What I did on my summer vacation …
I‘m standing in the flooring aisle of Lowes. My eyes surf the various planks of Pergo. A forest of oak, pine, hickory, and maple surrounds me. I am not seeing the sights I had planned to visit.
The damages I discovered in our upstairs and downstairs wiped out my vacation plans. The sight of the waterfall, I found upon my arrival, was not pretty. Pink, soaking-wet insulation lay in heaps in our upstairs loft.
Our downstairs flooring was squishy as I walked on it. When it was dry, it buckled, and waves formed.
I wrote of my discovery in last week’s column. This week my tasks have included welcoming the insurance adjuster to evaluate all that will need to be repaired, replaced, removed, and taken to the land of no return.
Bruce, our field adjuster, toured our home for two hours. His evaluation was that the damage was much more than we thought. Floors, walls, ceilings … oh my!
The water from the air-conditioning unit had sneaked into nooks and crannies, creating a lot of hidden ugliness.
Photo provided by Janet Hart Leonard
My plans were now changed from floating in my daughter’s pool and sitting on her lanai sipping lemonade to wandering the aisles of Lowes and Home Depot.
Have I mentioned I hate picking out paint colors? They start blending into each other. Forget 50 shades of gray; I was drowning in 150,000 shades of white. (Yes, I researched how many shades of white there are.) There are seven colors present in the various shades of white. White looks different depending on the direction the light comes into the room. Where’s Joanna Gaines when I need her?
We experienced what it might be like in a wind tunnel for four days as a dozen fans and dehumidifiers roared throughout our home. Chuck and I had to yell to be heard. Thank goodness for closed captions on the TV.
This is getting even more complicated as we return to Indiana in two days. We will be working with contractors from a distance. It will be weeks – or months – before the repairs are finished.
I feel as though I’ve stepped into a reality show where you go away and leave your house in the hands of the fixer-upper people. I hope that when I get back here, I find myself screaming with happiness. I can’t wait to say, “I love it!”
What will I say when asked, “What did you do on your summer vacation?”
I surfed the Isles (aisles) of Florida and meandered through the forest of trees (Pergo). I toured unexpected places and met people I never planned to meet. I could say I walked on water.
Hey, it’s all about perspective.
Janet Hart Leonard can be contacted at janethartleonard@gmail.com or followed on Facebook or Instagram (@janethartleonard). Visit janethartleonard.com.