Beauty

[rnmom]

@just bee wrote:

Aaaarrrggghhh!

We had such a great response from our insurance company the day after, but then we couldn't get anyone to return our calls.  Finally, today, we started hearing from people and they all had very different information.

We had been told that people were coming to the house to inventory everything.  We had also been told not to restore anything that was made of certain materials or worth less than $25.

So I've been filling up garbage bags all week with items I had been told would be trash.

Now suddenly that's not quite accurate.  Now we're being told that items have to be restored regardless and that the inventory team we were expecting doesn't exist.  WE are the inventory team.

My head is about to explode.  This would have been nice to know ten days ago.

I said I was going to get an ice cream cone at the end of this, but BH drove me to Coldstone and said to get one now.  I did.  French vanilla (I couldn't make any more difficult decisions) and it was okay but I already regret that decision.

I made the mistake of grabbing a box of papers today, then discovered that it was school papers from elementary school forward, letters and cards from friends and family, mementos, souvenirs, writings, art -- even a signed photo from Cesar Romero when I met him in Prescott, AZ when I was ten.

I became paralyzed, then started throwing things away -- then was paralyzed again.

I think it was okay to toss what I did (Cesar was included), but then I froze on the family cards.  I may have to revisit this and just put a box of sentimental papers in storage to consider later.  It's too late to go back and sift through garbage.  I already did that when I thought I'd tossed the bonds.

We're tired.  But I'm worried about the dog.  He just seems exhausted today.  We're going to cook dinner in our room and I'm going to do laundry.  I need some normal and I need it now.

---

@just bee - I've never known anyone who has experienced a whole house fire before, so I guess I'm confused. 

So are you saying, that you and BH are supposed to go through everything in the house and write down what you are tossing so that the insurance company knows what needs to be replaced?

And you're supposed to make all the decisions as to what stays and what goes? That actually makes sense, it's your stuff, but how are you supposed to know how much something is worth or exactly what it is made of, whether or not it should be tossed or restored? What if something is worth $50 but it didn't mean anything to you and you don't want to restore it? 

I assume you're tossing what's believed to be trash and storing items that will be restored in a storage unit until the house itself is repaired. 

And then, who were those people boxing up your books if they weren't the inventory team? Just "helpers" the insurance company sent over?

Like I said, I guess I'm just slow because this isn't making a whole lot of sense to me. 

I can definitely see why you would need more time off work. And don't feel guilty about it. I know it's hard when you're short staffed, believe me, I'm there right now too, but a house fire is a pretty good reason to be off. It's right up there with death and major personal injury. 

[rnmom]

---

@just bee wrote:

---

@aprilskies wrote:

Outgassing, Who would of thought, so is everything affected by this, even nonporous materials? What a crazy situation.  You guys must be so exhausted. 

At at least you were able to save some things to keep the familiar. It does help.  Hopefully you will get in a rental soon.  A little normal will do you good. 

I still cant believe that happened to you. Continue to take care of yourselves and be safe.  Especially guard your emotional health.  Right now you are keeping busy but the quiet will come and all of the feelings that have been on standby. 

Life me is a beach. 

---

@aprilskies 

I'm still using my PC facial cleanser, Lumene CC cream and the new makeup I bought.  Left many items behind and returned others to the house.

I probably should ditch the items I have but I'm not in the position to shop.  I've got to get through a couple more rooms.

Yesterday I found a lot of stuff from high school -- the things I wrote in the school newspaper and theatre posters.  Hate to throw all this away because that school was torn down in the 80s.  Also get sick when I find an old calendar that documents everything or a diary.  All that history has to go.

How will I remember anything?  It's like the last 60 years have been wiped away.

I found all my drawings for my Anatomy class -- they're in the recycle pile -- and that reminds me that I'll be finding all my drawings from my Art minor days.  My "writings" have been tossed.  Copious notes from classes.  Mementos, souvenirs, ticket stubs, playbills.

Then I look at BH.  He never kept any of those items so he hasn't lost much.  Maybe he has the right idea.

It's awful and I feel like there's so much more to do.  Haven't even gone through my closets or kitchen cupboards.

