and now... it's Friday...

I think it's Friday but I'm not really sure.

What a week!

And you know that eventually one of my brothers had to make a joke about this whole deal... my brother Bryan said that we should move my place next to Jim and Angie's place so the next time they have a pipe burst they can put out my fire.

Ok. It's not that funny but it's better than his first joke.

So... I went back to work yesterday but spent half the day dealing with details related to my claim. I had no idea how much was involved in this and I should have!

We have ServPro handling the restoration of everything except textiles... they pack it all up and take it to their warehouse... clean everything... create a loss list of things that can't be salvaged... and move it all back either to our new place or to a storage place.

There is another company handling the textile cleaning - a company called FRSTeam. They clean all the clothes, bedding, towels, etc.

I was really pleased with their process... their rep asked if there was anything in particular that was special to me - stuffed animals, quilts, etc - and I told him that my grandmother's quilt was there - see, we grabbed a quilt but it wasn't a quilt, it was a bedspread that looks like grandmother's quilt but isn't- which works out well because it's going to get a much more thorough cleaning and restoration.

I told him that i had a big rubbermaid container with things like the quilts I embroidered for my babies and old cheerleading uniforms. Things that are keepsakes but not actually being worn. They take those items and salvage whatever part of it they can and mount those in photo albums or frames.

I had no idea how thorough they are.

He also offered to do an emergency clean on 2 weeks worth of clothes for me and asked me to give him a list of what I needed. The thing is... my weight has fluctuated so much this summer that I don't know what to tell him to pull out for me. I have three work appropriate outfits and two casual comfy outfits and some sleep pants. That will work for now. I picked up some unmentionables (but hey... I mentioned them...)... and if I need anything else, I'll run to Walmart.

But the nice textile guy - after he drove from Atlanta to pick up my grandma's quilt for me and start sorting through other things - came by my office and dropped off a cake. You gotta love that!

State Farm because they are an awesome company (yes, I'm partial) has agreed to put us up in temporary lodging for up to two weeks while we look for a place since I'm not loving the stairs here - but definitely loving time with my girls! We (State Farm) use a company that serves as a middleman in booking temporary housing and she contacted me with a list of appropriate places. Here's the cool thing: because my policy covers additional living expenses, for instance, the cost of eating out because I don't have my kitchen to cook in - it's cheaper for them to put me up in a place that has a kitchen. And around here... they usually use rental cabins. So they sent me some listings of cabins I could rent and they are all... uh-mazing! Almost all have hot tubs! Yay for a mini-staycation!

By the end of the day today - all of my stuff will be moved out of the duplex and safely tucked away being cleaned.

Tomorrow I'll be looking at a house that is a good possibility for us to rent, next door to one of Austin's church friends, across the road from the high school, allows pets, has appliances.... it's $25/month more than I was paying and slightly further from work so I'm not hanging my hat on it... and it's not available until the end of July so that doesn't hit all the checkmarks... but it's a possibility.

I've got some apartments to look at as well over the weekend.

And I have to check out these temporary cabins to make sure they will work for us.

And pick up prescriptions.

And get a PO Box for our mail for now.

So it won't be a lazy day for me.

But I'm calmer. Not as freaked out. I would love to have Austin back up here to help with the house choosing and cabin choosing but I don't know when I would drive down to get him... although it's very tempting to go down and have a nice thrift store shopping trip. This weekend I've got too much to do up here.

My sweet grandmother send me a lovely note with a nice "something to help me out" check. She is such the southern lady... and it does help. Typically your insurance agent will provide you with a check to cover the basics and help with cash flow... because I work in the agent's office, that's sort of discouraged... any assistance with cash flow has to come from my adjuster... which means it will take a little longer... and I have to save receipts and turn them in, that kind of thing.

Gosh. I'm ready for a nap just recapping my day from yesterday. And I did work, too...

I heard from the cardiologist's office and the two week heart study shows what they are considering to be benign sinus tachycardia which means my heart beats in a normal rhythm, it just beats too fast sometimes... and it appears to be harmless, i.e., not causing heart damage or putting me in any danger. They do want to do an echocardiogram to be sure and when I told them what had happened with the fire, etc, they want to wait until we're settled to do the echo so that it reflects my normal self.

I'm not sure I agree with that because I would want to know how my heart looks at it's worst... and I thought the echo was to see the heart structure. I don't know. I was too flabbergasted when they called yesterday so I said, "ok, sounds great. thanks".

And that was that.

I'm sure you're tired of reading. I'm doing ok. Learning a lot. Feeling very loved. Extremely exhausted. Pushing forward.

What else can you do? Just keep breathing.

Love and hugs y'all...