Home Again?

Okay, we got the rental, as I think I mentioned previously. Our landlady is great - she and her family lived in the home and were our neighbors for about 5 years before Sam was sick. Her husband (who is usually her partner in the whole rental business) is serving in Iraq, so it's nice that she won't have terribly high maintenance tenants in there for a few months. The home is small, but it's clean and much better than either the motel or the air mattresses on the floor in our house.

Sunday David Choi came down with his DV cam and shot the walkthrough and interviews for the Extreme Makeover: Home Edition submission. There was actually a moment where I found a melted picture frame containing a portrait of my dad just weeks before his death, and later a Polaroid of Kayleigh as a toddler. If we get on the show and you see any misty eyed looks from me in the walkthrough, it's real.

I got my girls from Gilda's club to back me up today. Sharon (who lost her brother to stomach cancer the same weekend Sam died) got on the phone and sorted out my utilities, phone etc. Gavin already handled the cable - we'll have broadband sometime Wednesday. I filed a claim on my primary home insurance so I have an advocate who can get me reimbursed and go after the responsible parties instead of me doing the legwork and the waiting. At the adjuster's behest, Jeanne (a widower from my Gilda's bereavement group) and I went down to CORT furniture rentals and ordered a house full of furniture for the 6 months we'll be living across the street from our former house.

Meanwhile, Pathfinder School has organized parents into a daily food brigade. It's amazing how just wrestling verbally with bureaucrats over the phone all day can exhaust you to the point of forgetting to cook dinner.

Bottom line, we're being taken care of, by the community and our friends and family. The utility companies are treating us well and it looks like we'll have furniture and a new work machine for me by the end of the week. People are writing to ABC on our behalf to get us on Extreme Makeover. Still others are putting money in my PayPal account to cover the inevitable shortfalls of the insurance companies. So far, my insurance has said all the right things - but until I am depositing that final settlement into my bank account, I'm staying on my guard. It's tiring, but I fell like I've been savaged by rabid mutant crocodiles right about now, and my defenses are on full alert.

Again, my thanks to everyone for everything you've done and are now doing. And we don't currently need any more milk. :)

OK - more sleep and then back to the pile of rubble to identify the pieces of our lives tomorrow. And Wednesday I get to make the lighting booth dedication to Sam.