Hi everyone!

[QuilterMom]

I have electricity! (No thanks to FPL - our local provider). Dh stopped a couple of guys from a company in North Carolina last evening that were working further down our road and they came and restored our electric. Yay for them! They were really nice and it was a minor little problem that took about 5 minutes or so. (We did find out that we are among the last 7% of our county to get our power back). I don't think these guys had a work order for our house yesterday. According to FPL's automated system we were on schedule for this coming Friday (the 17th) at 10:45pm! Ugh! I have no idea how they determined who they restored when and in what order, but the "well to do" neighborhoods got theirs back before many nursing homes and people with MS, cancer, needing oxygen or breathing treatments, etc. There are still folks in those situations that are without electricity. I can't fault the out of state crews because they are only doing what FPL tells them to do, but I can be mad at FPL and I am! Ok, off that rant..........

First of all I am amazed I got the computer hooked back up this morning. LOL I used the "this looks like it fits here" method. I had it all taken apart and in Rubbermaid containers and under plastic sheeting for protection. I have mounds of laundry and dishes to do and the lovely (NOT) task of cleaning out our refrigerator and freezer which are way beyond gross from all the stuff that thawed.

Without electricity we didn't have running water (we have a well), but dh hooked the pump into our generator so we could take showers (cold water and stinky at that since the chlorinator/purifier/softener part wasn't working). Even though our electric was out, our cable was still working (and on a side note - everyone that had electric didn't have cable....... weird) so we were able to watch tv a little and keep a bit of sanity. Our generator started messing up on Sunday though (dying) and then completely died on me yesterday just before lunchtime (we just bought it last Wed. and have heard from Home Depot that a LOT of people that purchased them last week have been having trouble - unfortunately Home Depot hasn't been of much assistance in the matter). Thank goodness for getting our electric back last evening! We've been worried about ds overheating and one of the dogs hasn't been doing so well in the heat either.

It's still hard to find gasoline here. It's sold out practically as fast as it gets delivered. Many stations are still completely without and not even open for business. Businesses opened back up quickly and all we kept hearing was how everyone needed to get back to their normal routine........... kind of hard to do with no electricity or running water! Dh had to go back to work last Friday or he was told he would be let go (never mind he couldn't come home and get a decent shower to clean up at night). While we appreciate our income flowing again (7 missed days - one which was all day overtime ), the lack of compassion I have seen sometimes has me deeply saddened.
I've definitely seen the good and the ugly (not bad, but downright ugly). One ugly was the rental agency we had a condo booked with in Tybee Island, GA. They were not compassionate to our situation and I ended up in a very ugly screaming match with the office manager over the phone last week. I won't slam them by name here on the boards, but if you ever plan to visit there I will let you know privately who NOT to do business with. The sherriff's deputies here haven't been so wonderful either. I know they are hot, tired, and overworked BUT disaster relief is part of their job and they are being paid so don't gripe to me about it while I am sitting in a FEMA line waiting to get ice and water! One deputy was fabulous though - always smiling, always in a good mood, and always had some sort of little treat for ds. The guys in the sherriff's work program were wonderfully friendly as well.

We are so thankful for all the ice,water, MRE's, etc. from FEMA, Red Cross, and the Salvation Army. We are told to have supplies for 3 days in event of a hurricane, which we know is not nearly enough. I never thought I would eat a MRE, but they actually aren't bad. We were under boil water alert until 2 days ago so that was extra effort we had to go to for cleaning our cooking pans (we cooked on the grill a few times) and in the heat it was just too draining on us.

The mosquitos have been bad since this last Saturday. Repellent isn't keeping them off and they are biting us through our clothes! We have tons of yard cleanup to do, but a lot of stuff is covered in carpenter ants and with the mosquitos attacking now as well it will have to wait or be done little by little. We did work all day in the yard Saturday and made a good amount of progress.

