What a weird week! I have heard that "anniversaries" of losses can creep up on you in unexpected ways and I suppose that the fact that our fire happened on such a commercialized date, Valentines Day, should have made it obvious to me that there will probable never be a time when the date would pass unnoticed. I really did not expect the emotions that have been triggered. It began last week during bible study when we were discussing "Extravagant Love". People recounted stories of receiving expensive gifts like cars and diamonds (both of which I have also received) but what came to my mind was the extravagant love expressed to us in the simplest of ways last year on Valentines Day...friends taking our horrific smelling clothes home with them to wash, clothes that really weren't even worth keepin in the first place...the woman we had never met that drove up from San Diego when she heard about us because she too had lost her home in a fire and she wanted to make sure there was someone there to tell us it really would be ok...friends that showed up that didn't know what to say or do but just wanted us to know they cared. The list is so long and the cost was so small (mostly just time) and yet the extravagance leaves me overwhelmed with emotion, even now, and inspired to try to love others in that same extravagant way. I think, unfortunately, this is one of those things, like motherhood, that you can't ever communicate to another person but once you have experienced it, you get it and it becomes a part of who you are forever. So here we are a year later, on the one hand the memories are as vivid as if it happened yesterday and on the other hand it seems like it happened a lifetime ago. The big question now (right after "how's the house") is, "are you going to Big Bear?" It has been a tradition for years and the answer is, "Yes". Though, truth be told, I voted not to go. The kids and Mike are not ready to "throw away our tradition just because our house burned down". I don't know, it sounds like a good enough reason to me ;) The odds of it happening again are very slim but I worried that the memory of it would cause more pain than the event itself did. So we compromised, I agreed to go and they agreed to stay in a different place. But it seems that for as many things as I am in control of changing, there are things that are out of my control that are going to be exactly the same, so my attempt at complete avoidance has been thwarted, shucks! Oh well I guess I'll have to put my big girl (ski) pants on and deal with it head on.
As for the house, it's coming along great! the roof is on (sort of), windows and doors in, scratch coat of stucco on, interior walls taped and mudded. Next week the stucco will be complete and the other exterior finish work will begin. Our completion date is projected for sometime in May and we have started selecting interior finishes - soon we'll have to make some decisions on furniture too! Sounds fun but it is overwhelming though with an end in sight, it makes it much easier to carry on. Unfortunately, even at this late stage, we are not done battling with Allstate. The good news is we have learned how to do it better and remove the emotions from it...sort of ;) So while a lot has changed this year, a lot is still the same.
Here are a couple interior pictures for you to peek at. We'd love to give you a tour if you are in the neighborhood just make sure it's during the day because we still don't have any lights!
Happy Valentine's Day!!!
