I spoke with the construction supervisor today. He ordered my new windows. Yay! They were spraying the stuff that kills the smoke smell today. We have a meeting over there on Friday to talk about doors, electrical outlets, light switches and fixtures, tv placement, etc. Yay again!
Wednesday, January 29, 2014
Another visit
We went over to the house again on Saturday. As I've mentioned, the little girl is pretty scared of the house right now. It came out that one of her big concerns is that she is going to fall through the floor into a great abyss. I tried to explain to her that, while a crawl space is not somewhere I want to be, it's not deep and her head would still be above the floor even if she was standing on the floor of the crawl space.
Anyway, Saturday was a nice day so we went over there after the big girl's basket ball game. The little girl did amazingly well. We looked around and talked about the changes. In the bathroom where the tub was, you can actually see through the floor to the crawl space. I shined a flash light in there so the little girl could see just how not deep it was. That made her feel slightly better.
After holding it together to tour the inside, we went out back. The girls decided to put the trampoline to use for the first time since the day of the fire. It was great to hear the little girl laugh so heartily in a place that brings up so much fear right now.
After we left the house, we rewarded ourselves with a trip to starbucks for coffee and chai lattes. Yum!
Anyway, Saturday was a nice day so we went over there after the big girl's basket ball game. The little girl did amazingly well. We looked around and talked about the changes. In the bathroom where the tub was, you can actually see through the floor to the crawl space. I shined a flash light in there so the little girl could see just how not deep it was. That made her feel slightly better.
After holding it together to tour the inside, we went out back. The girls decided to put the trampoline to use for the first time since the day of the fire. It was great to hear the little girl laugh so heartily in a place that brings up so much fear right now.
After we left the house, we rewarded ourselves with a trip to starbucks for coffee and chai lattes. Yum!
Thursday, January 23, 2014
Moving along
I have a busy week this week so my mom met with the contractor yesterday at the house to go over some things. So glad my mom and I think a lot alike on this stuff and she has some great ideas on design stuff. She's so handy to have as a mom. :-)
Anyway, the contractor told her that they should be done framing this week and sometime next week, I'll need to do a walk-through with them to talk about placement of light switches, electrical outlet, and light fixtures. Wow! Wow! Wow! I know there will be times that it will feel like it's dragging but I'm so glad that that time is not right now.
The contractor also told me that by the end of this week or the beginning of next week I should have a better schedule of when I'll need certain things for the house and what the financial allowances will be on different things.
I'm so frustrated with the dryer situation right now (I paid extra to have the company I bought it from hook it up but then they couldn't and it's been a mess but I adore the plumber that's been working on it and part of the issue now is the way the vent was put in the house. Ugh!) that I need some good news.
Anyway, the contractor told her that they should be done framing this week and sometime next week, I'll need to do a walk-through with them to talk about placement of light switches, electrical outlet, and light fixtures. Wow! Wow! Wow! I know there will be times that it will feel like it's dragging but I'm so glad that that time is not right now.
The contractor also told me that by the end of this week or the beginning of next week I should have a better schedule of when I'll need certain things for the house and what the financial allowances will be on different things.
I'm so frustrated with the dryer situation right now (I paid extra to have the company I bought it from hook it up but then they couldn't and it's been a mess but I adore the plumber that's been working on it and part of the issue now is the way the vent was put in the house. Ugh!) that I need some good news.
Saturday, January 18, 2014
Minimalism and money
Since we had the fire, I've had to buy some things...new underwear and socks, a new washer and drier, etc. Still, I haven't bought a lot. We were lucky enough to have enough kitchen supplies and furniture donated or loaned to us that we haven't needed to buy much for the rental. Other than the new underwear and socks the night of the fire, I also haven't bought the girls any clothes or shoes related to the fire (that doesn't count the new riding boots I got the little girl...that was not because her old ones were fire damaged. They were just too small.) I have bought myself a few new clothing items but not many.
Anyway, since I started contributing to the retirement plan at work and funding a separate Roth, saving extra money has been hard with all the other necesities of daily life.
My motivation for not shopping now is that I really want to get by with the bare necessities until we move back home. I want the girls to learn how to live with less stuff. I want to have less stuff to clean and organize. Plus, we don't have storage pieces of furniture...at least not much...nothing like we were used to having.
The amount of time spent cleaning and organizing while still having a neat house is tremendously decreased from our prefire life. There are some things laying around because we don't have book shelves to put them on but our house doesn't look like a tornado hit.
Another benefit of not buying...extra money. I get paid every two weeks. Two weeks ago, I had $400 left over from my previous paycheck. Yesterday was payday again and I had $300 left over. That was after some extra eating out, a trip to the Ethiopian restaurant an hour and a half away, and buying myself a new fitbit for $140. Had I been better about the food, I would have had lots more left over.
