Ok...so here goes the beginning of my mini whine. I'm trying not to whine about this in "real life" so anyone who is subjected to this, I apologize...but thanks for listening!
Our basement flooded with about 4 feet of drain/sewage water on Thursday night. Something went really wrong with the city's pumphouse and the drains just backed up more than they ever have. 2 houses down our neighbor's basement was fine! Strange. But EVERYTHING is ruined down there. Our computer, our hot water heater, our washer and drier, my kids out of season clothes (including all of their spring clothes I was about to pull out--so yes, they have nothing for this spring or summer now. All of Shane's old valuable baseball cards (dummy me thought they were okay because they were really high up but the water knocked down the shelves.) Our digital camera, all of Shane's school books (1000's of dollars worth, I'm sure!) ALL of the girls toys. All of the things I have saved over the years that were not burnt when my storage shed burnt up most of my stuff back in 2000. I haven't been back since yesterday to actually remember what all is down there. I thought it was safe b/c it was in totes. We have no power, no heat, no hot water, cannot flush toilet, no gas, etc. It all had to be turned off. We are staying with some wonderful friends here who have opened their house to us. We had so many people offer to help, but we don't know what to do yet. Shane went last night and saw some of the damage. He said it was nasty--everything covered in mud and poop. And our insurance company said they will not cover any of it b/c it was sewage drain and that's not covered, so we are going to have to fight that. Please pray that I can get a good attitude about all of this "stuff." It's just stuff. Moths and rust, theives and such would soon enough destroy "stuff." But this is the second time I've gone through losing my "stuff" in 8 years. I have barely anything as far as keepsakes now. It could have been much worse, I know, and I thank God for what he spared us from (the house catching on fire from the underwater furnace for one!!!) I'm also sick right now with a chest cold, and I cannot do much. Please pray that the details get taken care of and that things fall into place, and that we can maybe recover some of our losses. Shane had a 13 page term paper with 25 sources on the computer and did not save it anywhere else. Had not printed it either. Yes he is KICKING himself, to put it lightly. His sources from the library are even destroyed. We are hoping they can save our hard drive. I know I sound really down, but we have such great friends and support, so I thank God for that, and we will be okay as soon as we get it cleaned up. Now is the "fun" part! bleh.
Unknown "My Loverly Lana" - 16 years, 8 months, 24 days ago

I just noticed that my tales seem to have a grocery store theme. From now on I order my groceries online.
Unknown "My Loverly Lana" - 16 years, 9 months, 2 days ago

My poor little Harper. She fell down at the grocery store this morning and knocked out her front teeth. It was horrible. Addison started screaming because her sister was bleeding everywhere with teeth hanging out and...ugh. They only had to pull one, Thankfully. There are 3 more that are damaged, but the dentist hopes that they will heal. She's just going to be snaggletoothed for a few years. Thankfully, she's very cute and loveable--and slightly rotten--so everyone will look past it. :}
Unknown "My Loverly Lana" - 16 years, 9 months, 2 days ago

Also at the grocery store on the same trip, this older black gentleman comes up to me and says, "Black is not a race....it's a color." I said, "okay." And he walked away.
Can you say, profound? Life in the city haha.
Unknown "My Loverly Lana" - 16 years, 9 months, 23 days ago

I had the most interesting and entertaining trip to the grocery store the other day. There was this family that I can only assume were from "the hills" of Kentucky, and they each had a cart and were walking around in a pack of like 6 people. They would go aisles apart from each other and holler back and forth "DON'T FORGET THE MILK! JOLENE! MIND YOUR BROTHER! I'M GOING TO THE OTHER SIDE OF THE STORE, I'LL SEE YOU IN A BIT. BE GOOD!"
Unknown "My Loverly Lana" - 16 years, 9 months, 23 days ago