Thanksgiving Must Go On!

We are soldiering on.  And while we still have holes in our roof, it is getting replaced (albeit at an insufferably slow pace - 5 weeks to completion my arse).

We peeled down wallpaper in the foyer and in many places upstairs so the walls would dry out.  That left us with ugly walls (duh).  So my oldest daughter decided to assist me with repainting the foyer.
 

And while we didn't do a good job on making the wall smooth (and I should never ever ever have let her buy semi-gloss paint), it now looks quite reasonable.  I decided on a dramatic color: Ryan likes it, Mark hated it but then decided it was a good look, and I think hubster is still on the fence.  But save the tarps to protect our waterstained carpets (which we will ultimately replace), this room actually looks reasonable.

My dining room also took a ferocious fire hose induced rainstorm.  Our chair seats were really damaged - but, hey, they were white 26 years ago, and 26 years of kids using them for every holiday did take a toll on them.  So I ordered fabric to reupholster them, and when Cass was here this weekend, she disassembled the chairs and I reupholstered them.  Her Daddy's job was to test the seats and make sure they were comfy.

Those of you with eagle eyes (or maybe just paying a little attention) will notice that my dining room table is in 3 pieces, dismantled by the firemen so they could tarp it.  That's OK; it will be a fun Thanksgiving morning project for our sons: reassemble the table, or we're all hunching around the kitchen counters to eat!  (And notice that the ceiling is not in any of these pictures, because it needs minor repair/repainting, but we are prioritizing the roof before finishing inside).

And, lastly, here's the menu for the week.  It's very fluid, meaning that if I don't get to things (because I still have to reassemble 3 rooms downstairs), I won't get to them.  Thanksgiving will go on.

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone; be happy that your home is intact, your family is safe and well, and that you are loved.  And know that I appreciate each and every message of support from you, much more than you can imagine!

We're Still OK

So, our house is still a disaster zone, or at least part of it is.  To refresh your memory, this is what our roof looked like the day after the fire:

The framing crew has removed and replaced the tower, but they are tearing off a lot more roof today.

But, before they got the roof back on, we had a real downpour last Tuesday night. About an inch of rain fell in an hour, pulling down the tarp they had over the top, and giving us some delightful rain showers indoors.  They boys and I tarped and laid out buckets to catch the worst of it; I ran the bucket brigade, dumping and replacing them, until 4AM.

This is what remained of the water prevention system the next day:

We rented 3 industrial strength dehumidifiers - each of which collects 210 pints of water (about 24 gallons) - and they've been running nonstop for a week now, along with 4 of the biggest residential dehumidifiers I can buy (70 pints, or about 8 gallons) per day.

3 bedrooms look like this - absolute disaster zones:

 And we've peeled the wallpaper from the flooded rooms upstairs, leaving the place looking like a war zone.  My daughter came last weekend and filled some of the holes and painted without sanding, so the place is now consistently tan and lumpy.  It was too early to paint, and the color is depressing, so I have poor Ryan sanding to prepare for repainting.  Maybe it will be dry enough for Kilz.

But our house still stands, and we are still in it, safe, whole and well.

So, no matter how bad things are, just remember: at least you don't have an open air house, with nothing but OSB between you and the sky!  Happy Tuesday, everyone!

Our friend, Greg

Our friend Greg lost his trusty companion Dakota yesterday.

Dakota came to play with Thor once.  He was too bouncy; Thor hid next to my dearly beloved; he was afraid of this smaller bundle of energy.

Dakota came to play with Mark many times after we lost Thor.  They had a wonderful time romping and playing together.

Greg doesn't blog, but writing a few words about him distracts me from the million things I need to do (reglazing and painting 17 windows isn't as much fun as one might think).

Thanks for all of your kind comments and support; I've begun to conquer the first floor mess and may have time to update soon!