We are all managing well. Still in the TownPlace Suites by Marriott. Our relocation specialist is optimistic that we will soon find a temporary house close to our neighborhood now that the holidays have passed and realtors are back from vacations and time off. While the kids spent most of the last two weeks with friends, often sleeping over, and thus are still comfortable with the novelty of the hotel, the tight quarters are becoming a little tiresome. Although I do think Kimmy will miss the daily housekeeping ;).
While Kimmy and I hold out hope that our clothing will be cleanable and returned to us we have had to buy wardrobe enough to carry us through until we hear back from the fire cleaning specialist. Of course Phoebe and Samantha will require completely new wardrobes so we are steadily shopping and replacing the necessities of daily living this time of year. Unfortunately, until we have the capacity to store more (the hotel closets are quite small as I am sure you can imagine) we have to limit somewhat and Kimmy is becoming very familiar with the hotel laundry facilities.
Many friends have provided food so we are all happily getting fat and are so very appreciative of the thoughtfulness. One of our neighbors owns a couple of very popular restaurants, Nick and Jake's and Will Jenny's, and has generously offered to host the entire family for dinner which has the kids licking their chops! With a family as large as ours this is a very magnanimous gesture and I feel compelled to offer a grateful plug so I encourage everyone to patronize both of these fine eating establishments!!!
The very professional crew from Serve Pro has been hard at work and our entire house has been emptied of the potentially salvageable contents and they have begun the process of drying as much of the remaining water from the fire dept.'s heroic efforts as possible. Unfortunately, there was a significant delay getting the drying equipment into the house due to the City of Leawood's stringent building codes. One of the first things the fire dept. does when responding to a structural fire is shut off the gas and they actually severed the connection between the incoming gas line and the house. In order to reconnect the gas service, the City of Leawood requires an inspection to ensure the gas mechanism is reconnected properly and there are no leaks within the home. During the inspection they discovered a very slight gas leak that was completely unrelated to the fire itself. Frankly, as it was explained to me, there actually would not have been a true leak except that, in order to pass the inspection, the City requires the pipe system handle a load up to 12psi (typical household use would normally never exceed around 2psi). At this high level of pressure there was a slight "needle movement" so we failed inspection. It took the repairman an entire day (and an unbelievably large number of wholes punched into the ceiling of the basement!) to find this "phantom" leak, but it was found, repaired and we passed the second time around. Then, of course, the gas company took DAYS to get out there and turn the gas back on which resulted in almost 11/2 weeks without the drying equipment in the home. By the way for those that I am sure are wondering what one, (the gas) has to do with the other (the drying equipment) apparently the dehumidifiers will freeze up in the cold so the house has to be heated for the 22 of them to effectively do their work.
The good news is all of the drying has been completed. Almost everything has been removed and what hasn't will be thrown away so the re-construction can begin soon. Phoenix Restoration has already warned Kimmy and I that it will seem slow the first 30 days as they pull their permits and arrange the various specialists and what-not but I remain optimistic that we will be back in our home by June.
Our holidays were joyous and rich. We spent an absolutely delightful Christmas Eve with our friends, the Yockey's, and had Christmas day and dinner with our next door neighbors and dear friends, the Orwicks. Fortunately for the kids Santa still managed to find them and was very kind (even to our little arsonist). The boys were teased just a bit when Santa brought them games for their Wii and Playstation but hopefully we will find out soon if game consoles made it through undamaged. The Wii was upstairs and thus far more likely to have been exposed to fire and water whereas the PS3 was in the basement and elevated from the floor which will hopefully result in survival! New Years eve was spent with another group of friends and graciously hosted by the Peterson's and we happily toasted our health and happiness for years past and those to come.
Kimmy's hands are healing nicely. She had a check-up on the burns a few days ago and the doctors were pleased with her progress. We are both anxious to get thank you cards out to the many folks who sent us goodies but frankly I have the penmanship of a 2nd grader so I ask for patience while she heals. This way, everyone will actually be able to READ the notes written in the cards… Kimmy will also fire up her old blog with daily (or close to daily ;)) blog entry's to chart the progress of the reconstruction.
The kids are back in school (except the recent snow kept them home the first two days of this week! Poor Kimmy…) so we are trying to establish normalcy. Kimmy's mom had been planning a visit for some time and despite her worries that she would be a bother we BEGGED her to keep her plans and we all have been enjoying her company immensely! She is a real trooper because I can promise you it is NO PICNIC being couped up with the Millers in a few small hotel rooms!! She heads back home the 17th and we will miss her. Maybe, if we are lucky, we will be in a rental home before she leaves so she will get at least a few days in a more comfortable environment. Besides, we need to save our friends from Jasper. My friend and colleague and his family, the McManus', are watching him and I know he is probably driving them all crazy!!
Once again, we all want to reiterate our sincere, deepest gratitude for outpouring of love and generosity. Kimmy, the kids and I will never be able to truly express how grateful we are for all the gifts, donations, thoughts, prayers and above all, love that has been bestowed upon us.
We are forever in your debt.
B
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