Thursday, November 30, 2006

Click for this weeks pics




My parent's house caught on fire last night... what a yucky time of year for this to happen, as if any time would be good. Sorry to send out a bulk email, and many of you already know some of the details, but I did post some pics of my parent's house w/ the usual extravagant Christmas display. They are understandably freaked out, so send a good vibe or prayer out to Stafford, will you? Ginger's email is ginger@vin.com if you want to send a good thought. I can't imagine how they were able to herd 3 Basset Hounds and 2 cats out of there, and of course, Ginger ran back inside to save the computers once people and pets were out.

I left my phone at a friend's house last night while we went to a meeting, and when I got back I had this text:

Mom/dad/animals ok --their house caught on fire-call! from Beck 9:36 pm

http://www.flickr.com/photos/beaglicious/
Check out the first few photos of my parent's house. I guess if you look at the old postcard one, the fire started in the wall by the Amityville horror style windows on the 3rd floor.
My mom is very weepy, and so far my dad is holding up okay. The city is finding them a house, the Red Cross has contacted them, and thankfully they had really good insurance AND replacement cost... for stuff like her clothes, bed, and the washer and dryer, etc. (The fire was on the 3rd floor mainly above her bedroom, so there's lots of smoke and water damage.
Luckily through the years I have swiped photos of my childhood, old pets, baby pics, etc. My mom fussed at me about it this year when she was here visiting, and I promised her I'd make her copies of all the pics and her very own photo album, because I did not like the way the pictures were just piled in boxes up on the 3rd floor of the house. I KNEW something like this would happen.
Anyway, she'll be extra appreciative of that gift this year. Damn circus-time christmas lights... we have no idea of the origin of the fire other than it was in that wall. Structurally, it sounds as if the house is repairable, main damage is on 3rd floor so they lost a lot of storage, clothes, washer/dryer, etc. and then water damage throughout my mom's bedroom below. She'll be getting a new bed for Christmas, most definitely. But they will have to live elsewhere for an undetermined amount of time, so Christmas should be interesting. Thank goodness our family is so laid back and easy-going around this time of year anyway;)

Peace, love, and xanax...

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Christie, a friend of your Mom's linked to your blog. Sorry about your parents house. I will send them an email even though they have no clue who I am. Glad everyone is safe, including the computers. And I LOVE your tag, peace love and xanax which is something I would not live w/o. Can I steal it from you?

Judi

Anonymous said...

Hi Kalli. We met on the porch of that house, when I was visiting your folks. I linked to this, too.

Ginger and George are two of the best people I've ever met. Tell them I love them and will call when I get home tonight. Gina

Anonymous said...

oh sweetheart! You know my parents lived in Stafford when I was born in St. John. Please let us know what e can do to help....food, stuff, going down to help. Say the word and we are there.

Anonymous said...

That sucks. I'm glad they are ok, but it sucks anyway. It takes forever to get reorganized/regrouped after the fire cleanup. I've still got boxes to unpack and it's been a year and a half.
xoxox

"I get up every morning determined to both change the world and have one hell of a good time . Sometimes this makes planning my day difficult." --E.B. White