There are a lot of easier ways to achieve a more minimalist lifestyle. However, since this one has been forced upon us, I'm going to enjoy the side benefits.
Anyway, since I started contributing to the retirement plan at work and funding a separate Roth, saving extra money has been hard with all the other necesities of daily life.
My motivation for not shopping now is that I really want to get by with the bare necessities until we move back home. I want the girls to learn how to live with less stuff. I want to have less stuff to clean and organize. Plus, we don't have storage pieces of furniture...at least not much...nothing like we were used to having.
The amount of time spent cleaning and organizing while still having a neat house is tremendously decreased from our prefire life. There are some things laying around because we don't have book shelves to put them on but our house doesn't look like a tornado hit.
Another benefit of not buying...extra money. I get paid every two weeks. Two weeks ago, I had $400 left over from my previous paycheck. Yesterday was payday again and I had $300 left over. That was after some extra eating out, a trip to the Ethiopian restaurant an hour and a half away, and buying myself a new fitbit for $140. Had I been better about the food, I would have had lots more left over.
There are a lot of easier ways to achieve a more minimalist lifestyle. However, since this one has been forced upon us, I'm going to enjoy the side benefits.
Thursday, January 16, 2014
Framing has begun
I need to get some pics of the progress on here but until I do, here are some words.
Demo is done. (Well, there may be some to finish in the garage. I didn't get to check that out today.) Framing started inside on Tuesday!!!
The girls and I stopped by tonight after work/school. We didn't get to stay long because the little girl panicked. (Anxiety sucks and house fires make anxiety explode!!) Still, they'd started framing the new walls in the kitchen and utility room area. They'd framed the new closet in the little girl's room and closed of her old closet and opened it up into the big girl's room. There's more work to be done on the big girl's new closet and her old closet hasn't been reframed yet. Oh, and they'd also framed over the fireplace since that's going to be closed off with sheet rock.
I wish I could have looked around more but the panic attack forced a speedy exit. Maybe tomorrow I can get by there without the little girl.
I was amazed at how fast the demo went. It started on Monday and I went over Wednesday at noon and they were almost done inside. It was crazy fast!
As far as the rebuild goes, the supervisor told me his guess is 90 to 120 days but don't quote him on that. That would be mid April to mid May. I am sooooo hoping he's right. When we got back to the rental, the little girl said, "I hate this house!" I have to agree with here, not because anything is wrong with this house. It's just not our house. I'm ready to be home again and so are the girls. The big girl doesn't show it as much as the little girl does but they're both feeling lots of stress over this life change.
While on break, the little girl's anxiety wasn't so bad. Since they've been back in school, it's been out of control. I'm getting lots of what-if questions related to fires that I can never give satisfactory answers too because the situations she presents will lead only to death. If were trapped by fire in a room and every exit is blocked, I can't give her an acceptable answer that will save us. :-(
Getting back home will bring it's own set of worries...after all it caught fire once, right? However, it will also bring peace in settling back in with our own stuff, having the dogs back with us, etc.
Oh, and the really good news with the rebuild...the changes I'm making, many of which I'd planned to do in about 5 years, will cost about $6,000 over the insurance payment. Basically, I'm getting my remodel for $6,000. Now, I would have rather waited 5 years and paid for it myself than lose everything and suffer the trauma that is a house fire but since we did, we might as well celebrate the silver linings.
Now, I'm off to peruse pinterest for ideas.
Demo is done. (Well, there may be some to finish in the garage. I didn't get to check that out today.) Framing started inside on Tuesday!!!
The girls and I stopped by tonight after work/school. We didn't get to stay long because the little girl panicked. (Anxiety sucks and house fires make anxiety explode!!) Still, they'd started framing the new walls in the kitchen and utility room area. They'd framed the new closet in the little girl's room and closed of her old closet and opened it up into the big girl's room. There's more work to be done on the big girl's new closet and her old closet hasn't been reframed yet. Oh, and they'd also framed over the fireplace since that's going to be closed off with sheet rock.
I wish I could have looked around more but the panic attack forced a speedy exit. Maybe tomorrow I can get by there without the little girl.
I was amazed at how fast the demo went. It started on Monday and I went over Wednesday at noon and they were almost done inside. It was crazy fast!
As far as the rebuild goes, the supervisor told me his guess is 90 to 120 days but don't quote him on that. That would be mid April to mid May. I am sooooo hoping he's right. When we got back to the rental, the little girl said, "I hate this house!" I have to agree with here, not because anything is wrong with this house. It's just not our house. I'm ready to be home again and so are the girls. The big girl doesn't show it as much as the little girl does but they're both feeling lots of stress over this life change.
While on break, the little girl's anxiety wasn't so bad. Since they've been back in school, it's been out of control. I'm getting lots of what-if questions related to fires that I can never give satisfactory answers too because the situations she presents will lead only to death. If were trapped by fire in a room and every exit is blocked, I can't give her an acceptable answer that will save us. :-(
Getting back home will bring it's own set of worries...after all it caught fire once, right? However, it will also bring peace in settling back in with our own stuff, having the dogs back with us, etc.
