Jan 8-10, 2022

We’ve either made it to where the days aren’t eventful enough to deserve their own post….or we’re too busy to write down what happened.

This time, it’s a bit of both.

Saturday

On Saturday we went to Granny and Gramps house to organize all the shipments we’ve been receiving there, have the kids play and nap, and run some errands. Kate ran by the Disaster Assistance Center again to pick up the check that the Community Foundation is providing every family and to register with the Red Cross who is providing help of all types (financial, health, recovery, safety, etc). Otherwise, we just enjoyed our last night at Sam’s house before getting ready to move to Boulder for a month.

Sunday – Moving day!

We packed all our stuff, ran a few last Longmont errands, played with the kids, and then shuttled and cleaned up. Nick and Tom drove all our stuff to the rental in Boulder while Kate finished organizing things at Sam’s. Nick then picked up Kate and the kids in Longmont for the last drive back to Boulder. It took hours to get situated in the new house, determine sleeping arrangements, find all the stuff we need, etc. By 8pm, we hadn’t eaten dinner and were simply exhausted. Kate crashed while Nick watched the epic Chargers and Raiders disaster on TV.

Monday – Getting settled

After getting the kids to school, we got back to work getting things organized and safe in the rental house. Like many AirBnb’s, this place is super cute and furnished….but it is not intended for children or cats. We had to hide all the fragile stuff, re-arrange furniture to make space for playing, etc. We also had to buy some clothing storage and some basics to make it feel a bit more like home, instead of fishing our clothes out of a plastic storage bin every morning.

While Kate got Avery’s room all set, Nick got the cats set up in the main living space. Since we left on Dec 30, the kitties have been in a basement area away from us the whole time. At Tom and Debbie’s, we didn’t want to create an issue with their cat, and at Sam’s we just wanted to keep them contained to a space where they wouldn’t get stuck in a hiding spot (knowing we’d only be there for a week). We’ve gone for visits to wherever they are, of course, but it’s just not the same as cuddling with them while we watch TV. Hopefully over the next few weeks they’ll get settled — just in time to have to move again to Broomfield. 😔

Now that we’ll be in the same place for a few weeks, we’re hoping to get a minute to rest and recover a bit. We still have a LOT of work to do, and there are meetings multiple times a week for things like rebuilding efforts, debris removal, building codes, etc. We haven’t even started the “what’s our plan long-term” part of the equation, but we’ll get started on that this week by reviewing our finances and coming up with some scenarios to get on the same page.

Hopefully fewer things to do will also mean more sleep, doing a better job at eating and hydrating, and some actual self-care. We haven’t watched a TV show, gone for a run, or even just sat down with nothing to do since this started. Kate is excited to get back to her Fit4Mom workout group (who have been amazing at helping collect kids stuff and bring dinners!), and Nick is excited to get out for a run. We’re hoping those things can happen this week!