The Aftermath

Well, it's been a little over a week since the fire.  I'm sitting on my mom's back porch in Tennessee, drinking my coffee and enjoying the warm breeze, listening to the wind chimes.  It's nice to have a little bit of quiet time to myself out here.

My view from the back porch

Everything still feels a little surreal to me.  I spend so much time away from home that I don't think it has totally hit me yet that my cute little apartment is gone, that my sweet little baby cat is gone.  They let us into the building last Tuesday to see what was salvageable.  According to the maintenance guy who was supervising, my apartment won the bronze star for least destroyed.  There wasn't any actual fire in my unit, only smoke & water.  Even so, it was pretty much a disaster area.  We gave my mom's camera to my friend and she took some photos; you can see them here.

Everything I pulled out managed to fit inside 5 cardboard beer boxes from a liquor store.  I pulled a few special items of clothing from the closet and took them to the dry cleaner, but basically all the soft items were a loss.  We took my dishes and some ceramic decorative items.  I was able to find my Nook and get that replaced (hooray for protection plans) but I couldn't find my iPod or my passport.  I took my computer, but I haven't even turned it on yet, so I'm not sure if anything will be able to be pulled off the hard drive.  My camera was ruined.  We took my DVDs but had to toss all the cases because they reeked.  I left all my books on the shelves.  I keep trying to look at the positives in this, because I guess I am just an optimist by nature.  Leaving behind so much stuff will make it easier to move.

As for where I'll be moving, the Mister & I have talked it over and because I was spending so much of my time off at his place anyway, it didn't make any sense for me to get my own apartment again in Minneapolis.  He asked me to move in with him, so that will be my permanent address and when I need to be in Minneapolis for work, I'll be staying at a friend's house.  She runs a crash pad, which basically means I'll be renting a bed to sleep in before & after trips.  It makes more sense financially for me and with the way our schedules are changing in a few months, I think it will work out well.  Working for an airline, I get an amazing rate on cargo shipping, so I should be able to move what little I have very cheaply.  So again, a positive thing coming from something awful.

And I just want to say thank you so much to all of you.  I appreciate your thoughts & support & donations more than I can express.  You people are amazing and I am so grateful for each & every one of you.  <3