Hope still floats

Last year, our house was pounded by Tropical Storm Erin; which is really quite funny in and of itself since we are completely landlocked here in western Oklahoma. Never-the-less, our house fell prey to its destructive path; and even being 9 months pregnant at the time, I remember that evening so vividly…of course that could be because I am reminded on a daily basis of its wrath as the patchwork of a job ("It's only temporary...", "It's just until we get this insurance thing taken care of...") graces my front room and welcomes me home to my “Money Pit.”

When we went to bed on the evening of August 18, 2007 it was raining fairly hard with no end in site. Remembering that our front windows were prone to leakage if the wind and rain blew just right, I got up to check on it. The front rooms were more-or-less flooding. Water was quickly seeping through the door and windows. I quickly pushed our what furniture we had in there (which coincidentally was very little since I have yet to decide what to do with these rooms) and ALL of my son’s toys to the center of the rooms, away from the windows, and grabbed towels, sheets and old T-shirts to place about the rooms. Thinking I had it all under control, I once again retired for the evening.

An hour or so later I was awakened by a dripping sound. Yet again, I made my way to the front of the house. This time I was greeted by rain water dripping from the ceiling not only in the aforementioned front room but also in our living room. This time I grabbed buckets, bowls and pots and placed them about the rooms; and once again, feeling I had everything under control, I waddled back to bed.

An hour later, I was woken up yet again; but this time it was by a loud crashing noise. Because it was so loud, my husband actually got up with me to see what had fallen. We assumed one of our ceiling fans had fallen…unfortunately, we were very much mistaken. Our entire ceiling in our front room had collapsed, bringing down with it all the decades-old insulation…and yes, it all fell onto everything that I had previously pushed to the center of the room. I couldn't help but plop down in the middle of the doorway and bawl. If that didn't send me in to labor, I was convinced nothing would. So, for almost a year now we have fought tirelessly with our insurance company over the need for a new roof. We have had three different representatives venture out to our abode and all three have had different reasons for their not giving us money to replace said roof. All have conclusively stated, however, that our roof is not damaged…despite the fact that whenever it rains I have around seven rooms that leak, despite the fact that my back porch continues to fall apart under the pressure of the wind and rain, and despite the fact that every time I mow the lawn, I find more shingles in my yard and planting beds…no roof damage here though.
A local insurance agent in our small town, heard our story through the grapevine (imagine that), and has offered to help us get everything taken care of. I guess he does a lot of work with our insurance company on a regular basis and agrees that something is amiss with the whole ordeal. I will be thrilled if he can at least get them to return a phone call.

So anyway, maybe, just maybe, this time next year, I will have a new roof, non-leaking rooms, and a front entrance that I am proud to come home to...of course, with my grand and of course costly ideas which exceed our income...well, you know how that goes.