A Blessing in Disguise

So a couple months ago a small micro burst wind ripped through our part of town and managed to rip off shingles from our roof.  It ripped off enough to cause damage that our home insurance would help get a new roof back on.  So we get busy ripping off the old stuff to lay down the new and rain came out of nowhere.  Well the weather man showed it but someone bothered not to check that source.  So here is the back half of my house with just the bare wood which covers my bedroom,  our only bathroom, kitchen/dining area, and garage getting poured on!!! We were literally catching water through all our light fixtures and fans with coolers and buckets.  Long story short by that night the ceilings started to bubble and by mid morning our ceilings were on the floor.  We were lucky enough to get a storage unit delivered to our driveway and we got everything out.

I just didn't realize the seriousness of it I guess and when the Restoration company and Insurance co. showed up and told me my home was not livable anymore I was speechless.  I was like, "what the crap am I supposed to do?!"  They said to start looking for a hotel.  I told them I have small kids who want drinks/milk/snacks before bed and a hotel will not cut it.  I was able to get a suite with a full kitchen and living room area with separate sleeping area.  Sounded perfect.  So in a rush I gathered up the kids clothes/PJ's/toys and I learned what was most important to me cause I grabbed every piece of workout clothing I owned and no clothes to wear for the week or even to work.  I swear I had to go back every day for clothes to wear.  They said only 3-4 days so I thought no big deal well that turned into over 3 weeks.  The hotel sounded fun in the beginning.  A pool for whoever to come play in, cardio room, free breakfast for Gabe and kids every morning which I am sure they loved the break from cereal, especially Gabe.  But being up on the 3rd floor going in and out multiple times a day to get dinner/lunch/laundry and just to get out to keep the kids and myself from going insane became a big pain in the ass.  Carrying so much groceries/food/laundry your arms are full and hoping your 18 month old will follow you on the elevator and chase you down the hall because you are making it look so fun but the long hall the other way always looked cooler was a bit much.  I think the straw that broke the camels back was when Cruz got on the elevator by himself b/c Bostyn pushed the button for mom as I was walking down the hall so it would be there and he jumped on.  Luckily I just pushed the button and doors opened back up and there he was.  So I asked for the same type of room but on the first floor and I know that would make my life easier.  I get all packed up again and moved and the new room had every thing our old room had but it was a mini version in size.  We spent one night there when getting ready for work in the morning was impossible for me b/c I had to have lights to see what I was doing in the bathroom but no doors to keep the light out from the rest of the family still asleep at 6 o'clock in the morning.  Everyone was up and we were done.  And not to mention being on the first floor right outside our window were bushes and what not and within the first 30 mins I killed three spiders and an ant crawled up my arm.  So I took my sister up on her offer of letting us set up camp at her place which we should have done from the beginning but I didn't want to be a pain and the hotel did sound fun.....at first.

      So what is the blessing??  I now have up to date insulation in the attic, a new freshly painted house, brand new carpet, we tiled in front of our front door and we covered up the stairs that go down to our basement apt. and that opened up our front room like you wouldn't believe.  And my favorite part of all is we got can lights everywhere.  I can actually see in my kitchen now and everything feels so much cozier.  I let Gabe pick everything out too.  The paint color, carpet, where to put the lights etc....I was just to the point when he would ask what I want I didn't care if we painted our whole house black with lime green carpet.  I just wanted to be home!