Insurance Woes

4 Months after the storm.  The house is still standing and our contents have been removed but not processed yet.

We had thought all along that the quote was too low from the contractor that our adjuster had decided was going to build our new house.  I mentioned this to our adjuster who said that it was accurate and if i didn't like it than we should take out a bigger mortgage, give the money to the contractor and get him to build us a bigger house.  I responded by telling the adjuster that I wanted to see the detailed quotes from all 4 contractors that he had submit quotes.

So i finally get receive those on Monday.  Our adjuster says that he does not have a computer, a printer, email or internet access.  If this is true and our insurance company never provided him with those I am in complete shock.  This is 2010…not the dark ages!

As I was reviewing them I realized that all of them had forgotten to include the square footage of our upstairs!

So I called the adjuster to tell him this but his voicemail says he's on vacation...not such a big deal until you consider that this is the 4th time this month he's been on vacation!

I had the phone number for his boss and called him to say how disappointed we are in the level of service provided by his company.  I also want to get some resolution on how on earth and entire floor could have been missed by 4 contractors!

His boss is so rude to me on the phone before I've even explained why I'm calling that i burst into tears and sobbed the whole way through our conversation.  He gets nicer after I start crying.  I should have thought of this months ago!

It eventually comes down to him telling me to put all my concerns in writing and go over it with the contractor.  I did this and sent him an email yesterday.  I personally think that the email is very polite and even says that we don't blame him for this oversight but instead the contracting company that did the original scope of work but we would like the quote revised. 

He never replies but instead calls me at 7:30am today saying that he wants to meet me at our house at 10am.  Knows full well that I don't have a car and can't do this.  So I get Geoff to call him back and arrange to get him the key.  When the contractor shows up at Geoff's shop to pick it up he won't even speak to him...sticks out his hand for the key and leaves.  Does the same thing when he returns it.  Hands it to the guy in the passenger seat of his truck who throws it in Geoff’s hand and speeds off.  And I still have to suck up to him because he is in possession of all of our contents and we want them all to be written off because they sat for 3.5 months in a house that was full of black mold.

I still haven't started drinking before dinner time which I think shows an amazing amount of restraint.
In other news I’ve spent the last 3 days re-building Sage’s Lego city.  Pics coming soon!

3.5 Months Later

Well the quote is in from our insurance company to rebuild our house.  And it's bad.  Really bad.  We have the best type of policy that there is to have - Guaranteed Replacement Cost.  Means that they at least have to build for us exactly what we had before.  But with what the quote came in at, which we then have to subtract 13% taxes off of and the 20% overhead fee from their preferred contractor we are left with not enough money to even get us back to what we had before.  So today we are confused and anxious and exhausted because we both laid awake most of the night.

We're going to meet with the restoration company tonight to see what he can come up with but I don't have high hopes.  They don't have a good reputation in the industry around here and we are adament that we don't end up with a cheaply built knocked together builder quality house.

So I guess my dreams of a house that looks like this are probably out the window.  :(

Back to School

I never did share Sage's back to school photos here.  It's a big change in our routine this year.  Adding a baby brother to the morning mix, going everyday instead of every other day and living a lot further out of town in this rental house of ours.  Poor girl is on the bus for almost an hour each way :(

Doesn't make her any less excited about going back though!  I have no idea how Geoff and I ended up with a kid that loves school as much as she does....she's upset when vacation time rolls around!

Here she is in her head to toe H&M outfit..she insisted on the hat!

Some Friday Etsy Love

Isn't this Amy Butler clutch just gorgeous?



And these headbands?

And this clutch with hidden diaper wipes pocket?

I am seriously lusting after all of them.  Check them out at the wonderful Foster Kade Designs.  All proceeds from her sales go towards bringing their adopted baby girl home from China.  Look pretty and feel great about doing it!  Also check out Ashley Ann today who is sponsoring a giveaway for Foster Kade's etsy shop.

Why I Love Him

When most men run into town to pick a few things up from the grocery store and drug store what do they come home with that wasn't on the list?

A GQ magazine perhaps?  Maybe some junk food?  Probably.  This is what my husband brought home last night.

A zebra print pie lifter in the shape of a shoe.  I married exactly the right man.

A Comedy of Errors

That really is the only way that I can describe what this whole process has been like.  Without getting all worked up and put in danger of losing my mind that is.  We FINALLY get the list of our damaged contents from the restoration company and I start to notice something odd as I'm reviewing it.  I look it over again.  Nope, not just me.  All of our appliances, all of the furniture from upstairs and all of the kid's toys weren't on the list.  How on earth did they manage to forget those??  Yet one more hassle to get straightened out.  Nevermind the fact that the house was supposed to be torn down last week and when I called the insurance adjuster to find out what was going on his voicemail said he was off on vacation all week!  Needless to say we will be switching companies the second this mess is done with.  A shame really because my husband has used them for all of his needs for almost 20 years now.

And totally unrelated but too cute not to share.  She was so excited to wear skinny jeans for the first time.  She kept asking me what they were called cause they're more like a legging than a jean so I told her all the big girl's were calling them jeggings now.  Didn't believe me.