Sunroom, Al's office set up in living room and spare bedroom for guests. Now you can visit!!

 

Various pictures of outside of house and different portions of the yard. The house is on 1 and 1/3 acres of land.

 

 

 

Living in an RV has been quite an experience. We were and are grateful that Ron had this RV, fixed it up and saw to it that it got here, driven by Linda, to provide us a place in which to live. It has been parked on our driveway and has been our home for nine months. It is far, far better than a FEMA trailer. It has much more built in storage capacity, windows all around the outside (FEMA trailers have three very small windows total), two air conditioners, it's own generator and was larger than the FEMA trailer we would have been allotted. However, there were some annoying facets of RV life. For example: Every time I made toast the smoke alarm went off. We could not use the microwave at the same time as the toaster oven or coffeemaker. Basically it was one appliance at a time. There was room for only one person to be walking at a time so if Al or I wanted to move around the other person had to sit down and get out of the way. There were a lot of "excuse me"s in the RV. The bed was attached to the rear wall sideways so Al took the inside and had to crawl over me whenever he got out of bed and I was still sleeping. We actually had some good laughs about that because the crawling was not always successful. It was inconvenient in the middle of the night though. The toilet and small sink were in one little closet room and Al used to say it was fine because you could not fall off the toilet in any direction (his Joke). The shower was across from the toilet closet and had a removable spray showerhead that I could never adjust so that it wouldn't spray at my head. It was also difficult to carry on the business of our lives in that little space. All of the necessary FEMA/SBA/FLOOD INSURANCE/HOMEOWNERS INSURANCE/BUILDING CONTRACTOR/LOANS papers, applications, receipts, bills, lists of lost property, pictures, etc. , all needing to be categorized, attended to, copied, filed and kept where they could be accessed and referred to in a timely manner. Al set up a system of filing that was masterful, but it did take a lot of space and I frequently tripped over large boxes of files. It was very difficult for Al to work at home in those cramped conditions. As you all know, I am not the most organized person and found that I was even worse in that small space. After a while it seemed impossible to organize and I just had piles of things here and there. It was a mess. There was no such thing as privacy or your own space and often we found ourselves wanting to be in the same space at the same time. It required a lot of tolerance and patience from both of us. I found myself thinking of those 60's and 70's studies of the stress and behavioral problems resulting from living with too many people in a small space. In this case that number of people happened to be two. It was stressful and sometimes depressing and I would need to remind myself that indeed, we were lucky to be there..... alive. Many others were still in tents waiting for their FEMA trailers. All that said............

HOORAY and HALLELUJAH

This week we have moved into a house, not the home we are rebuilding, but one around the corner and down the street a little ways. It feels so good to be able to walk around from one room to another, to have Linda and Heimana over for dinner and have us all sit down at the table together, to cook dinner and have the stove, oven and microwave all operating at the same time, to have room in the closet for clothes. The house isn't that large, but it feels spacious to us and it just seems so nice to have different rooms for different functions. I think this whole experience has been designed to make me appreciate what I do have. Both Al and I are very happy to have this home to live in while we await the completion of our home. It has a lovely yard, a double garage and SPACE. Al and I both like having someplace to go in this house. As he says, "In the RV there is no place to go. You're assigned to a four foot spot and you can't step out of your four feet". It certainly is nice to be able to stretch out and be comfortable. We are leaving our mail delivery at the 14008 Puerto Drive address, for we are over there several times per day.

Shown are several pictures of our new home. Keep in mind that we are still moving in and unpacking so you will see boxes, and other items sitting here and there. Heimana has been helping us move and we couldn't have done without him, he has been a willing worker and a blessing. We have emptied one warehouse full into the house as well as items we had stored in a small storage room in the backyard. We have also purchased some used furniture, some of which we will keep and some only to use for the next few months until we find what we want. Right now this is a wonderful place to be and we are grateful.

Photo Explanations:
The pictures below belong to the posting below but I thought I'd explain them a little. The first three are the family room, living room, and foyer, respectively, with their paint sample stripes. The next two are what is left of the gardens on either side of the lower deck. One not yet weeded and the other one cleaned up by Heimana. The last two are of the Meyer Lemon tree that Katrina bothered not at all. A strange set of pictures that kind of goes with my strange life right now.

