Postdeluvian summer

When you hear the word "flood," your mind might conjure up images of the Mississippi overflowing its banks or the horrific effects of the tsunami of ten years ago. Sometimes floods are far less dramatic and devastating. Nevertheless, our family became "flood victims" in June, the morning after Nathan's birthday. It was just an inch or two of water, but it was enough to turn our world upside down for a few months. A supply line in our downstairs guest bathroom burst while we were sleeping, sending water pouring throughout our entire first floor. Here's a picture from that morning:

I'd like to say my floors are just extra shiny from my good housekeeping skills. But alas, that's just water covering our front room. It's amazing how much damage an inch of water can do. All our floors, baseboards, kitchen cabinets, bathroom vanity, and some drywall were ruined. (Our furniture didn't fare too badly, though some of that was damaged, too.) It's been a summer on the move: from our house, to hotels, to a local apartment, where we've been living for about six weeks. We're so lucky to have an insurance company (Farmers) who has done a great job in getting us back on our feet and helping us out while our contractor works on our home.

I plan on doing an in-depth Shutterfly photo book of this experience once our home computer is back up and running. I'm excited to see the results of our remodel, which will hopefully be done in a few weeks or so. This is our kitchen now:

But soon it's going to look a-maz-ing. AMAZING! You can already see some of our new flooring and paint in this picture. Stay tuned!