Not a Step Back... But Definitely a Hindrance

(July 2, 2012)

So we had been going through quite a dry spell here in Southern Indiana. We have a lot of shade in our back yard and for the first time it was dying (I guess the mowing strike was over). But on this particular Sunday (July 2), we got a pretty good rain. My family and I were at church. My older kids, Kyle and Brianna were part of a presentation that was being given about their recent mission trip.

Side note: Here is our mission group. They stayed stateside and went to Birmingham, Alabama.

 Here are my two kids. Kyle has went for the last two years and this is Brianna's first year. This picture was taken right after I asked him how he was going to like spending the week with her and telling him he needed to keep an eye on her. LOL! Sibling love... aint it great!

They went as a part of WorldChangers. It's a wonderful organization. Kyle has learned quite a few skills along the way. He has helped put on three different roofs, done various painting, helped put on siding and put up a privacy fence. As her first year Brianna was limited in what they allow the younger ones to do but she learned a lot as well. She learned how to properly scrape and paint a wood sided house. They had a great time. Click here to check out more about WorldChangers

Ok... So back to my post. :)
So... the teens got through their post and out of the corner of my eye I looked out the window and saw the wind picking up. We had a really bad storm coming in. After the service was over most people hung out for another 20-30 minutes waiting for the storm to pass. There is a side door where there is a carport overhang and when someone tried to go out that door the wind slammed it so hard that they almost got hurt. We knew we didn't have electric at our house so we all headed to the local Pizzeria. After a quick call to a neighboer I couldn't stand the wait. So while the rest of the family stayed (along with about 25 other members there) and waited for the food I went to check out the house to make sure everything was ok.

This is what I went home to. 

                                                                                

I was obviously more concerned with the garage. But did you notice that this is right on my pallet work area?
Do you see in the picture on the left that there are two boards in the lower right hand corner? Those are the ends of the pallet I just finished taking apart earlier that day. My plan was to work some more when I got home. After this everything became scattered all over the place.

 This is another dark picture. But as you can see... it tore the electric box right off the house. 

The next day. 

 Picture of my husband. He's taking a picture from inside the garage of the limb that went straight through the roof. You can see it sticking out of the top of the roof but barely. 

There were limbs everywhere. The pictures really don't do it justice. 

 We were lucky that even though it pulled it off the house, it was an easy fix. Easier than we first believed. At least easier with the help of a good friend. 

My pallet area destroyed. And of course... my reclaimed dresser ruined. 

 This limb hit the house and then bounced off, hit the roof and finally rested between the house and garage. Luckily only the gutter was dented and minor damage to the garage. 

 The neighbors behind us lost a big tree that landed in our yard. 

 Driveway view from the garage looking out to the street. 

Driveway view from street looking to garage. There is a small utility trailer under there... you can barely see it. See the brown piece of furniture? That was another dresser I had that I was refinishing. It was ruined. I had just picked it up too. 

Well... this happened on Sunday. We were out of electric until Wednesday. We were able to stay with friends until it was back on. On Monday we helped those friends clean up their tree. That took all day Monday and half of Tuesday. On Tuesday those same friends came over and knocked out ALL of our trees in half a day. It was amazing how quick they were. We have a wonderful church family and it was very appreciated to have the help. 

We are all cleaned up now. At least for the most part. There is still a pile of free firewood in the front yard that no one has picked up. And we still haven't cleaned up all the little twigs. I think we were just so over picking up the big stuff that we just haven't done anything with the little stuff. It was the hottest days we've had all summer. But... things are pretty much back to normal.

Thanks for letting me share this with you guys.