"It'll take more than wind to knock you down."

Each day someone says something that sticks with me. Today, this was it. You're right Kristen... it will! :)

Another busy day. Productive is debatable, but definitely busy. =)

I'd mentioned yesterday that as we were sitting in our hotel room talking our neighbor called to say that our power company was in our yard. He wanted to know if we were okay with them restoring our power. YES YES YES we said!! They did. When we arrived home this morning we were able to turn on some circuit breakers and have power. No more flipping on the bathroom switch and immediately yelling CRAP!!! I was also able to run the garbage disposal after my "incident" on Saturday. This was a huge step forward for us.

Another great bit of information - Our neighbor had someone come out to inspect their house. They were told that the foundation of the house was fine and it wasn't in danger of falling down. AWESOME!!! (For them, and for us! ;)

This morning we stopped by our office to say hello and check in. While we were there I had my laptop fixed so that I *could* work. I didn't get much of that done today but I did make a little progress in email. Fortunately I haven't had 400 emails a day. Seriously grateful for that. We saw some of our friends/co-workers and again want to express our gratitude for all of the support you've provided us. We sincerely appreciate it.

This afternoon we met with our insurance adjuster. We talked about what he had seen so far, and it took us back when he said that he hasn't seen anything like our street since Katrina. He's worked in Tornado alley for months at a time and tornadoes come through there every hour - and he's never seen it as condensed as our street. Remarkable and yet shocking. I guess I just assumed this is what tornadoes do. Apparently our block is pretty unique.

As for the meeting, I'm not sure what I expected, but it didn't go quite as I planned. He arrived right on time, was very nice and personable but... We didn't sit down, talk about what was covered, not covered, etc. He made a few comments as we went around regarding things that he didn't believe were covered in our policy and how things worked with insurance, but no let's sit down and go through this together. Again, that was my expectation - not necessarily appropriate I s'pose. Stephen said he didn't really expect that. He thought it would be like when you get your car repaired. They email you the information and you then find someone to fix it. I guess I thought because it was our house it might be a little bit different.

The awesome news: we can move back into our house. The adjuster indicated that once power is restored the insurance company views it as okay to live in the house. Good by us.

We went room by room on the interior and then side by side outside.

For the interior damage he requested that we work on an itemized list to send directly to the insurance company so that they can handle that part. (Contents part of the claim.) He was there primarily to deal with the structure things and the significant interior things (i.e. carpeting)

Damage he did assess:
Master Bedroom
In our bedroom, hallway and steps we will be able to get all new carpeting due to the glass that came through the window. The rest of the damage in the bedroom will be covered under contents.

Windows
We'll see how many windows he put for replacement but we know that three are missing glass and several others have not only the screens damaged but as a result of debris coming through the screen the windows are scratched/damaged.

Living Room / Playroom
In our living room/play room he indicated he was advising that we need to replace all of the furniture due to the glass damage.

Screened in Porch
All of the screen will need to be replaced.

Roof
The front half of the roof needs to be replaced but he didn't see any damage on the back half of the roof. Once we get the estimate we will need to determine whether we can spend the extra money to replace the rest of the roof.

Siding
He was recommending that the front and two sides be replaced due to damage throughout the siding. We asked what would happen if we couldn't match the siding... If we can't match it, we'll need to pay out of pocket to get the fourth side to match. We're keeping faith that since it's a builder mass produced kind of color, we will be able to get the same color.

Yard/Grass/Trees
We have a 20'+ tree that came down. Fortunately not into our house. As a result of it not coming into our house there is not assistance with removal or replacement. It's blocking the drainage easement so we will need to do something about it pretty soon. There is another tree that is leaning over. Same deal with this one.

The yard damage (shrubs, bushes, flowers, etc.) are not covered for replacement. They are only replaceable under certain conditions. For the most part it excludes acts of nature. Fire, theft, explosion, vandalism, etc. are covered with regards to plants - but not wind/rain. So, we'll have to figure this part out. We have a lot of shrubs, etc. in our yard.

The grass... One of our neighbors said that their insurance company indicated that they would be replacing the lawn with sod. They said that it was unsafe for their children to play on so they'd be replacing it. Well, for us, it's the same gig with the yard damage. This isn't covered. We aren't sure how you clean this up - but we're going to figure it out. Maybe using some friends, trash bags and gloved hands. ;)

We also learned that the way adjusters are paid is by the value of the claim. The higher the claim value, the more money they make. It's in their best interest to make a claim that is higher in value. In turn the adjuster is responsible for providing proof.

We need to send him some pictures in order for him to complete our claim. Stephen will be finishing that up tomorrow. We're trying to figure out how to send over a gig of pictures to him.

Tomorrow we have HVAC folks coming out to check our units and see if they're operable. Our neighbor was able to plunk his back on the slabs and turn them on. Amazing. We'll see what happens with ours tomorrow. We didn't try to turn them on today.