Our pond is still overflowing and we still have standing water all around our property. Part of our dock was destroyed (it was in need of repair anyway). We had one big oak split in half and thankfully the half that fell went onto one of our open air sheds instead of the house. Dh got it all cut up Sat. and then we discovered that the shed is leaning forward now, but no big deal. We haven't discovered any leaks in the house, but we'll be looking more thoroughly today with our lights on. We lost a lot of small trees in our woods surrounding our property so as a result we've lost a lot of privacy from our neighbors. All of our huge trees though are still standing - that is a miracle! There's still one more oak with some big limbs that broke and are dangling that we haven't been able to get to yet. From what I have seen, the worst damage is from the river on inland (about 2 miles from the ocean on inland). The beach erosion is horrific and heartbreaking. It's still dangerous to get in the water. Roofs, refrigerators, etc. have been washing up on the shore and a lot of it is from the Bahamas!

We're working through some hurt feelings issues. Friends have hurt us (lied to us, made promises they didn't keep, etc.) and no one from our church has called to check on us or let us know if anyone in the congregation needs help. We'll work through it in time.

I'm sure I'll think of more to share. Ds is pestering me and I'm losing my focus. LOL Thank you for all your thoughts and prayers!


P.S. Special thanks to mom2knk for calling me often and helping me keep my sanity and keep my mind off being HOT and for emailing homesteadmamma for me! Special thanks to homesteadmamma for all the people you kept updated all this time! You guys are great!!!!!

[homesteadmamma]

Yeah my dear friend QM is back, I'm so happy. I'm so thankful you have finally gotten your power back on, albeit through the back door. Its so good to read your post and even though you've had so many difficult days, your back.

[kimmee]

I'm glad your life will start getting back to normal!! I couldn't even imagine what it was like to endure this ordeal!! Happy happy days for you!!!

[KKCondrey]

It is great to see you back We've all been thinking of you.

[paelthom]

With tears in my eyes for all that you are having to endure, I'm sending my biggest hugs to you today and prayers that soon all will be much, much better.

[simplemom]

Oh my goodness, Quiltermom! I can't imagine the stress you went through and are still dealing with....wow...I am speechless...

It's strange when we can be in need, you know your true friends...I'm so sorry that you got hurt by your friends...

I'm praying for you.

[slowtypinwoman]

QM, so glad you are back. Prayers for your fast renewal in life on your homestead.

[Mom23boys]

Originally posted by KKCondrey
It is great to see you back We've all been thinking of you.

[Michele Annette]

it's good to see you QuilterMom!!! I am so glad that you have electricity back. I am sorry to hear about your friends breaking promises and authoity figures doing their job with a sigh and a grumble! Shame on them! I wish we could do something to help. If you need anything, please ask, okay?

[niceday]

So glad that things as good as can be at this point, you and your family will be in my thoughts and prayers as you start the clean up process. Sure wish I lived closer I would come and help you all clean up I'd even clean up the freezer and frig for you. My heart goes out to you all. What part of Florida are you from. We have taken our vacations in Florida for the past 4 years in the Cocoa Beach and Melbourne areas. Have a good week. niceday

[QuilterMom]

Originally posted by niceday
So glad that things as good as can be at this point, you and your family will be in my thoughts and prayers as you start the clean up process. Sure wish I lived closer I would come and help you all clean up I'd even clean up the freezer and frig for you. My heart goes out to you all. What part of Florida are you from. We have taken our vacations in Florida for the past 4 years in the Cocoa Beach and Melbourne areas. Have a good week. niceday

I'm just south of Melbourne by the Indian River in the "country".

Thanks for your replies everyone. You've brought a huge smile to my face.

[forestdale]

It's good to have you back safe and sound. To echo what niceday said, if we all lived closer we could have a frugal village working bee and have your home back to normal in no time. I do hope you get some help with your clean up.

[DaisyLady]

Quiltermom - it is wonderful to have you back. I am sad that you have so much work to do to clean up before you can get back to "life". It seems that disasters bring out the best and the worst in people and it's just terrible that you had to face that worst when you really needed the best. Wish I were closer too so that I could be of help.

[captclearance]

I'm so glad you hear from you and know you are safe ! Sounds like you had quit a ride. You are made of some very tough stuff !

[Heather]

SO nice to have you back QM.......continued prayers are being said for some kind of normal in your life! Boy, what an adventure that was and is for you and your family. I am so thankful that you are all safe.