I guess it's finally time for the big update. This week's post is brought to you by The Bloodhound Gang, and if you don't know who that is or what that means--consider yourself lucky. (And Grandma--please don't Google them in this context. You definitely do NOT want to watch that video.)
So, I guess I'll just jump right into it. Two Fridays ago (on the 19th), at about 2am, I received a bit of a rude awakening--literally. I woke up to some people yelling and screaming, banging on my front door, telling me that my house was on fire. Yep. For anyone that hasn't heard yet (sorry about that!), my house was on fire. It's kind of a long story. And it took the guy a few minutes to convince me that my house really was on fire (surprise surprise, if you wake me up after I've only been asleep an hour by banging on my door and screaming at me, I'm extra combative--and not to mention, foul mouthed. Who'da thunk it?!)
They'd already called 911, but I called too. After all, the fire station is literally three blocks away, and I thought that 10 minutes was ridiculous...or maybe it was only five minutes...time flies, and stands still in these situations.
A couple of firetrucks rolled up, some ambulances, cops--loads of cops and they got to work! It's kind of funny, they ended up being at my house for almost four hours! It definitely didn't feel like that long (while I was standing in the middle of the street in my "funny old lady pajamas" as I call them), but at the same time, it felt like three days passed. Time is weird.
It's funny, you don't get a lot of news from the fire folks while they're working. They did come over to ask me questions a few times. At one point they asked "is everything ok ma'm--there's nothing upstairs?" meaning "where the heck is all your stuff you crazy lady?!" I like to think it just made it easier for them to put out the fire. "Past Kelsey" can be thoughtful on occasion, either that or I wasn't strong enough to move my bed and dressers upstairs by myself earlier that very evening....I was finally sure that the hardwood floors had had enough time to cure, and moving furniture up there wouldn't mess them up.
A little before six, the fire was out, the roof had finally stopped smoking, and they were ready to take me inside by that point. My mom had arrived somewhere after 3 or so, so we followed the Fire Chief, Fire Marshal, and another fireman inside for the grand tour....Getting a grand tour of your own house with some firemen escorts feels kind of weird. Know what else feels weird? Water dripping from the places your ceiling used to be while you stand in the midst of total chaos. It looked...well, I don't know how to describe how it looked. I really have zero frame of reference for if it was good or bad, or fair to middling? Even now, I'm not entirely sure (though I am sure that I'll have a good frame of reference if it should ever happen again? But let's just hope that this knowledge, like so much of what I know, is forever useless, shall we?)
So, here are a bunch of pictures. I don't really have much to say about them other than, "yep" or maybe "there it is". What can you say, really? "Attic fan fire."? If the words haven't come to me by now, I'm not holding my breath that any more are coming.
It looks bad in the pictures, but logically I know, a lot of progress has been made since then! After all, it has been 11 days. It feels like I've talked to my insurance people 50 times. BTW, I have State Farm, and they have been beyond AWESOME in all of this! The folks at Paul Davis Restoration out of Fort Wayne has also been fantastic. They got in the same day, got the electricity turned back on (because apparently the firemen have to turn off all electric and gas?! I've learned so much already!) They also got everything scooped up off of the floor, and were in the next day to set up drying equipment! Did I mention that they've been fantastic? I wasn't exaggerating. They're superstars.
A million other little things and thoughts have happened throughout all of this, and I had sincerely planned on sharing more/most of them, but honestly, I just can't see it being that interesting for anyone. And if it is, meh. Call me? Meet me for coffee? Reassure me that you don't just want a front row seat for the train wreck. There have already been some serious ups and downs, and I know that there are more coming than I can even imaging. They're going to have to do a TON of work to the house, and they're predicting it will take about four months. Woof, right? Oh well. It'll be like a whole new house when they're done. Plus--this is really shaving a lot of time and work off of my five year plan.
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| See look, I really am fine! :) Though I may need to start keeping a brush in my desk! |
Sure, it sucks. I'm not going to say that it doesn't really really suck. But there are also a million little things to be thankful for in this, and I fully recognize that! I'm safe. The cat is safe. We're all safe. It's only stuff, and hey--the records are safe! What other stuff could I even possibly care about, right? Right. Things really are fine. If anyone is just dying to feel like they did something, please, contribute something to the Red Cross. Or take some treats to your local fire station.
I want to give a big shout out to everyone who's already been there for me, and to all of the people who have offered to help me out! You know who you guys are, and I hope you know just how much I love you. I couldn't be keeping it together today without all of you. And I'm sorry in advance for all of times that are surely coming that I'll be leaning on you. If you know me at all, you know they're coming!
Is it too soon for jokes about fire? You know I've always been a little bit...irreverent. Is that the right word? I know me, so I feel like it is. Feel free to substitute a different adjective, if you'd like.
If you're not ready to laugh about this yet, you'll just want to skip this week's music selections...I'm going to guess that only my mother will appreciate these....
K
Joe Diffie - New Way To Light Up An Old Flame
The Trammps - Disco Inferno
THE BYRDS - This Wheels' On Fire
I know this was Bob's song, but you know me, and you know what I like!
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