a river runs through it

i don't think you fully appreciate our disaster. this was not a little water from a broken pipe. remember the flood in 2008? it was a muddy river running through the house. every inch of floor space was wet. although truly, as it was happening, i was thinking, we'll pull out the carpets, sure, mop the floors and move back in until we get around to redoing the floors. right. everything even a little bit damp had to be forcibly removed--i.e. dry wall (the lower third, see mariko's post, "give me some cheese" (with my whine)). because, don't forget, hawaii is the mold and mildew capital of the universe. of course, not everything wet has been taken out--like behind the cupboards, etc. but we've done our level best and are now living in the coziest little disaster zone you've ever seen. the good news is, everyone has helped/is helping. what would i have done if so many people hadn't been here. of course we all had different ideas of what should be done and in what order. move all the furniture to the living room so we can get the bedrooms ready to be carpeted. oops, can't do that until the insurance guy comes in two weeks. also, the living room is starting to mildew. move furniture back so we can live here since we majorly wore out our welcome at becky's/demartini's. picture being invaded by sixteen. (if you are reading this, thank you so so much. we didn't even ask. kaity offered and we forget it wasn't hers to offer.) anyway, take multiple loads to the dump, books and albums to my classroom, etc. last week i'd leave crazy wish lists on the counter and when i'd get home from school everything on the list would be done. wow. talk about christmas elves. meanwhile, they've spent serious money to get here for this vacation. and we've had some fun. jake's brother brian got two rooms at turtle bay for five days. different people stayed but we all used the water slide and pool. also enoch found the sunset beach skate park. and now that school's out it will be even more fun. we might even celebrate christmas. heaven knows we have a lot to be thankful for. this nice house. this beautiful warm green place. each other and you.