SERIOUSLY?!

Well, we finally got "our number" from the insurance company. SERIOUSLY?! We have less than 15% of our house remaining or 85%ish that needs to be rebuilt and they offered us about 30% of our policy. Mike went through the itemized list in shock. The price they gave us for the kitchen would not even replace the granite counter tops much less the appliances and cabinetry. When Mike spoke to the adjuster he muttered on something about the price actually being for re-setting the granite. Look at the picture of our kitchen here, what do you suppose they are going to re-set it on? Not to mention we don't have any to be re-set - it was declared a loss, by them and was discarded....

So, now the fun begins. As I'm sure you can imagine, we aren't going to take the money but we are going to fight for what we feel entitled to and have paid for for the past 19 years! Mike is meeting with the owner of the company who put the bid together - the man who actually wrote it up is no longer there - but he is out of town until next week so in the mean time, our house will sit, untouched for another week or so and we will put another tick mark under the "months our house sits" column.

The good news is my sister, Gracie, has been here working her little rear off. She has gone through the remaining boxes in the garage, most if it was just photographed and tossed. Some washed and re-packed for storage. And also the "scary closet" that had all my scrapbooking/craft stuff and organized it. Now I could actually scrap book - if I knew where my pictures were (and had my list done) does anyone remember who took them the day of the fire?

I am counting down the days still school ends which will also bring an end to the crazy driving schedule. And summer starts - hoping that a couple vacations will help make the time fly a little faster. And praying that Mike doesn't have a stroke cuz I need him to fight this fight for us.

Well, gotta get back to my contents list. Now I am a little anxious about what they will "offer" us so I am eager to get that process started as I am guessing it will be a long one too. But I am still looking up!

Looking Up

I wish I had something more to report now, it's been two weeks since my last post but we are still waiting, and our house is sitting, untouched. Funny, yesterday Alyssa's friends' mom asked if we were "all settled" now. The timing seemed ironic to me since at that moment I was washing some sooty items that had been sitting in the garage here preventing me from parking inside - resulting in a break-in of my car and loss of an iPod :( - I wondered if we would ever be settled and without really thinking about it I said "depends on what you mean by settled", "Moved back into your house" was her reply. Obviously she had no idea the extent of the damage the fire had done. From her perspective enough time had passed, and we should be all back to normal, and isn't everything really a matter of perspective?

At the rate we are going, I am beginning to wonder if we will ever be moved back in, in fact it's hard to imagine our house being rebuilt when it doesn't seem like the demo is ever going to be complete. I am heavy hearted. I lost a friend toa battle with cancer today, and another family that is dear to us is waging their own war with the same type of cancer right now, in fact they are at the hospital as I type - in ICU recovery. I have friends that have lost children and marriages, family members and loved ones, it's been quite a year and so it has been easier for me to keep my perspective during this frustrating time.

What I wish (beyond the obvious that there was no death, disease or destruction of relationships) is that my perspective wasn't so dependant on what was going on around me, or how it could be worse. But that my eyes were constantly fixed, looking up towards the heavenly realms, only seeing the good and true and pure (though I'm not sure they exist in the insurance industry- lol) in every situation, without it being relative to another.

So that's where I am now, I have been working on patience, perseverance, and endurance, these past few months, now I am adding perspective, trying to look up rather than around...I may need a little more help with this one ;)

Darn Memory Card

We are still waiting for the report from the engineer to find out what else will be torn down. The assumption is the chimney, stairs, dining room walls, and any areas that have suffered fire damage that have been exposed since the drywall was removed at the very least. But we all know what assuming leads to so in the mean time, we are trying not to think about it, lest we end up feeling like the girls (Alyssa and her friends) in the picture on the left :)

I, of course, took pictures of the "completed" demo and as I downloaded them from my memory card I was a little startled by what I saw. The card didn't have just the photos of my last visit home as I had anticipated, but flashed quickly through photos from events I had forgotten all about even though they really weren't that long ago. I did not expect to see a photo of Mikes family in our kitchen celebrating his mom's birthday, or shots from the snow in Big Bear - only a couple, our trip was cut short, some photos of deer in the yard at Dove Canyon, then it was Easter, Gailyn's baptism and finally the pictures I am posting here. I am left with a strange feeling in my belly. I thought "memory" referred to storage but in this case it really was a card full of memories that unfortunately I wasn't prepared for. Now the realization of how much our lives have changed in what sometimes seems like an eternity and others like a blink of an eye is beginning to set in.

This Friday we are meeting with an architect which I think will do a lot to make us feel like progress is being made. We are in a slightly self imposed holding pattern, haven't worked much on our contents list, haven't worked at all on going through the last few items in the garage, haven't done much to organize the things we have collected here. And quite honestly I'm not really motivated to start or I'd be doing those rather than writing this.

