The Fire II - Recovery

Sorry for the long hiatus. No, no...its not the writer's strike that's been affecting the publication of Maddy's Blog (although Mr. Clooney's donation has helped immensely). It has been the slow rebuilding of Daddy's house that has taken me away from my duties. Everything is almost back to normal. The house has been rebuilt where needed, painted from top to bottom, and all carpet has been replaced. We still have a couple of things that are in transition, but things are getting back to normal.

Unfortunately, I had to throw out essentially every single thing of Maddy's...toys, food, bed, etc. They advised me to throw out anything that might get in her mouth or she would be exposed to on a regular basis. I don't know what that says for anything I'm exposed to on a regular basis, but I didn't really force the issue. Thanks to a generous donation from a local entrepreneur (her mother), she has a few toys and somewhere to sleep. Thank goodness Christmas is coming.

One good thing has come out of the wholesale destruction of Maddy's stuff...the Devil Dog is gone.

The Fire

I don't if any of you have been through a fire (and technically, I haven't either), but it felt a little surreal watching large men and women in big heavy uniforms and masks and oxygen tanks wandering in and around my house. When they're in those uniforms, they seem like more than people...more like a machine...going through the motions to get the fire out and make sure nothing starts up again. Afterward, they're just your neighbor again...telling you stories of their adventures and how they owned German Shepherds too. One lieutenant told me how he watched the squad's eyes all get huge when they went in the back gate to be confronted by The Magnificence That Is The Blitz and how afterward they were all playing with him.

The pictures don't really do it justice (click on the picture for more). When they took me on a tour of the house right after it was out, everything was melted in the closet, the carpet was a big pile of goop and it just seemed like of river of melted stuff had come down the walls. Everything was black and the whole house...every inch...smells like nasty, acrid, toxic smoke. They did a great job of clearing everything out and now its just a big pile of stuff on the lawn. I went to bed last night thinking that I could still smell it and that it was clogging up my nose. There was nothing ther of course, but it was still clear in my mind.

This morning, the clean-up crew was there bright and early at 0730. I dropped Blitz off at the doggy day care so he didn't have to stay at the hotel while I went to work. I also went to daycare yesterday after I started the insurance process and just hugged my baby forever. I know that no matter what, this could have been a lot worse than it was!

Thanks to the Cobb County Fire Department for their help and for their great attitudes!

Maddy's Halloween - Pictures and Video

Maddy got a pretty good haul from what is really her first Halloween. It started out at daycare where they had a little party with chips and cookies and every sugar combination you can imagine. I captured a few of the little people dressed up (click the picture)...although Ethan had apparently already gotten his costume wet somehow. After the party, we continued to the mall where retailers gave out candy and prizes. There were literally hundreds of kids all dressed up and scouting for more and more candy. Maddy didn't really get it at first, but once she had a few things dropped in her "punkin bucket," she was good to go. She did think that all the candy was for her; grabbing into the big candy troughs and coming out with a handful a couple times. She was able to come out with some semblance of "trick or treat" and always said thank you.

Here's a video of the kitty running around the mall