Yesterday and today was more talking with the neighbors and such. Today was the first day that we didn't have police at either corner of the block keeping people out. There was still a police presence though. We're grateful for this as the volume of people that were up/down the street today increased. We even had folks looking for scrap metal going through the piles trying to pull stuff out.

We've heard stories of contractors that have come through with sketchy (said as kind as I can) proposals for some of our neighbors. Sad that some folks try to take advantage of people in a situation when their emotions and minds aren't necessarily in the right place.

I need to again give kudos to Carolina Restorations. GREAT GREAT group of folks. They were one of the first to be on-site and were there again today going back through the homes that they worked on to make sure everything was okay. We're very impressed with them. We think we might use them for our repairs since they can handle the whole claim even down to the (interior) house cleaning post repairs.

Emotions have started to run a little higher in the last couple of days than they did the first few. We're past the immediate shock/crisis of the situation. I know I am finding myself being a little shorter fused than I was a few days ago. I continue to remind myself though that we're very fortunate, and ultimately it will all work out.

We're hoping that soon the city will come through to pick up the debris from the curbs. Once that happens the neighborhood will be a little safer and there will, hopefully, be less fiberglass floating in the air. We will still absolutely have clean up of that - and I expect that will continue for months, but at least the piles in front of our houses will be removed.

Tomorrow we have a couple kind people coming over to help us do some cleaning in the house. We need to make sure that when we come back from Myrtle Beach on Monday that we can safely have Katherine in the house. Today she told her teachers that she's not at home because there's glass all over her house. :( I know she's been impacted by the situation and it breaks my heart. We're hoping that going to the beach for a few days then coming home to our house will help bring some stability back to her world. Tonight we tried to have a family fun night. Pizza, ice cream and swimming in the hotel indoor pool. She said she had a "great time" tonight. She was smiling the whole night. Tomorrow is her Easter party at school, complete with visit from the Easter Bunny (yes, another one!) and egg hunt. (For those that aren't on FB, K seems to have an addiction to sitting with the Easter Bunny. She LOVES it.... Good news is she isn't scared of him.)

So, cleaning tomorrow, packing for MB and then doing what lots of people (we think) do when something rocks your world a little bit - running away. :) Is it selfish that I hope to be able to get a run or two in too?? Looking forward to an Easter egg hunt (maybe on the beach?), some fun and distraction. :)

Thank you again for the continued, prayers, messages, texts and calls. It's so comforting to know there are so many people around us that care so very much. I've learned so many "lessons" from this experience. SA and I often reflect after big events about the things we've learned from them. For example (a smaller lesson): When you receive a wedding invitation: RSVP as soon as possible. The people sending them are eagerly awaiting your response. (Learned through personal experience... checking the mail every day wondering will anyone come?? Who's coming?? Have we heard from this person??)

In this instance we've learned that letting people help you doesn't just benefit you, it helps them too. I'm trying to keep this in mind as offers for help, etc. are made. This was (and continues to be) a harder lesson for me. I realized this as we have been trying to "do" for our neighbors that lost their homes and so many of their possessions. We keep asking what we can do for them. They respond with they don't need anything right now and will let us know when they do. To steal a phrase from my cousin Michelle, it's a little "hand wringing" for me because I WANT to help. I NEED to help. Perhaps out of guilt that my house is still standing and theirs isn't - but I genuinely want to do anything I can to help ease what they're going through.

I realized that they may never ASK for help. It's hard for people to ask for things. I *think* it's easier to accept when they're just done, given, etc. So... I decided that I would just "do" rather than ask. In my heart I feel better. Again, could be a completely selfish thing. Part of my "survivors guilt," but it's made me feel better. I realized yesterday as they were talking about it being one of the kids birthdays that they probably didn't have anything for Easter. I went to the store and tried to take care of things to help the Easter Bunny out. He is a pretty busy Bunny. ;) Today I gave them the rubbermaid filled with things from The Bunny himself. I'm still absolutely willing to help them with whatever they need... but realize that they're overwhelmed and just don't know what they need or are struggling with asking. Another life lesson learned for me.

If we have more information tomorrow as far as progress I will post a blog. If not, the next tornado update might be post Easter. If I don't *talk* to you before then, we hope you have a blessed day & treasure the time with your family & friends. And, remember the reason for the day. ;)

Miracles continue to happen each day.

Love & thanks to all! xo
Darlene, Stephen & KK

Another article/photos of our street from the newspaper today:
http://www.newsobserver.com/2011/04/19/1141372/serendipity-court-hit-hard-by.html

Photos from Day 1 & days after during clean-up (these are some repeats from FB postings we've had but since we aren't "friends" with everyone on FB I thought I'd post them in an album):
http://smilebox.com/playBlog/4d6a51784e7a41304d6a593d0d0a&blogview=true