But, can't start now anyway, time to get back in the car for an afternoon of driving. Which is good in a self preservation kind of way. The pictures are posted below if you want to, have a peek.

http://www.kodakgallery.com/ViewSlideshow.action?&collidparam=99233795605.955392447705.1241038679947

Where Common Sense Does Not Apply

We met with the insurance adjuster today. Apparently this is one area that common sense just does not apply. When we first talked about demo-ing the 2nd floor and roof, I wondered how the walls would stand with no roof to support them. Common sense told me they would fall, and as it turns out common sense was right. The dining room wall (pictured here on the right side) is leaning out but even after meeting with the adjuster today, we did not get approval to tear it down, just to remove the drywall so they can see if it's structurally sound. I say if it needs to be braced from the other side to keep it from falling into the neighbors house, it isn't structurally sound but then again, I've come to that conclusion using common sense and we now know for certain, it does not apply.

So after our meeting today, nothing has changed. The poor demo guys have to continue carefully stripping the house to the moldy framing so that the engineer can write a report and Allstate can the decide if the house needs to be completely scraped. Meanwhile we have been informed of what our mold policy says. Not sure why it matters. Our sofa is being replaced by the fire insurance because it was damaged by water in an effort put out the fire. In the same way, mold is in our house because of damaged caused by the water to put out the fire. So...fire insurance should cover it, right? Oh no, wait, there I go using common sense again!

The good news is the answer wasn't no, the bad news is, more waiting and more $ coming out of our benefit and timing ticking away from our reimbursement on living expenses - oh well this is the game we are being forced to play so I guess we'll have to play. I can't help but wonder though, what if everyone refused to play, would the game change?

Here is a link to some more of our new interior. When I was in college my final project was based on a style of Architecture called Deconstructionism, it reminds me a little of that project only the project was way cooler.

http://www.kodakgallery.com/ShareLanding.action?c=19l58mqd.8jgr4iw1&x=0&y=fg992g&localeid=en_US&cm_mmc=site_email-_-site_share-_-core-_-view_photos_button

It's A Calamity

The dictionary defines a calamity as a great misfortune or disaster. Sound like us? The County of Orange says "YES". They actually have a Calamity Clause that allows for an adjustment to our property tax - in our case we didn't have to pay tax on the value of the house (otherwise they'd surely owe us money) but only for the land. Apparently few people actually take advantage of it, I guess most people don't know enough to even ask about it - but my husband is a shrewd business man, that coupled with the fact that it just didn't seem to make sense to him to pay taxes on a property in such condition led him to ask the question. And it has led me to expand my vocabulary. I'm just loving the word...Calamity! It's almost fun to say much more fun than "our fire"
As I traipsed through the remains of our home I stumbled on the Female Rescue Hero pictured here, I have since named her Calamity Jane. Ironic isn't it that she is a Firewoman and survived the calamity though she is made entirely out of plastic. The de-construction guys had displayed her in a prominent location as a guardian angel of sorts but I brought her here to Dove Canyon. She isn't "safe" to play with but she is a garden angel now and living outside in the flowerbed.
The house is coming down well, I guess. There isn't much left upstairs - great view, kinda feels like a tree house. But now that we can literally see inside the walls we have discovered burned areas that we didn't realize existed. There are many spots where though the drywall looks fine, once it's removed and the framing is exposed, we can see that there was fire burning INSIDE the walls....kinda creepy. So, Friday we'll meet with Allstate, the contractor and the engineer to see what more we can tear down. From what I saw today, what isn't burned is moldy - doesn't seem worth saving to me but what do I know? Look at these pictures and tell me what you think http://www.kodakgallery.com/ShareLanding.action?c=19l58mqd.84ykycc1&x=0&y=qtvfeh&localeid=en_US&cm_mmc=site_email-_-site_share-_-core-_-view_photos_button

Happy Birthday Terranova!

Our church, Terranova, turned 2! Yes, we have been there much longer but it was Canyon Hills when we came and 2 years ago we merged with another church and became Terranova Church. As part of the Birthday Service I was asked to be part of a video and share what Terranova has meant to me this year - since it is fire related, I thought I'd post it here.


http://gallery.me.com/realworldworship/100525

Thank you and Happy Birthday!

BTW I added feedblitz at the side there so that if you enter your e-mail address, you'll get notified when I update ;)

It's Friday but Sunday's comin'!

Today is Good Friday, the day Christians around the world remember Christ's crucifixion. When I was little I always wondered why it was referred to as "good" rather than Bad or Sad Friday considering what happened. My mom always had us celebrate it as a day of mourning, no TV, no radio, no friends, no fun. But I have learned many other Christian faiths celebrate it as more of a day of anticipation - accepting what happened on Friday but knowing with eager expectation that Sunday is coming and it is will be glorious! A couple years ago at our church they played a video clip, like the one I've pasted below, before Easter and his is the voice I hear on Good Friday now reminding me that Sunday's coming.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=naajYZSbWdw&feature=related

We (the Reynolds) are having our own good Friday. We've had a wonderful week - the kids enjoying time with my mom, aunts, and grandma in San Diego and Mike and I were able to sneak away to enjoy 3 days in Borrego Springs at a beautiful resort with some great friends. We came home rested and refreshed. But we also came home to a house that is not at all what it used to be. There is a picture attached but it doesn't quite do it justice. The upstairs is gone, the downstairs is a shell. I wondered if it would make me sad to see it in this state but it didn't. I just kept thinking our Sunday's coming. Obviously it's not the same as Christ rising from the dead, but it will be glorious for us and it's nice to be able to focus on that right now.

Happy Easter!!!