A brief summary of my life over the past 4 weeks ........ poorly chronicled
4 weeks ago on a Saturday morning, My oldest son convinces all the boys to shave their heads in solidarity.
Big brothers can be fun.........
and sometimes they shave your head.
David escaped this one. He was on Guard Duty that weekend.
After the novelty wears off, Ben decides it's not the best look for him.
For the next week, he wears this baklava.
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Less than a week later.
Our basement floods.
The kids bailed water out from our basement while I paid bills; contacted our insurance company; and called several plumbers.
After being denied coverage (the first of many times in this long ordeal) Manda and I go on a walk after 8 hours of inefficient and pointless "water extraction"
I make her pose for pictures.
Remember that post?
Yeah....... That was our day.
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Several days later, we get the first big storm of 2010. This is what happens:
~ My husband gets called in to the hospital for a mass casualty. A 30 car wreck. Followed by a 16 car pile up.
~He leaves for the Hospital and I decide to go on a stroll and take pictures of the storm.
~ He comes home that Evening and tells us to pray for a man that he worked on. A trucker who had stepped out of his vehicle and was run over by a vehicle. He had an open book pelvic fracture.... compound tibia fracture .... a severed femoral vein. Amazingly, he was still alive.
Jeff says that it's difficult when they come in talking to ya.....
And you know they probably won't make it to the end of the day.
Remember this post? Yeah....... That was THAT day.
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~Over the next week, I wrangle with the insurance company.
~We hire a company to extract the water and dry the basement.
~The water covers 2000 sq. ft of finished basement.
~It's 100% coverage.
~ We're looking at Ten's of thousands of dollars worth of damage.
Over the week, The Insurance Company keeps setting different standards in order for coverage to be met and when we prove that we meet them; They change the standard.
~ They continue to deny our claim.
~ We continue to pray.......
~ And start looking for a lawyer.
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We have 2 Birthdays during this time.
My oldest daughter turns 22.
My youngest daughter turns 5.
~ She's been asking for a UVA football helmut for months now.
~ Erin brings one home.
~ We don't tell her that UVA's football team has a terrible record.
~ Our neighbor, who is a Hokies fan, does that.
*Thanks Alex!* ;)
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Snow Storm # 2 arrives the 3rd week. That evening, around dinner time, Jay comes home from JMU:
~"Where's Scoo" (Deborah) he asks?
~"She and David have class until 10 pm", I reply.
~"The college has been closed since 3 o' clock this afternoon" he tells me.
~ It' 6:30.
We make some phone calls. No answer. We call friends. They haven't seen her since early afternoon. I call Jeff. He's on his way home and decides to stop by the College. The parking lot is empty. We suit up to head out the door. It's been 5 hours since the College closed.
~Jay barely made it back earlier in our 4 wheel drive Durango.
~They're driving the Subaru our $100.00 lemon.
~ As we get ready to leave, Deb and Dave walk through the front door covered in snow. The car is in the ditch up the road.
~ GOOD NEWS!!
They eat dinner while Jay, Mark, Michael and I get in the car. We do some donuts in the street as we make our way toward the ditched car.
We get it out of the ditch and do some more donuts with The Subaru.
We're very relieved so we have a Good Craic!!
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Over the next few days.......
We thaw out a bit.
Blech..... "Tastes like dirt"
~Jeff & I continue to wrestle with the insurance company. And we continue to pray for the man Jeff took care of that day.
~He is still alive.
~Which is incredible.
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Our Next Snow Storm arrives.......
We dig.
We play.
(Hair grows back)
************************ The Next Day.
~We find out, that even though the claims department agrees that we're insured, our 5th appeal to the insurance company has been rejected by the underwriters.
~We received the invoice for the water extraction..........
~It was $11,115.00
Jeff walked into the Living Room as we were absorbing all of this and informed us that the man we'd been praying for had died from the injuries he sustained during the accident. The man's Mother had called the ER to thank the hospital staff for helping her son.
Ben and I looked at each other from across the room and I saw the shock and sadness in his eyes. In many many ways, this was the most disappointing news of all.
There are many things we can't control in this life. And even as we appeal to The Lord for mercy and grace, we do so with an open hand.
♰ In matters of life and death, we can do no more. ♰
In regards to the insurance claim though, we would exercise stewardship..........
~ And My IrIsH was UP.
That night I wrote an email to the Supervising Claims officer. I told her that the word "unhappy" would not accurately reflect my deep disappointment in their decision nor the determination and resolve I had in pursuing the matter even to the President of the company.
Visions of me as Bruce Banner trans-morphing into The Incredible Hulk and storming the Underwriting Department of our Insurance company filled my head that day. It looked something like this: (remember: I'm The Hulk and the rogue military is Underwriting)
"I'm Angry. Underwriting won't like me when I'm angry."
I have a rich fantasy life. But that trailer accurately reflected my feelings that day.
Jeff talked to them once more and reminded them of our determination. They agreed to send it on to The Senior underwriter and would get back with us with his decision.
Yesterday we were notified by a representative from the Claims Department.
~ They're going to cover us according to the terms of our policy.
We're very grateful.
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Those were the highlights of my last 4 weeks.
We're getting another 12 to 20 inches of snow today.
And it's my daughter Erin's Birthday too. *Happy Birthday, Erin*
This does not give an accurate impression of the snows depth. We're walking on broken trail. There is a foot of packed snow beneath our feet.
After taking pictures outside that morning, I had what looked like a "reverse French manicure" (the base of my nails were white) My hands felt like they were on fire as they began to thaw out.
"Spring, summer, and fall fill us with hope; winter alone reminds us of the human condition." ~Mignon McLaughlin
Really?
"I prefer winter and fall, when you feel the bone structure of the landscape - the loneliness of it, the dead feeling of winter. Something waits beneath it, the whole story doesn't show." ~Andrew Wyeth
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My Manda Moo-Moo ~ Greener days.
The sky that day. Straight from the camera and unedited.
Creationists are willing to pay for and distribute Origin of Species, and Darwinists are intimidated by 50 pages of counter argument included in the book. Why is that?
If Intelligent design/Creationism are clearly without basis and ridiculous, why bother tearing out the pages?
Premium
We dig.
(Hair grows back)
After taking pictures outside that morning, I had what looked like a "reverse French manicure" (the base of my nails were white) My hands felt like they were on fire as they began to thaw out.