Oh, and the really good news with the rebuild...the changes I'm making, many of which I'd planned to do in about 5 years, will cost about $6,000 over the insurance payment. Basically, I'm getting my remodel for $6,000. Now, I would have rather waited 5 years and paid for it myself than lose everything and suffer the trauma that is a house fire but since we did, we might as well celebrate the silver linings.
Now, I'm off to peruse pinterest for ideas.
Sunday, January 5, 2014
Progress
My mom and I went to the house yesterday after I decided to get the desk out of the garage that I'd bought for the little girl. She was thrilled by the way. I decided to get it because she's cried about it a few times and she's lost so much already. I'm not sure if it will need to go to restoration or not since the garage is not as bad as the rest of the house.
We also go a metal tub out of the garage and then took a look around the inside. We ended up getting the quilt my uncle and then great grandmother had had and some place mats that my gran wove. There was also a box of genealogy research and the big girl's kindergarten year book that I picked up too.
There's a porta-potty in front of the house now and the dumpster is supposed to come tomorrow. I'm not sure if that will happen now with the weather (we woke up to snow) but at least it should come later this week if not tomorrow.
It was my last time, I think, seeing the house before demo starts. It's still so crazy to look at. I mean, I know it happened but when I walk into the house, it's like holy f!@#$%g s^&t! I can't believe this happened to us.
My mom and I talked about some remodeling stuff yesterday and then I looked at pinterest way to long into the night last night before I finally fell asleep to dreams of kitchen cabinets all night long.
At least the demo's getting ready to start!
We also go a metal tub out of the garage and then took a look around the inside. We ended up getting the quilt my uncle and then great grandmother had had and some place mats that my gran wove. There was also a box of genealogy research and the big girl's kindergarten year book that I picked up too.
There's a porta-potty in front of the house now and the dumpster is supposed to come tomorrow. I'm not sure if that will happen now with the weather (we woke up to snow) but at least it should come later this week if not tomorrow.
It was my last time, I think, seeing the house before demo starts. It's still so crazy to look at. I mean, I know it happened but when I walk into the house, it's like holy f!@#$%g s^&t! I can't believe this happened to us.
My mom and I talked about some remodeling stuff yesterday and then I looked at pinterest way to long into the night last night before I finally fell asleep to dreams of kitchen cabinets all night long.
At least the demo's getting ready to start!
Thursday, January 2, 2014
Demo
I spoke with the construction company today. A dumpster will be delivered on Monday and the demo crew will start on Monday or Tuesday. I'm ready. I keep thinking of more things to save. I'm not getting them but I know if I wait any longer, there will be more and more stuff that I'll want to get out. I'm ready to have it all gone so we can start rebuilding. I really think the little girl will be better off when it's all gone too. It's very hard knowing it's all in the house and we just can't have it because it's so dirty and stinky.
Wednesday, January 1, 2014
Saving
Right now, we have lots of gift cards to buy necesities as they come up. Friends and family near and far were so generous to us after the fire. The outpouring of support has been one of the most amazing things in this whole debacle. Since we have the essentials for life right now, I'm hoping to hold on to most of them until the time comes to start furnishing our new (again) home. And since, coupled with that, I'm hoping not to buy a lot of stuff for the rental, I'm hoping to be able to save quite a bit this year.
There's a savings plan I've seen for a couple of years now where you save $1 the first week of the year and increase that by a dollar each week so that the last week of the year you save $52, for a total of almost $1400 over the course of the year. The problem with that for me is that you start out saving almost nothing each week and end up with big dents by the end of the year.
My plan is to save the same amount by readjust the numbers so that we're saving roughly the same amount every two weeks (my pay periods). Of course, this will be in addition to my regular savings. It will go to bulk up our emergency fund. Any additional found money that comes in will be saved in addition to this savings plan.
So here's what it looks like for me...
I get paid every other Friday so each Friday, I will transfer the specified amount into my regular savings account. I'm looking forward to watching it grow!
There's a savings plan I've seen for a couple of years now where you save $1 the first week of the year and increase that by a dollar each week so that the last week of the year you save $52, for a total of almost $1400 over the course of the year. The problem with that for me is that you start out saving almost nothing each week and end up with big dents by the end of the year.
My plan is to save the same amount by readjust the numbers so that we're saving roughly the same amount every two weeks (my pay periods). Of course, this will be in addition to my regular savings. It will go to bulk up our emergency fund. Any additional found money that comes in will be saved in addition to this savings plan.
So here's what it looks like for me...
I get paid every other Friday so each Friday, I will transfer the specified amount into my regular savings account. I'm looking forward to watching it grow!
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