It was the best of times, it was- well, you know the rest. As mentioned previously, we were the unlucky recipients of a pre-dawn (okay, winter in Alaska is nearly all pre-dawn) downpour of water, which had collected in the spaces between our two floors, the result of ruptured heating pipes during a cold snap (again, that's a relative term up here). That was December 23rd. A couple weeks of repair and renovation work ensued, and it looked like our little home would finally be coming back together.Until it happened again. Some time on Thursday, January 31st, our upstairs cold water pipes in the bathroom burst, again due to recent drops in temperature. The coldest we would see it this month in Wasilla was -29 at the local airport. Stephanie and the kids had done a great job cleaning up much of the standing water and packing our clothes before Brandon showed up from work. That night we hit the road, having contacted our plumber, insurance company, local adjuster and renovation company, and spent the first of eight nights in two different motels.
The latest damage ruined much of the renovation work that was already underway from the first disaster, and the renovators had to largely start from scratch. Now half the floors have been or are being ripped up, and several walls and half the kitchen ceiling have been removed. The upstairs bathroom floor is a raw quilt of jagged splinters, yet the downstairs bathroom is completely without walls, so either way going to the bathroom in our house is a risky venture.
Adding insult to injury, the motel where we spent the majority of our evenings made huge mistakes with our credit card, placing three "pending charges" at different times. The result was to rack up over $2,000 in charges (for a final bill of only $600), which maxed out the card, triggered our account for penalty fees, set us up for a credit rating headache and had Brandon only finding out when he was picking up pizza for the family one night. After enough wrangling, the motel manager corrected the mistakes with our credit card company. However, the Iron Dog snowmachine race, and local wrestling and hockey tournaments are all descending on our little part of Alaska this weekend, and the motel was booked in advance - they were kicking us out, just when we thought our problems were waning. Stephanie had to race to find us one of the remaining rooms in the Mat-Su Valley. After we moved in for the final night, we found out the hard way that the room's heater was broken.
Throughout this past week, temperatures have stayed below or near zero, with occasional wind gusts of over 35 MPH. While Brandon was starting the cars in the motel parking lot one morning to warm them up, the temperature was -19. The next morning was -13. Unable to cook, or even microwave, we were forced to make do with fast food and the simplest of breakfasts. As a certified breakfast family, this has been one of the more difficult aspects. At a restaurant one night, Malcolm ordered breakfast instead of dinner, because he was missing eggs so much.
However, even the most trying times come to an end. Our house is in shambles, and yet relatively clean, so we have decided to give up the road and move back in. Water and heat have been restored, and a cord of seasoned firewood was delievered this morning. We still have a few weeks before our house will finally and totally be back together, making these two of the most, um, exciting months we've ever experienced.
And while in the end we'll be responsible for the deductibles (because the ruptures were two separate events, resulting in two separate claims, we're being forced to cough up two $1,000 deductibles), we will have all new floors, walls, ceilings, plumbing and paint to look forward to. The total bill, including motel and eating expenses, will amount to somewhere over $20,000, all of which, save for the deductibles, is being covered by our insurance company. And not to be overlooked is the renewed appreciation we all have for our modest little home, which despite its many flaws, is a far more welcoming place than any motel could ever be. Malcolm and Chloe have both been superb throughout the ordeal, relishing the motel's cable channels (nothing soothes after a tough day like SpongeBob SquarePants or Fairly Odd Parents), and playing in the occasional jacuzzi bath. We're extremely proud of them both. We were even able to work in an evening with the Moscow Circus last week, who played the Atwood Concert Hall in downtown Anchorage. The kids loved it, and it couldn't have come at a better time for us.
Not to be outshone by bad news was our most recent sonogram of Blueberry, our upcoming daughter or son. Those amazing images, and the news that both baby and mama are very healthy and progressing perfectly, has helped put all our troubles in perspective. We now return to our home, a bit shaken up, but no less thrilled to call ourselves Alaskans, and looking forward more than ever to welcoming our next child into the world.
Love,
Chloe, Malcolm, Stephanie and Brandon
