Wednesday: Fog

On Monday the boys and I were on our own while Daddy went back to work for a half day. I've been feeling guilty about not spending time with them due to the fact that I've been working on our "big house" so much. Side note. There was lots of confusion as to which house we were referring to in conversations, so one night we came to an agreement on terminology. We decided to refer to our damage house as our "big house," our rental house as the "small house," and the hotel as the hotel.
Anyway...I'd been feeling guilty about not spending as much time with the boys and I knew Tuesday was going to be our big "back to school" day, so I wanted quality time with my boys. We went swimming at the indoor hotel pool. We ate breakfast, put in a load of laundry on the way to the pool and swam. We had so much fun. I was able to grab some pool toys from our big house, so we played with those. I threw pool rings and the boys retrieved them. We threw pool rockets, played with the battery operated pool penguins, did canon balls and sat in the hot tub for a bit. We had the pool all to ourselves. It was a vacation from our current chaos. We got showered and dressed after swimming and headed to Washington. N's school was open on Monday for people to stop by the office for address changes. Now that we finally have a rental house we could give them that information. If we had lossed our backpacks and lunch boxes we could have selected new ones from the piles that the PTO collected through donation. Both boys' backpacks are fine, so we opted not to do that in case those in need want one. Before the tornado hit (We've shortened that to BT) I had been asking N to bring his gym shoes home so I can wash them. They were getting stiiiinnky! I couldn't remember if he had brought them home, I didn't know if they'd blown away in the storm. So, we went to his locker at school while we were there to see what his gym shoe status was. They were there...still stinky. :)
N's teacher was there so we chatted with her for a bit before leaving. The school looks so nice. We're so lucky to have our school. There are houses 100 yards behind our school that are completely leveled, but yet our primary school only sustained minimal damage. The school administration worked feverishly to have windows replaced, the school yard cleaned up (although the kids can't play at the playground due to small glass), etc. They've been super great to maintain communication, check the structure of the building and roof. We're so lucky. The school looked terrific. A local girl scout troop decorated the school with Christmas decorations, green and red paper chains, set up a Christmas tree and decorated it with hundreds of candy canes. Hundreds of children from schools all lever the country have drawn pictures and written letters to our kids. They are all hanging on the walls in the hallways of the school. Such a beautiful sight. N has been hesitant to to anywhere since the tornado hit. When we stayed at our parents' homes in our hometown the first week after the storm he was comfortable being at their homes, but he didn't want to go to the library, the school gym, etc.
Once we got settled into our hotel room N didn't want to leave the hotel room. We couldn't talk him into going to the Park District for all the activities they were offering there. He didn't want to go to the rainbow play systems play show room, he didn't want to go to our library. Nowhere. He just wanted to stay at the hotel. He finally agreed to go to McDonald's to play and eat lunch and if, after that he was happy, he might go to Target to spend a Birthday gift card on a toy. At the time we didn't have a single toy at our hotel room, so that sparked his interest. He went to Target and McDonald's a couple of times before he was open to going anywhere else. Needless to say I've been anticipating the first day back at school with hesitation. I'm so glad we went on Monday for the open office hours day. I'm so glad we talked to the (wonderful) admins at the front desk, I'm glad we walked the halls, looked at his locker and chatted with his teacher. For some reason that little visit back at his school was a turning point for him. He felt comfortable going back to school. Thank Goodness!!

On Tuesday morning when it was time to get to school I asked him if he wanted me to walk him in or if he wanted me to drive up and let him off at the drop off line he said he was ready to walk in alone. So proud! He walked in with a little hop in his step. ahhhh. That put a big smile on my face to see him walk in so big and brave.


