Waiting to Move

Since Hurricane Ike quite a lot has happened. First, my mild heart attack did no heart damage and I have been active with no ill effects. Medicine and further testing will insure a full recovery. In mid December they will conduct a Nuclear Study test which is essentially a stress test with an IV inserted, as I understand it. The test will take 3 to 4 hours. But otherwise I feel good and there is much to do.

We spent some days away from our wet house after the hurricane, but after some clean up and placing plastic on the concrete floors (to keep the dust from the sheet rock off our feet) the house was livable. But there really was no place else to go. Friends had no electricity and problems of their own, and even motels were damaged or full. We found a nearby apartment unit, but it would not be ready until October 17th. The only motel we found was 20 miles away and $150 a night! And it would be a week before it was available.

So we made do with our home, much more livable after they removed the dehumidifiers and noisy fans that removed much of the moisture that could produce mold and mildew. We have eaten fast food mostly, but dining out is nice, too. While living here we continue to sort through things, preparing the damage list for the insurance claim, and boxing and moving contents to either our storage unit or to the old house I use for business and storage.

Our neighbor found a rent house and that sounded like a nice option. After finally seeing our Texas Wind insurance adjuster about a week ago we turned our attention more to the house option since now it sounds like 6 months or more before restoration of our house will be complete. Plus, we could move things out of the $200 a month storage unit into the house garage. And the contents of our house would all fit in another house, but not in an apartment and storage unit.

Yesterday we found a suitable home in Friendswood and Saturday we have a moving company set to move us from our house and storage unit. Just in time as rain has already leaked past the roof tarp once recently, and more rain is expected soon. With us out of the way our remodeling company is hoping to have an advance from the insurance company and begin roofing and finish gutting the interior of the house. Just about all the sheet rock will be removed. But with so many homes damaged and in need of work the demand for materials and labor will be very high, delaying things we expect at times during the course of the restoration. But at least things are happening finally and next year we will have a new home after all the work is completed.

See more pictures of our house after some clean up to make it livable