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Dec. 11th, 2013 01:22 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
ladyjanellyWe had a catastrophic house fire last night. The house and almost everything in it are totaled.
So yesterday at around 5, I put Sami in the car to take her to my friend Michelle's house so I could leave to go to my hockey game before Sam got home since he was going to be running late. I realized I didn't have my phone or the number of the girl I was going to meet at the game, so I ran back in the house to get it. While I was in, I was like "What's that smell?" and I checked the stove to make sure I didn't leave it on, but it was cold. I turned around, and there was black smoke pouring out of the AC vents. I grabbed the closest cat in one hand and dialed 911 with my thumb and ran outside, tossed Blue into the car with Sami, ran back in, and flames were pouring out of the AC closet. I found Piff in the smoke, hiding and crying behind the kitchen table, grabbed him and ran out again. And then I couldn' think of anything worth going back in for (but now I wish I had somehow had the presence of mind to grab Sami's baby pictures hard drive as I was running out). I left Sami and the cats int he car and ran around the front of the house (still talking to 911) and told my neighbors nobody was in the house before someone could run in. And then we stood on the neighbor's lawn across the road and watched our house burn. All our neighbors were great, I think we had 5 offers of a place to stay the night.
We had just put in the new AC/Heater because the old one was from 1975 and cobbled together--it had a different blower and heating element and parts held in place with duct tape--but it didn't catch on fire, so maybe we should have kept that one.
Our insurance agent is treating us great. The adjuster showed up with a check for living expenses before he stepped foot in the damaged house. They're setting us up with temporary housing and reimbursing us for hotel expenses, etc. We've got to go through and itemize the things we lost. It looks like the house is a total loss. We're talking with a restoration place about saving the keepsakes like the quilts from my grandmother and Sam's grandmother. Everything we own is burnt, melted, soot-covered and/or soaked. But it's just stuff.
I have no idea what my daily routine is going to look like for the near future while we get the house torn down and rebuilt. I have to do the inventory of stuff, but after that, I see a lot of writing time opening up (hopefully). I need to pick up a new laptop today, and we're going to get smart-phones now so we can deal with some stuff since we can't be home.
We're doing okay. Sami is at that stage where her toys are her friends, so she's having a few rough moments, but otherwise she's okay. We're replacing some of the special pieces (Grover, Wolf-puppy, her cupcake lego set).
So yesterday at around 5, I put Sami in the car to take her to my friend Michelle's house so I could leave to go to my hockey game before Sam got home since he was going to be running late. I realized I didn't have my phone or the number of the girl I was going to meet at the game, so I ran back in the house to get it. While I was in, I was like "What's that smell?" and I checked the stove to make sure I didn't leave it on, but it was cold. I turned around, and there was black smoke pouring out of the AC vents. I grabbed the closest cat in one hand and dialed 911 with my thumb and ran outside, tossed Blue into the car with Sami, ran back in, and flames were pouring out of the AC closet. I found Piff in the smoke, hiding and crying behind the kitchen table, grabbed him and ran out again. And then I couldn' think of anything worth going back in for (but now I wish I had somehow had the presence of mind to grab Sami's baby pictures hard drive as I was running out). I left Sami and the cats int he car and ran around the front of the house (still talking to 911) and told my neighbors nobody was in the house before someone could run in. And then we stood on the neighbor's lawn across the road and watched our house burn. All our neighbors were great, I think we had 5 offers of a place to stay the night.
We had just put in the new AC/Heater because the old one was from 1975 and cobbled together--it had a different blower and heating element and parts held in place with duct tape--but it didn't catch on fire, so maybe we should have kept that one.
Our insurance agent is treating us great. The adjuster showed up with a check for living expenses before he stepped foot in the damaged house. They're setting us up with temporary housing and reimbursing us for hotel expenses, etc. We've got to go through and itemize the things we lost. It looks like the house is a total loss. We're talking with a restoration place about saving the keepsakes like the quilts from my grandmother and Sam's grandmother. Everything we own is burnt, melted, soot-covered and/or soaked. But it's just stuff.
I have no idea what my daily routine is going to look like for the near future while we get the house torn down and rebuilt. I have to do the inventory of stuff, but after that, I see a lot of writing time opening up (hopefully). I need to pick up a new laptop today, and we're going to get smart-phones now so we can deal with some stuff since we can't be home.
We're doing okay. Sami is at that stage where her toys are her friends, so she's having a few rough moments, but otherwise she's okay. We're replacing some of the special pieces (Grover, Wolf-puppy, her cupcake lego set).