---

@just bee - I think I'm a lot like your BH. The only things I have l left from high school are my yearbooks and I should get rid of those too. I haven't looked at them in years and years, why am I bothering to keep them? As more and more time passes and I get older the less they mean to me. I have a couple of awards and assorted items from my school days stored in a tote in the basement, but everything fits into one storage tote. 

I have a very few items from when my kids were babies, but I only saved a handful of things, like their favorite baby books. All my stuff from college is long gone, including textbooks. They were way too cumbersome to keep when everything is available online literally at the touch of a button. I kept them for a long time, before there was internet, but they are totally obsolete now. 

I'd say maybe 10% of the items in the house are my own personal things. The rest either belongs to hubby, one of the kids, or are community items that everyone uses, like dishes, etc. We would have a lot to sort thru if we had a fire too, for sure, but I don't think most of it would be terribly sentimental. 

I'm still thinking of you and wishing you the best of luck as you move forward during this process. Please continue to keep us posted if you are able to!

[rnmom]

@aprilskies - regarding the jewelry, I will probably save at least some of it for the boys, mostly sentimental pieces, but I think there's just too much to pass onto them. If they were girls maybe, but not for the boys.

When my mom passed my sister and I divided up her jewelry, so I have my own plus some that was hers. I've gotten rid of some of it, but still have some here that I just don't know what to do with it. 

Again, it's all either gold or silver with some sort of semi precious stone, so I don't just want to give it away. I'm not inclined to start selling on e-bay for sure. If I can't sell it some other way then it will probably just sit here. 

[just bee]

---

@Brisky wrote:
Sootville,😁 made me laugh. First laugh today! Watched signs, good one. Liked six sense better though.
Been out mowing and cleaning up after wind storms.
I really think I have the biggest globe willow in the town. I know that tree has been around here on earth longer than I have.
BH flies in from ky tonight. Training time for him. I hope he bought me clothes from the PX.He will I know! I trained him right.😊 I miss being around the military. There are some perks to it. I will never travel to Europe again for free. Hawaii definitely going back but not for free. I often miss my BF from KY. Miss the beauty of KY too. Well, if husband ever retires, we will go back. He is from TN and we both like greener pastures. Brown pastures aren't our cup of tea. We won't miss the desert.
How is everybody? Hope all is well,wherever you are.☺

---

@Brisky 

I like globe willows.  They're one of the first plants to "green up" in early spring here.  We planted one but it didn't survive.  Probably a good thing -- it would have been too big for the space we chose for it.

I hear ya -- green is good.  I just saw a story about the Gatlinburg SkyBridge in the Smokies.  But I don't think I'd be able to cross it!

[just bee]

---

@rnmom wrote:

---

@just bee - I've never known anyone who has experienced a whole house fire before, so I guess I'm confused. 

So are you saying, that you and BH are supposed to go through everything in the house and write down what you are tossing so that the insurance company knows what needs to be replaced?

And you're supposed to make all the decisions as to what stays and what goes? That actually makes sense, it's your stuff, but how are you supposed to know how much something is worth or exactly what it is made of, whether or not it should be tossed or restored? What if something is worth $50 but it didn't mean anything to you and you don't want to restore it? 

I assume you're tossing what's believed to be trash and storing items that will be restored in a storage unit until the house itself is repaired. 

And then, who were those people boxing up your books if they weren't the inventory team? Just "helpers" the insurance company sent over?

Like I said, I guess I'm just slow because this isn't making a whole lot of sense to me. 

I can definitely see why you would need more time off work. And don't feel guilty about it. I know it's hard when you're short staffed, believe me, I'm there right now too, but a house fire is a pretty good reason to be off. It's right up there with death and major personal injury. 

---

@rnmom 

I've already missed two weeks of work and I asked for next week, too.  My stomach's in a knot because I just can't see how we're going to get all this done before I have to go back.

I generally don't call in sick or take time off -- that's why I've accumulated the time.  But I changed my account numbers so my paychecks aren't being deposited.  I haven't been able to get to HR.  Tried yesterday but Friday afternoon traffic made us change our plans.

Of course, worse case, I tell myself, is that we don't have to finish this week.  I know everyone wants this done quickly, but if that's the case, people have got to start returning our calls.

