Black Friday

We had a great Thanksgiving Day and Mom and Dad's yesterday. Everyone was really good about pitching in to make the meal and to clean up afterwards. Mom sat at the head of the table where Dad would normally sit, but that was appropriate. She's been really strong the last seven weeks. She's still dealing with lots of "stuff" that I suspect is pretty typical after the loss of a spouse. She's also taking over everything Dad would normally due around the house in addition to doing her usual tasks. She's been a rock for my family since the tornado hit. She's a good mixture of tough (walking to my house after the tornado hit) and thoughtful. Making a meal for our family is tricky, but she did a terrific job of making it friendly for the both the vegetarians and meat lovers, for the gluten lovers and the gluten sensitive. All while dealing with the fact that Dad wasn't there. He was always good about greeting us at our car's as soon as we pulled into the drive."Hey, kiddo" he'd say and greet us with a hug. "What do you need me to carry in for ya?" Dad was good about putting the extra leaf in the dining room table, getting out extra chairs, emptying the garbage when it got filled, doing the dishwasher after the meal, cooking the meat and cutting the turkey. It was pretty obvious that Dad wasn't' there to cut the turkey and that was a bit of a reality check for me. However, my sister's husband did a good job of taking over. Preparing the meal, the table the house was a team effort but Mom was definitely the coach of this team. She should sit at the head of the table.

on our way home from Thanksgiving I told D I needed to pick something up at Target..I don't remember what I needed, but it was something basic, necessary. When we turned the corner and saw the Black Friday (err Thursday) crowd wrapped around the building we remembered it was Black Friday. Needless to say we didn't even attempt Target last night. Whatever it was we needed was not that important!! In year's past I would get super excited about Black Friday. I would scan the ads, make my list, make my plan for the day, pack snacks, water kleenex. I'd lay out my clothes so I could jump in them first thing in the morning so I could join the crowds and feel the rush. I was that person and next year I might be again, but not this year. This year my Black Friday mission was to find a rental property for my family to live in for the next handful of months while your house is being gutted and put back together.

My Black Friday mission started Wednesday night at nine when a friend texted me to see if I'd been in contact with a company that's hired by insurance companies to find rental properties for those who've been displaced due to a disaster. I hadn't heard of that! And they can help you rent furniture too? Wow! I got in contact with the lady right away and she texted me back. She texted and emailed me from nine o'clock until eleven o'clock that night, Thanksgiving Eve! She even called me a few times Thanksgiving morning and we set up an appointment to see the little house at nine this morning. It's a house, not an apartment. That means our boys can run and jump and play without disturbing anyone below or next to us. It has a one car garage. D was quick to give me the garage so I don't have to scrape my windows before getting the boys to school. It has three bedrooms and one small bedroom that we will use as a small office. D and I joked that the house is a 1960's time capsule. It's definitely seen many a tenants, but it will be our home for the next few months. We saw the house and as we were leaving another couple came in to see it after us. Another couple saw it after them. When we saw the other couple entering the house we felt the pressure of the tightening rental housing market. Eeek! We gotta tell him how interested we are. We returned to our damaged home to manage the crew that was there to help while waiting for the phone to ring........I'm glad our minds were occupied with work because that made the time go faster. Our seven person crew (ten when you add in D, D's Dad and I) ripped out carpet, pulled up tack strips, moved furniture into and out of the Uhaul, packed boxes, etc, etc. We had terrific help!! Then after a while we got the call that Joe chose us to rent the house! "We got the house!" Yay!! What a tremendous relief. A roof over our heads....A humble, quaint, nostalgic roof, but a roof nonetheless. The best Black Friday shopping I'll ever do!!