Sigh.  The floods are (both) gone, and now….the real work begins.

My house is in ruins, our belongings are gone and wreaked.  It just keeps right on piling up, because now we are getting sick from all the sewage, mold, dampness, etc.  And I keep finding more and more things that need to be thrown away.  Just last night I was trying to put away things we had “saved”- and really, not so much- I had to throw out 3 of the very few Thomas trains we had believed we got in time, as well as more of my clothes- they must have gotten splashed as I was carrying them up, because they had strange, splashy stains on them, in all sorts of odd colors that I don’t want to think about.

Both of my “Little Black” dresses?  Gone.  UGH!  You know how it is with your Little Black Dress.  That was a particular brand of upsetting. 
I had sort of “made peace” with the fact that we lost most of our stuff, as much as you can make peace with that.  However- finding things now, that we thought were OK, and having to throw them away is just too much to handle.

Look at my once-beautiful basement.  The basement is the reason we bought this house.  It was beautiful- with a bathroom, office area, door to the backyard, and less then a block to the park.  Now look at it.  I ran a daycare out of here for years!  My kids had their playroom here!

We had a walled off area that was my “closet” since I didn’t have one in the bedroom, and I am a bit of a “clothes horse”- and worse with shoes.
Now?  Look at my house.  We still have 4 more walls to take down, and finish tearing up the floors.  Every time a wall goes down or a floor area comes up, a wall of stagnant sewage comes rushing out, and I cannot describe for you the smell.

There is no end in sight.  FEMA has come, but has not made any promises.  Our homeowners insurance guy came last night, and the flood insurance person has not even called back yet- they may not help at all, but it does look like the foundation shifted a bit, so maybe they will.  God willing, it did and they will- and they will just let us leave the house and insurance will buy it out or however that works.

I know it’s just “stuff”.  But it’s all our stuff, so much of it- and it’s the house, and all the hard work and money and time that made a house a home.  I want my home back.  I want my son to stop waking up crying about water getting him, asking if the water will come back, and why I “let” all his toys float away.  That poor child. 

All that we have worked so hard for.  Just gone in a second.  This whole area, we are just so beaten down right now.  The water has finally receeded, and the streets opened again last night.  I think they are all clear all over now- perhaps one of these days, the school will open.  Maybe even before Halloween!  😛

Welcome to Take Over Tuesday, a Facebook and Twitter hop, hosted by Closer to Lucy, The Thrifty Things, , 3 Princes and a Princess 2 and Have Sippy, Will Travel. Each week we will have either a Twitter or Facebook Hop. This week, it’s Twitter.

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Welcome to this week’s Giveaway Gala!   Each week, this linky will be featured on the Fabulous Collective Media Magic blogs.  You can add your giveaways as well, and they will also be featured.  Make sure you check out our featured giveaways while you are here  🙂

3 Princes and a Princess 2, Closer to Lucy, Have Sippy Will Travel, and The Thrifty Things.

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GALA:

I don’t want to write a post about this.  It feels so fresh, doesn’t it?  And I feel like a cliche right now.
We all know right where we were, who we were with, and every second of those minutes and days.  Its crazy looking at my class, and my kids, and knowing that they weren’t even alive at the time.  Not that I want to talk to small kids about that, those days.  Those acts.  Monsters are already all too real for little children, I wouldn’t want to have them know at such a tender age that no, there are no monsters in your closet or under your bed.  The real monsters look just like us, and are just people filled with hate.  You can’t tell who they are.  It’s too scary for me, I hate thinking of little kids having to hear these things. 

I was a nanny at the time, and there were small children whose daddy worked in the towers at the time, that I was taking care of.  (Daddy was OK- he was on a business trip).  I was horrified that the 3 year old saw and heard the things he did-  he understood too much.  Bad men came and killed people in planes, and in daddy’s work.  People died, and now everyone cries all the time.  Cars stayed in train stations for weeks.  Their owners were not coming home. 

What I told my class and my kids, is that September 11 is a day called Patriots Day, where we remember special people who passed away during a very sad event.  Linda Ellerbee and Nickelodeon put out a DVD and some info about talking to kids about it- but I still want to wait until kids are just a bit older, at least 7 or so, before talking to them about these events that shook our nation.  No point scaring them right now- they just don’t need to know.  Or maybe I just don’t want to talk about it with them.  

It just seems like it happened 5 minutes ago, not 10 years.  I was a freshman in college, and they locked down our school because we were so close.  No one’s phone worked.  And we were all terrified.  One of the teacher’s had her son working there and wouldn’t stop screaming.  My boss worked there, and I was worried sick.  And thinking of his wife and kids…..Then when the towers fell.  We were so young, we thought it was World War 3 beginning.  Sigh. 

Prayers of thanks for all those rescuers who did all they could that day.  And for those who still suffer.  Prayers for those who are so filled with hate, that God will turn their hearts and make them love, and accept others.  Prayers for the oppressed, that they experience life and joy.  Prayers for the families of the lost, the suffering, the forever changed. Prayers for the children who grew up without a parent.  For those who died in the planes.  For those who fought the men who created havoc, and saved the lives of others while sacrificing their own. 

Mostly- Prayers for this world, and for it’s people.  That we can learn to love, to honor, and to accept those who are not like us, and learn to live together in peace.  Because there really is no there way.  It shouldn’t matter who you love, what God you worship, or where you happen to hail from.  We all bleed the same color, and we all ultimately want the same thing.  To live in peace, to be happy, to raise our families and to go about our lives.  I think those are pretty worldwide goals. 

Please God, have mercy on this world, and have mercy on your children.  Help us learn to love each other, and help us learn to live in peace together.  Children do need to grow up some day, and man’s history has been littered long enough with hate and war.  Please God, teach us to love, to let go, and to accept- even if we don’t agree or approve, we can let go and let God. 

Peace and love to you and yours, bloggy buddies.  May whomever you pray to, or whatever guides you, bring you peace and joy and love.  And may we create it for ourselves. 

Join the Retweet Club!

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