I'm probably more confused than you are.  Now I hear that maybe some things could have been saved if they'd been removed right away.  That's not what we were told and now it's too late.  This is so frustrating.  BH is working on an inventory, but most of it so far has been his collection of spices.  Some of them, like saffron and vanilla beans, are pricey.

I keep plugging away on the room that has all my memories.  I tossed letters and cards from old friends but kept some from family.  I realized after I went through a couple boxes yesterday that I was Kondo-ing it.  I found myself keeping things that sparked joy.  Well, probably not joy, but it was a different emotion from what I felt when I was putting items in the trash bag.

[just bee]

---

@rnmom wrote:

---

---

@just bee - I think I'm a lot like your BH. The only things I have l left from high school are my yearbooks and I should get rid of those too. I haven't looked at them in years and years, why am I bothering to keep them? As more and more time passes and I get older the less they mean to me. I have a couple of awards and assorted items from my school days stored in a tote in the basement, but everything fits into one storage tote. 

I have a very few items from when my kids were babies, but I only saved a handful of things, like their favorite baby books. All my stuff from college is long gone, including textbooks. They were way too cumbersome to keep when everything is available online literally at the touch of a button. I kept them for a long time, before there was internet, but they are totally obsolete now. 

I'd say maybe 10% of the items in the house are my own personal things. The rest either belongs to hubby, one of the kids, or are community items that everyone uses, like dishes, etc. We would have a lot to sort thru if we had a fire too, for sure, but I don't think most of it would be terribly sentimental. 

I'm still thinking of you and wishing you the best of luck as you move forward during this process. Please continue to keep us posted if you are able to!

---

@rnmom 

I wish I had that minimalist gene.  Part of me wants to let it all go -- it would be easier.  But the restoration company called the other day with a different story.  Our insurance person was supposed to talk to them and get back to us.  She didn't and now it's the weekend.

Again, frustrating.

Now I'm being told that they should come out and take all the clothes to clean, yet they're already saying that wool is tough to restore.

We need clear, consistent answers.

I have some awards, too, and I'm about ready to trash them.  So much of the paper I saved has aged badly so I'm letting a lot of it go.

I keep asking myself why am I saving it?  It's been in storage boxes for 25 years already.  I still have books in boxes.

Let it go.  Yeah, but we still have to inventory it!

Maybe as we run out of time and the more frustrated I get, the more I'll be willing to walk away from it.

Small things are annoying.  I grabbed toothpaste, toothbrush and floss when I left the house.  They told us not to use the paste so we bought a new tube.  Now I'm already out of floss and there's a stash at the house.  Do I just use it anyway?  Or do I have to count it all for the inventory?

What a pain.

[Brisky]

I have my Grandmothers cedar chest. She bought it on her 16th birthday for herself in 1916. I would miss it terribly if I had to get rid of it.
I can't imagine what your going through just bee. Somethings can't be replaced because of sentimental
value.
I know if I saw certain items have to go in my house, I would definitely be very sad. They are reminders of our past that we can't replace.

[just bee]

---

@Brisky wrote:
I have my Grandmothers cedar chest. She bought it on her 16th birthday for herself in 1916. I would miss it terribly if I had to get rid of it.
I can't imagine what your going through just bee. Somethings can't be replaced because of sentimental
value.
I know if I saw certain items have to go in my house, I would definitely be very sad. They are reminders of our past that we can't replace.

---

@Brisky 

I know that I should have addressed all these items long before the fire.  I know I should have donated most of the clothes and the books.

But I suspect that the process would have been even slower and maybe more difficult.  Now I'm forced to make quick decisions.

Could be good, could be bad.  We'll see.

[just bee]

I feel like I should set things outside to "air out" in the sun.  That's what I was doing last week with some of the items we took to storage (like my Alegrias).

But one thing makes that tricky: The wind.  It's going to be even more windy this week.

I need to get moving but I just want some more time to ease into this.  What keeps me going is knowing that the day will come when things are out of the house and they can start construction.

[just bee]

One bright spot: There are more squirrels on this side of town and WGD has already met a few.  He can watch them from the hotel windows.