Full of Feelings, But Mostly Just Feeling Thankful

I really am full of ‘feelings’, just a warning about this post.  Or actually I sort of feel like a basket case.  The past 3 days have been so physically and emotionally draining.  I feel so devastated about our house and not getting what we need to start repairs. At the same time I am also feeling so sad and sorry for the people that have lost their entire home and along with their belongings and perhaps the loss of a loved one.  I can’t even begin to comprehend what people in Joplin are going through or the sheer devastation in Tuscaloosa just a month ago.  I know their loss is far greater than ours.    I have to be so thankful that my husband and dogs are fine- they are the only things that really matter.  For now our house is livable, it's just not really a ‘home’ with a big hole in the roof. 

We have spent the last 3 days cleaning, helping neighbors, and assessing damage to our property.  The tornado left a 9 mile path affecting 22,000 homes.  We finally will have our adjuster at our home on Friday morning and it is so hard to be patient.  However, I know there are several other people out there that no longer have a home at all.

I have been so amazed and thankful for all the nice comments we have received on our blog.  As I have said before, I love blogging and taking people along on our home renovation journey.  Who would have thought that we would now be posting about a tornado and the carnage it left behind?  It is so nice to feel cared about by people that we have never had the pleasure to meet in person.

One thing I want to say is how amazed I am about the people here that helped us through this mess.  We have no family here in Minnesota, so it felt pretty weird to ask for help from friends for some reason.  But man, the help we received truly touched my heart, we really have some wonderful caring friends here in Minnesota.  A few folks in particular brought me to tears (being physically and mentally drained, any bit of help makes you cry).

**********

Cliff (and Katia), Chris, Dan and Matt- brought chainsaws and enough man power to help us remove the giant spruce tree completely from our yard in only an hour or two.   They even hauled away the biggest sections of the tree trunk.  Collectively, your help saved us from probably a whole day of work, and we could not be more thankful.  For the rest of the day I kept saying how thankful I was that they came over to help.  They were heroes to many people that day, because after helping us they helped several other neighbors in our area cut and remove trees.  Just out there helping, how wonderful is that?  I admire you guys so much for taking time to take care of us and complete strangers. Thank you!

All of this is now out of our yard, even hauled away, so thankful! These guys were amazing!

 

The roots to the tree had a 12 foot diameter, most uprooted and broke all the concrete by our garage.  The stump is still hanging out there.

 Tree clean up has definitely been the biggest to-do for everyone and the city workers. 



**********

Neil and Callie- making a wonderful meal for us Monday night and letting us (even our pups) hang out at their house.  As I walked into their house and saw the wonderful food, felt the calmness of their home and neighborhood, and watched our pups get some much needed attention and playtime I just lost it and cried.  It was so kind.  You are amazing friends. Thank you!

Simple and delicious, felt like home

*********
There is so much going on for us now, and I hope to post a few updates on our house.  We are lucky to have power restored now (crazy right?). Our alleyway was one of the only ones that didn’t have lines knocked down so our block has power.  Standing ovation to Excel Energy for that, and to the City of Minneapolis.  I am amazed at how much clean up they have done already- at least in our area.  I hope it is the same elsewhere.

Anyway, thank you for all of your concern and here are some links where you can look up information to help those in need in North Minneapolis.  If anyone out there knows a few more please post in the comments.

https://www.facebook.com/mplstornado

http://www.facebook.com/urbanhomeworks

http://givemn.razoo.com/

http://www.redcrosstc.org/index.asp?IDCapitulo=7K58A866M7

Also, our blog friends Jesse and Lauren have an informative blog post about how to help.

I will try and get a post up about the property damage and what we have done to secure our home from further damage.  Sorry if this post seems a bit scatter-brained, but I am pretty scatter-brained now.