The Fish and her  new waterproof, lime green cast. 

Son-of-a-biscuit. 

That's it. I'm done with this week. 

What? The house? You dropped by here to read about the house? 

Fine. I'll tell you about the house.

You can still...

See...

Right THROUGH...

THE WALLS!!

Would you look at that?! You can stand in the family room and see right through the walls into the upstairs bedroom. No matter how much progress we've made in 10 months...YES 10...I still say it is not a home until the place has walls. 

The insurance check has still not arrived. We still have a few crews working, but until the money arrives we cannot make the big push to finish things up. So, this week the soffits are going up, nail guards are being placed, and a new electrician is adding some final touches. Little bits and pieces but no major work. That is to say...NO WALLS. 

It's okay though, because when life hands us lemons...

Rough Stuff

We just SUCK. IT. UP. And move on. 

P.S. Dear crew, I do not mean in any way to pooh-pooh your efforts. I know you are there sweating the potassium right out of your over-tired bodies in this sweltering hell we call summer so I can have new framework and soffits and windows and such. You are doing a fabulous job. But, you know...I WANT WALLS, PEOPLE. WALLS! 

Are We Ever Going to Talk About Last Night?

“Are we ever going to talk about last night?”

That was an odd question for the Big Guy to ask. Because even if there were something to talk about, he wouldn’t volunteer to talk about it. I thought for a minute, but for the life of me, I could not figure out what we should be talking about.

“What happened last night?” I was truly puzzled.

“You attacked me, nearly broke my foot!”

“Oooooh. That. “ (Laughter. ) (Serious laughter.)

“I didn’t attack you! I was just rolling out of bed.” (Laughter. Maniacal hold-your-stitches-so-your incisions don't-hurt laughter.)

He was not laughing. He gave me a serious ‘are you kidding me’ kind of stare. I continued to crack up. I had no memory of ‘last night’ until that very moment.

You see, I was sleeping…in the rented bed…in our rented house…and I woke up because I heard a noise…and there was this giant metal claw thing coming for me. It was like a claw-shaped bucket on some type of machinery…like a gigantic tractor or bulldozer or something, driving through our bedroom. It was coming at the bed superfast (very un-tractor-like) and I was about to get crushed so I had to roll out from under the claw-thing and then shimmy down the bed real fast-like so I wouldn’t be killed.

But when I reached the bottom of the bed, I felt fur under my feet. And we don’t have fur rugs. I realized I was about to crush the dog so I grabbed onto something for dear life so I wouldn’t slip on off the end of the bed and land on the dog. That something was the Big Guy’s feet. The real fast-like shimmy down the bed had occurred on top of his body. He had been pummeled with my knees and palms and now I was hanging my whole hefty body from his feet. 

He yelled, which shocked the crap out of me and as I began to explain that we needed to move fast to escape the…claw…thing…(where the hell did it go?)…um...er...

I was shocked to see that there was no giant piece of construction equipment in our bedroom and decided I would just get back in bed except the sheets were all caddywhompus on the bed then which I totally blamed him for. 

Though frustrated and somewhat wounded from this middle-of-the-night assault, the Big Guy was not really so much in shock because it is not the first time I have launched myself onto him or out of the bed while declaring some imminent catastrophe. Usually it’s spiders though. Non-existent giant spiders disrupt our sleep a lot. Construction equipment is new for me.

Hi. I’m Limtiless Lisa and I’m a sleepwalker.

I've heard folks say you outgrow it. I’m 38. I hope when I grow up I don’t do it anymore because it is really embarrassing.  I think it must be like being a wino, except I don’t drink. But, you know, like a wino, I never know where I might wake up. Thank heavens the Big Guy shares my bed and redirects me before I actually leave the house. Who knows where I’d wake up if he weren’t here.  I could wake up on the steps of the library and have no idea how I got there.

It usually occurs in times of high stress (you know…like after a house fire,  or having emergency surgery) or when I’ve been sleeping outside of my normal surroundings (hotel, 2 rental homes, hospital).  I guess we should have expected it really. I’ve had some smaller episodes recently, but this one really stood out, because you know…the Big Guy was all “YOU ATTACKED ME! YOU NEARLY BROKE MY FOOT!”

Big guys can be so sensitive.     

  

I figure maybe my sleep-brain was still holding a grudge for that time when he dumped me off the back of the golf cart and laughed so hard he didn't even stop to ask if I was alright. The brain works out all kinds of crazy things during sleep, you know? 

(Mine just happens to work things out in a very animated sort of way.)

Time Warp

Are you keeping count?

I AM.

Let's count 'em together. Ready? Here we go. 1...(living in a hotel)...2...(moved into our first rental)...3...4...(started demolition)...5...(moved into our 2nd rental)...6...(building)...7...(building)...8...(still building)...9...1/2...months. Yep. It's been 9 1/2 months since the fire.

We were going to be home in 3 months. (Pardon me while I CRACK UP LAUGHING.)

We were going to be home in 6 months. (Not by a long shot.)

We were going to be home in mid-June.  (Nope.)

We were going to be home in late-June. (Uh-uh.)

We were going to be home by mid-July. (Apparently not.)

We hoped to be home before the kids started school in mid-August. (Not likely.)

At this point I'm praying we are home before the one year anniversary date.

If we are not home by the one year anniversary date you can just forward all correspondence to the sandbar down by the river, where I will be wallowing, half-crazed in the sand, all zombie-like, mumbling about Crock Pots and black beans and fire and brimstone.

Ah, but we are making progress. It has been a good week. The insurance company dropped in for an inspection complete with 4 trucks worth of inspectors. They descended like vultures ready to pick apart every detail of the framing, plumbing, windows, electrical, HVAC, and roofing work. They picked apart bills and quotes and bids looking for any error on our part. Finally, they left satisfied and agreed to release more money. Yay!

More money = more progress!

Take a look! We'll start at the door...

Front door.

Then a jump to the left...

The bay window.

And a step to the right...

Front windows.

Isn't it awesome? Who knew House-Wrap and windows could be so exciting?

I totally did the Time Warp in my head. Not with my body though, 'cause apparently it takes forever to recover from surgery. 

Showers!

Two of the shower/tub combos have arrived. They are sitting in the family room, but hey...they have arrived. One has to make it's way downstairs and one has to make it's way upstairs. All I can say to the crew is "have fun with that."

So, this week I'm halfway between 'stuck in a time warp and never going home' and 'yay! Progress!!"

Update: Ahem. So I just realized that I had already posted pics of the windows and the House-Wrap. Because really...that is how twisted and exhausted my mind is right now. I don't even remember that last post. Those pics were from the Big Guy's phone and today was the first day I actually got to see the House-Wrap and Windows for myself which made it super exciting. And so, in my excitement to share what I saw...I had a brief moment of insanity. You'll get over it. It's not really contagious.