Snail's pace

I see it's been quite  a while since I've updated the progress on the house....But I hate to say there is very little to tell you about in regards to the house. The weather, on the other hand, has left us with a lot to say! It has not allowed our contractors to move forward. We've had wind chills well below zero, lots and lots and lots of snow, rain, fog, wind and even thunder snow.  Yep, we've just about had it all. The other day we were listening to the weather and the meteorologist said that the temps were going to warm up, but with the warmth will come flooding because the ground is too frozen to soak up the moisture. L thought about that for a little while then he asked, "So if there's snow and flooding and rain and wind all at the same time, does that mean it's the end of the world??" Awww.. We had a good conversation after that kind of question. Poor guy. He's been a weather worrier ever since the tornado..

There is a post sticking out of our creek (at our big house) that D measured a while back. There's a white line on the post that measures three feet deep and the snow is right at that line.

The melting snow is causing problems. Lots of people whose homes were swept away by the tornado are only left with basements. Most of those basements have been boarded over. People are trying to maintain them in an effort to salvage the foundation. I've heard of people declaring what was left of their house has quickly converted from a basement to a swimming pool. In some cases insurance is covering the damage from the snow/ice/water, in other cases they are forcing the home owner's to submit a new claim with a new deductible. Ick.

All day yesterday we (and by we I mean everyone in town I talked to and am following on facebook) were talking about the weather. So many of us are tired of the snow, but we find comfort in the fact that if it's cold and it stays cold out there won't be a chance of storms or tornadoes. So, when the weather man said we are expecting warm temps we were happy to see things warm up and thaw out, but worried that scary weather would accompany the warm air. And sure enough it did...High winds and fog happened simultaneously. Tornadoes were spotted about an hour and a half south of us. Fortunately they did not cause any major damage.

Last night the fog was the worst I've ever seen. The ground was still frozen, but the air was warm so the air was really dense. You could hardly see. We had hair cuts scheduled in B-town yesterday afternoon. The boys have missed haircuts for several weeks because of tornado related tasks and because of the awful weather, so D was determined to go. As we drove we decided that once we'd reached the interstate if the fog hand't gotten better we'd turn around and drive back home. Well, as soon as we got out of the country and drove closer to town the air was completely clear and the fog was gone. It was the strangest thing to go from minimal visibility to complete visibility. It was as if I'd put my glasses back on and regained my vision. The guys got their hair cut and we stopped on the way home for dinner. Haircut nights are my favorite. Maybe next time the weather will be better.

Today the weather was more stable, a steady 30-40 degrees. In a few days the temps are supposed to drop again. I should have bought a nicer pair of winter boots after stepping on a nail in mine. Oh well. I'll claim these and replace them for something for next year.

We go through phases of emotions regarding getting back into our house. We have times when we'd like to spruce up a few things that we've been thinking about doing for a while such as adding built in shelving around the fireplace and back splash over the kitchen counters. We think about doing interesting decorating things that we've seen online like hanging reclaimed wood somewhere in the house. We'd like to add a light fixture here and a canned light there, maybe even switch to a larger ceiling fan...We get into a groove where we think about paint colors, picture frames and furniture..At times we feel like now is the time to do those things.

However, now that we've been sitting and waiting for several weeks with no repairs made, we're considering scrapping the upgrades and just moving back in. After the glimpse of stormy weather yesterday we realize how important it is to us to get back into our house where we can hang out in the basement if that makes us more comfortable during a bad weather.

At times the extra things we'd like to add to the house just don't matter. We want to move back into the house. We want to patch and paint the walls, throw in some carpet, give the place a deep cleaning and move in. We even joked last night that there are times we could live with the plywood floors and wait until our wood floor issue gets resolved with insurance. These are the times we just wanna be home!! We want to be back in our kitchen, our bedrooms, our garage and our basement. Yesterday was a reality check that storms can come again and we'd love to be back in our house where we have a basement to run to if needed. Our rental doesn't have a basement, not even a crawl space..

It's very frustrating and disappointing that construction isn't further along. People keep asking when we're going to move in but we really don't know. When insurance and weather cooperate we'll get the ball rolling. And when the ball gets rolling I really hope it moves fast so we can get things done!

In addition to construction frustrations my back has flared up. I had a flare up like this about nine years ago that required weeks of physical therapy and chiropractic care. This time around I'm sure I would benefit from that type of care (and it's available to me), but now I have two kids and two houses to take care of. I'm doing my best to pace myself. I'm allowed to do light exercises and deep water walking in the pool. No lifting. No running. No exercises that involve bouncing. I miss you, Dear Grapevine. Ha.
I've been in the pool several times water walking. I'm actually starting to enjoy it. It feels good, but it is easy to get revved up and aggravate this flare up without realizing it until later. I'm doing stretches and PT moves my chiro provided. It's helping, but the healing process, just like the construction process, is going suuuper slowly, a snail's pace. It's even slower with a sinus infection thrown on top. L had this infection first. Now I have it.. Man, you never realize how much you use your back when you cough and sneeze until your back is messed up!! Yikes! (update..D has the sinus infection. He even stayed home from work 'cause he feels bad)

In the meantime D and I continue to do what we can to keep things moving forward as best we can. We have spent lots of time picking out new couches, bed sets, carpet, wood flooring, paint samples, back splash samples, exterior lights, bathroom lights, etc, etc.....We hope to get those things chosen so that when the weather and insurance and health cooperate we are ready to roll.