In Need of Doors

EDIT: I realized I never put a picture of the hotel with the Weekend Intelligence. That's the hotel we're at. The virtual tour on that site rocks, and yes, the place really is as nice as it looks.

The construction workers started the task of ripping out drywall in the kitchen on Monday. They removed the kitchen cabinets and crown molding, and the service contractors moved everything out of the house in the affected rooms. By the time I got there in the afternoon, the place had a very eerie echo to it. Poor Suzie had been in the kennel the whole time while strangers traipsed through the house. I let her out and played with her a little bit before Colin and the gang arrived. Once everyone had arrived at the house, we gathered up a few things and went back to the room.

I feel a sense of exile. I miss my house, and the freedom I had with it. I miss my castle. D and I can't really do anything after the kids are in bed, since they sleep in the living room of the suite. That's the same room that has the XBox, Wii, our computers and the door to the outside world. Everytime I even make noise by that door, Clara startles and wakes up and gets pissed that we won't come take her out of the pack-n-play.

Not that she can't get out - she's learned how to scale over the top of the playpen turned crib, and does so regularly. But when it's bedtime, she knows that if I catch her out (or if Colin tattles on her) that I'll come out, pop her on the butt and set her back in her crib. You can tell she's pretty anxious lately. There's just so much going on that's not the typical routine, and she's been very unruly and much more emotional than she usually is.

And poor Colin. He shares the living room with his sister. Several nights now, she's been up at 11 o'clock and later because she's just so wound up with all the noises and such from the room above and from the hallway. So she spends this time squealing and trying to escape her crib and generally making it hard for him to get enough rest. But sleeping arrangements aside, she's been the only other kid available for him to play with for a week now, and he's starting to get a little impatient with her.

Thankfully, some of our neighbors who have been very helpful in letting Suzie out while we were gone last weekend invited us to dinner at their house. After eating quick frozen meals or restaurant food for the past week, a home-cooked meal was so nice. Clara got to play around a different house, eat in a high chair and watch TV on a couch while Colin got to play with some of the neighborhood boys.

We're all on edge, really. Sometimes a family just needs some doors to keep the peace...

Weekend Intelligence: Suitcase Living

The continuing saga of our poor water-logged home has pretty much dominated the day-to-day. This weekend intelligence is more like a week in review as well, and since I'm finding myself working this weekend to make up for the time I missed this past week to meet with insurance reps and contractors, I actually have time to make a good go of it. So, in typical weekend intelligence fashion, here are the highlights.

House and Home (and Hotel)

Following the drying process, it was suggested by the service contractor, as well as the construction/restoration contractor that our family get packed out of our home while they went to work. There were a few different reasons for the suggestion. The first consideration was to the fact that we have a very rambunctious, destructive and unruly toddler, and there would be lots of unfinished house lying around that she would gravitate to if left to it. Another consideration was that one of the rooms that needed the most work was the kitchen, which meant that it would be rather unusable until they were done. Lastly, they could leave the worksite in progress without worrying about its impact on any occupants - tools, construction debris and equipment could be left lying where they were needed for next time.

What this meant for us was that, yet again, we needed to pack up. Whatever we would need for the remainder of the build, estimated at about 2-3 weeks if all goes well, needed to be packed and taken to a hotel suite or extended stay arrangement. We found a nice place called Residence Inn by Marriott not too far from where we live, making it much easier than before to get Colin to school and Clara to daycare. They have pool and spa, workout room, fully appointed kitchen suites, daily maid service and a free grocery service. Yeah. They send someone out with your shopping list, buy everything, put it away for you and put the grocery bill on your hotel tab. All for $99/night. Makes me wonder what I'm doing paying a mortgage. LOL

It took us about 2 nights getting everything we would need for an extended stay. While we were moving out, the service contractor sent out a team of packing ladies and packed almost everything in the house in a day. They only left what we asked them to because we weren't ready for it to be packed yet. 559 boxes. O.O You never realize how much crap you have until you have to move it. At least I'll be able to go through things box-by-box, put things in their rightful place that we want to keep and throw/donate whatever I didn't want in my house to begin with.

It's a tight fit, but so far the hotel has been very accommodating. The General Manager took me around to see the various room layouts, and I chose one that was spacious enough for the 4 of us, yet wasn't overkill. He said that we might find ourselves leaving there a little spoiled - I could use a little spoiling. ^^