 

 

 

Progress on the House

Since I last wrote about the house we have had the necessary inspections, insulation and wallboard installed, the ceiling is almost done (actually the men who have worked on it thought they were done but there were parts I didn't like) and the roof is finished except for rain gutters. Most of the molding and baseboard is in place and we will soon be ready for painters. Which brings me to my most difficult task of late.......choosing paint colors of the interior of the house. I have visions of how I want the rooms to look, however I have no furniture nor anything else with which to coordinate colors. That makes it very difficult. I finally went out and purchased two bedding sets to help me with the bedrooms and finally found some fabric to cover the cushions on the teak furniture that survived Katrina so I have been trying to match the fabric and bedding to paints. That helped with 3 rooms. I purchased many paint samples from Sherwin Williams and painted them on walls all over the house. I probably tried out 30 different colors because, as you know, paint on the walls looks very different from the little paper sample. It has to be right the first time because Al says he is absolutely is not going to repaint after it has been done. That eliminates the idea of painting the whole interior an off white shade and then painting once we are moved in. I have stripes in every room and have been at this for over two weeks but I believe I have finished. I am also working at selecting hardwood for the floors, doorknobs for the doors, a front door, cabinet hardware, etc. Things are moving along faster than I am. We don't have a wide selection of places to shop for such items so I am spending time looking on the internet also. Al continues to work so that we can afford all this for the cost of building has definitely risen down here.

It is a few days later and I have finally chosen paint colors, a front door and the hardwood for the floor. I found out I made a mess for the painters by painting all over the walls, but they have taken care of that now and there is a coat of primer on all walls. The ceiling is not fixed but they will do that and they will be back to paint next week. Men also worked on installing rain gutters on the roof.

Heimana performed a miracle in one of the backyard gardens and transformed it from a weedfilled wilderness into a garden ready to take replacements for the plants killed by Katrina saltwater and winds. What he did was amazing for many of the weeds were as tall as he is. I am very grateful. Heimana has been an unceasing help to both Al and I.

One of the few plants that seemed to benefit from it's saltwater, swampy bath from Katrina is the lemon tree. It has a bumper crop of lemons. A few jokes about when life gives you lemons make lemonade come to mind.

 

 

 

I know my last posting had nothing to do with Life With Katrina but I was getting sick of real Life With Katrina and needed to dwell on a happy memory for a change. It is still very depressing down here and so just like Scarlett O'Hara I will think about life down here tomorrow and write about a joyful occasion we were fortunate to be able to attend.

On May 20, Madelaine graduated from Missouri Southern University with a Bachelor of Science degree in Biology. Al, Linda, Francois and I drove up for the graduation and festivities and a couple of days in Joplin visiting with Madelaine, Andrew, and his parents, Susan and Bill. Of course, we are very proud of Madelaine having continued her education and succeeding so well. Her professors praised her as we stood and chatted outside after graduation and offered her continuing support either in a job search or earning a Master's Degree. Madelaine will be taking time off now to take care of Ella Marie due July 15 so future plans are on hold for now. It was a lovely time.

 

My postings are getting all mixed up. This blogging is not easy for old people. Excuses, excuses.
It looks as if I think the picture of Jill and Joel is meant to be Al and I. No, we are underneath the writing. I wish we looked like the picture of Jill and Joel above, however. There is one more group of party pictures and then I promise to stop for now.

 

 

Al and I during happier times. We were enjoying the very special, truly a surprise, birthday party Joel gave for Jill. Joel planned and organized it all and somehow managed to keep it a true surprise for Jill. Not an easy task! We took over Marietta's Mexican Restaurant for a few hours with a large group (50 or 60) of friends and family of all ages. It was great fun for all. The Margueritas flowed and the food was delicious. There was music and impromptu dancing, and a very special moment when Joel sang "Some Enchanted Evening" to Jill. It has been their song since they met while starring in South Pacific and Joel had not sung it to her since their wedding day. It was a touching, precious moment and we all were able to share it. These are warm, happy memories and I frequently look at the pictures from the party. I will share some with you.