The fog on Tuesday morning actually turned out to be a blessing. It was thick which meant I needed to be careful driving, but it also served as a nice curtain of sorts that covered the boys' view of the debris filled yards/streets on the drive through town en route to school.
Tuesday was also back to school day for L. Monday night he started worrying about going back to school. As we were getting ready for bed he started telling me he didn't want to go and first thing when he opened his eyes on Tuesday morning he repeatedly said he didn't want to go. We talked about his classmates names. We talked about his teachers missing him. We talked about toys he'd get to see again. No dice. Ugh. I was preparing myself for a major melt down. I thought I might have to stay all or at least half the morning with him to get him back in the groove....I said a little prayer asking  God for an extra dose of patients!! I got him out of the car and into the church and as soon as he laid eyes on the three therapy dogs that were there he was fine! He loves dogs and these dogs are trained to be around stressed out kids/adults so knew L would be safe around them. L just loved them. He hung up his coat and backpack, washed his hands and returned to me for a hug. I kneeled down and petted the dogs with him for a few minutes, got another hug from L and he was ready for me to go. No tears!! Yay!! We'll see how Thursday goes ;)

Tuesday Mom and I worked on soft claims at the house. Lay out your insulation covered shirt, take a picture, type it into the spreadsheet. Lay out your glass pelted pillow, take a picture, type it into spreadsheet. Te-di-ous! Tedious! I'm learning that every last step of this disaster is tedious. Oy.

After preschool L, Grammy and I went to the little house for a picnic lunch. We don't have furniture at the little house yet, so we laid out our picnic blanket and ate lunch in the living room. L was super excited to give Grammy the big tour of our little house. The boys are super happy with the little house. D and I were kind of worried because it's older and smaller than our "big house" but the boys love it...so far..Grammy played hide and seek and tag with L before they headed out. I returned to the big house and worked on a few more claims  before it was time to get N from school. Man the time is going fast!!! Wow. Time just vanishes. N and I met Grammy and L at the local McDonald's. They played and I returned to the big house once more. The insurance agent visited the house again and did a very thorough inspection of the house so he can complete his construction estimate. I met Grammy and the boys at the hotel, we had the hummus and salad dinner before Grammy left to see the play Mama Mia with her friend (she said it was fabulous). D was working on the house later, so I fed the boys and got them ready for bed. I was exhausted, but I did it. I folded laundry later that night. I turned on the tv and realized that was only the second time I had watched a television show in the last seventeen days. Was a nice distraction.

On Wednesday I got N to school. L and I met Baba and Grandpa at our big house. They picked him up and watched him all day so I could work on things. When Baba and Grandpa arrived at the house they were glad to see us. At first glance I thought Baba's broken voice and red eyes were a result of allergies or a cold, but after a minute I realized she'd been upset. I should've given her a hug, but I thought she was sniffling from a runny nose. She'd just driven through town and seen the destruction for the first time. Driving through town and seeing the damage is overwhelming, shocking. I had my turn at experiencing the shock at the sight, I've seen the volunteers who made it to our house experience the shock. A former neighbor drove down from WI to visit us and give us a bag of gift cards from her friends/neighors/church (thanks again, M and friends!!!). I saw her initial shock and tears. Everyone experiences that when they visit. Today as I drove the boys to school I saw the progress. Piles of rubble are smaller and some are completely removed. It's  sign of progress, but it's also another step to the realization of just how major this tornado was. A realization of just how lucky we are to be alive!!! When the piles of rubble are gone you can see for blocks and blocks because there aren't houses there to block your view. They've all been wiped away. It just floors me to think of how many years of construction and building were wiped away in a matter of minutes...and it's going to take months and maybe years to rebuild...but we will. We will rise (as I saw on a sign today).

L enjoyed the Farm Show with Baba and Grandpa today. He brought back a bag of peanuts for Daddy and a camo hat for Daddy. L hung out at the hotel with B& G until I picked N up from school. Our neighbors invited us to meet them at Chuck E. Cheez-its (as my kids call it) to play. Quite frankly, after sitting in my car on the drive back to the hotel I realized I was utterly wiped out. Tired. Exhausted...But, if taking my kiddos to CEC to see their friends and play would make them feel happy I would find it in myself to have the energy to go. Dave was going to be a little late because he had a visitation to go to. Ya, one hit after another. One of his tractor buddies from his antique tractor club passed away Thanksgiving night. Very sad and somewhat sudden. So, he went to the visitation and we went to CEC to pass the time. It was good to see our neighbors and their kids. Talking to the other women in the neighborhood is therapeutic. we're all in the same boat as far as the amount of damage to our houses. we're all displaced, living in unfamiliar places. We're all driving back and forth, sorting through our belongings, filing claims...It's good to know I'm not alone.