A rainy Saturday

They say "it never rains in Southern California" and for the past year or two, they'd be right. Not sure what is happening to the weather, but it is raining in Southern California today.

Today was supposed to be Joshua's first AYSO soccer game and picture day. He had been praying that it wouldn't rain, although Jon and I pointed out that farmers, plants, animals and all of us that live in this desert need the rain. So when I woke up at 6:00 this morning and heard the rain I started thinking of ways to defuse some of the disappointment. We had homemade cinnamon rolls for breakfast and right now Jon and Joshua are out playing in the rain. They even had the bright idea of getting the key to the jacuzzi so that after they are wet and cold (its 64 degrees) they can go get warmed up. This should give me an hour or so to pack a few more boxes.

Yep, we are proceeding with our plans to get a new pre-fab home. Great financing has come in through the company we are working with to get the new home, including a $30K credit for the old house. Not sure why a bank would offer us that, but we are very grateful. Next Saturday we'll be out at the factory picking out some of the specifics for our home.

Hope you all enjoy your Saturday whether you have rain or sun.

Sheryl

A sick boy and a pre-fab home

Well, this week didn't turn out to be what I had expected or planned. I was called to the school on Tuesday morning to pick up Joshua who was in the nurses office with a headache and sore throat. To be honest, I thought he was faking, because he didn't show signs of being sick when we got home. Wednesday I assumed he'd be back at school, but during the night the cough started and by the morning he had a bad cold. He ended up home all week. His teacher told me in an e-mail that "it is going around." Ah, welcome back to school....

On another note, I have been researching possible financing options for a new pre-fab home and it looks like we might be able to afford to replace our 32 year-old mobile home for a nice new one without going too far into debt. Of course "too far into debt" is all relative. This afternoon we will get to walk through a model of the home we are interested in. Here is a picture of the floor plan, if you are interested. The home will fit nicely on our lot and we may end up with a wrap-around porch that starts at the end by the dining room and goes around the side to the living room. We're hoping to make decisions about the details of our home in a couple weeks. Then, assuming the financing all comes together, we'll be packing, moving out, moving back in and unpacking between now and Thanksgiving. Some friends of ours from church have offered their recently remodeled upstairs bedrooms for us to use during this time. What a blessing and an answer to prayer.

Sheryl

A new France

I am excited to introduce you to my newest niece. Madeline McKenna France was born Sunday, September 9th at 2:22pm! She weighed 6lbs 15.3 ounces and both Renee and baby are doing great. Labor was fast and furious and Renee did it all natural. Very impressive!

Maddy is the first-born to my youngest brother Scott and his wife Renee. They live in Seattle, but are planning to come down to So. Cal. for Thanksgiving, so we'll get to meet Maddy in two months.

Sheryl

Good news, Bad news

The insurance adjuster came out Friday evening and did a very thorough job of investigating our mold situation. I'll try not to go into too much detail, but the good news is that the pipes below Joshua's room do not have a leak, so there isn't any bacteria soaking up into his room. The bad news is that the water source seems to be coming from the water heater and based on the evidence or lack there of, our insurance will not be covering any of the costs to fix the problem. There is evidence of a large water problem that could have occurred a long time ago and caused the mold to grow in the flooring under the water heater. The smell of the mold and maybe mold spores probably went straight into Joshua's room through the cold-air exchange vent which is in the corner of his room right next to the water heater. We pulled up the carpet and the stain on the bottom of the carpet indicated that water had come in through the walls by the water heater. The insurance adjuster was able to get pictures of the "inside" the sub-floor by getting his digital camera into the air vent and some holes underneath the house. It was helpful to see exactly what the damage is inside the floor.

Once again, the good news is that the problem isn't quite as big as expected, but we still have the problem in the bathroom probably caused by a leak under the shower and the damage caused by the water heater to the corner of the house is pretty extensive. So, we've got to decide if we are going to fix the problem in our 32-year old mobile home or get a new one. Thanks for your prayers for wisdom.

Sheryl

Mold and back to school

I realize that I never reported on our lives during August. After being gone for a month, we were busy, like everyone else. I am looking forward to getting back into the routine of school, although Joshua is not excited about homework. Here he is with some of his buddies today on the first day of school.

Unfortunately our lives will not be slowing down any time soon. I am PTA President at Joshua's school this year and involved in leadership at our church. And then on Friday we got some news that will effect our lives in ways we probably can't even imagine yet. We had a mold inspector come to our house. I have been concerned about a moldy smell in Joshua's room. When we got back from our road trip, maybe since the room had been sealed up for a month, Joshua was unable to sleep at night without coughing really hard. We've moved him into our room. The inspector confirmed our worse fears. There is a leak in the bathroom shower, right next to Joshua's room, however that does not seem to be what is causing the mold in his room. There is mold in the wall of that bathroom, so the shower will need to be removed probably along with the wall and floor. Then we found that there is a leak in our water heater, which is in an outside panel that backs up to the corner of Joshua's closet. So we will need to replace the water heater and have the moldy wood, etc. removed from that corner of the house. However, that does not seem to be what is causing the mold in Joshua's room. Finally, the inspector found a wet spot on Joshua's floor. The wet spot is a circular area about a foot in diameter and after looking under the house, he realized that it is right above where the drainage pipes in the house meet and go to the outside drain. All the drains come together, so the leak includes mold and bacteria. He confirmed that Joshua may not do anything in that room again. There are many studies that show a raised chance of children developing asthma when exposed to mold. I spent all day Saturday doing laundry since everything made of cloth needed to be washed or thrown away. We will need to wipe down all his toys, furniture, etc. (Heavy sigh!)

I called our insurance company today, placed a claim and they have made it a level one claim. The lady who took the information over the phone was very compassionate. So now we'll wait to see what insurance will cover and how much. Then we'll need to decide what to do next.

Thank you for your thoughts and prayers during this stressful time.

Sheryl