Day 3

11:00 p.m.
News Flash: Unrelated to the fire but newsworthy all the same - my sister Heather was just accepted into the Ph.D. program in instructional technology at Utah State! We are all so excited for her! She is awesome!

- Dori T. and her cute girls found an orchid for my mom and gave it to her today. They are so sweet! Thank you!

- Progressive Auto Insurance took only a few hours to complete my claim on my poor car. They are so awesome! I was very impressed and will happily plug them here.

- I uploaded some more fire photos to Flickr, but forgot that my camera had decided (all on its own) to take super-high-definition photos instead of my standard setting, so apparently I also managed to use up all my bandwidth/space there for the month. Oops! I also didn't get them added to the set yet. I'll try to find a few minutes to tackle that tomorrow. There are still a few more photos so I'll have to find a place for them this weekend and post them up, too.

- I found some Phonics Game cards on the driveway today and remembered more things from our homeschool that we lost. I know there was more just in the daily basket of books and notepads, and that's not even mentioning the three ceiling-height bookshelves that were completely filled. There were also game cards and mini "LoTR Risk" pieces all over the driveway. Careful! You just stepped on an orc!

- I also had a chance to talk with my mission buddy, Alyson, this afternoon, and she was so wonderful to go out of her way to contact the publishers of the books we were using for school, and Peace Hill Press - the publisher of "Story of the World" and "The Ordinary Parents Guide to Teaching Reading" actually agreed to send us new copies of the entire set! I am absolutely flabbergasted! I'm also totally thrilled because those were books that we loved and used daily. Everyone else said we'd need a receipt for proof of purchase. Um, which part of "house fire" did you not understand? Then again, I would hardly expect any of them to agree to such a thing. That's why I'm so stunned that Peace Hill Press actually did! Remind me when I get around to actually writing those books I've been going to write, to go to them first.

- Shhhhh! Lyman's family is asleep, Hunter is passed out on the floor next to me, and I think it's way past time for me to go back to the hotel.

3:30 p.m.
We were able to recover some clothing today, so that will be good. My mom's miniatures work-desk in her office is in recovery mode and there is great hope that much of its contents can be saved. I went digging through the bedroom. It's kinda fun to dig and chuck stuff all over the room and know that I don't have to worry about cleaning it up later. Drew's Nutcracker photos were saved, and most of my computer software that was in a filing cabinet upstairs. I found a cute little ceramic cup that came from Japan and was so excited about it! Then the boys carried it out in a bag and its lid broke. I had to laugh. Really, the irony is too much and it's not worth crying over. So many books are ruined or likely ruined (i.e. totally soaked-through). The baby grand piano is a complete loss, but looks kinda cool sitting there.

Tonight we're going to see Lyman and Jennifer perform in their roadshow. My dad had gone through an old box of really old ties last week to find an ugly old tie for Lyman to wear as part of his costume. Funny that it's now probably one of the only ones to survive.

Thank you to the Monument Park 16th Ward Relief Society for lunch. It was perfect! So many people have come by to chat or to help, and it has been absolutely wonderful seeing them all.

10:00 a.m.
Stories! We have stories!

Kangaroos?!?
Yesterday morning, my parents and Hunter were eating at the Residence Inn breakfast buffet when an animal that jumped and looked very much like a small, grey kangaroo came leaping through the breakfast room! Someone tackled it, and then a very embarrassed-looking woman came and led it away with a casual, "Have a nice breakfast everyone!" We knew they allowed dogs there, but that was quite a surprise! I thought, "Hey, I should look up and find out what it was," and then remembered I have neither books nor a computer. Ha! I keep forgetting.

There's something humming in there!
On Wednesday when I first ventured upstairs to take a peek at what used to be our bedroom over the garage, I heard a spooky humming noise coming from the center of the room under the rubble. It sounded like something electrical! I was too scared to go in, but yesterday the sound was still there - just a bit fainter - and Ben dug down to discover: our smoke detector! It is melted into a funny shape but was still humming frantically.

Guard Duty
During hours with the least bit of daylight, nearly every single car that goes by the house stops or slows down to gawk. The first two nights we had a security guard there, and last night we took over that duty. I had fun! I had to laugh at the people who actually rolled down their windows in the pouring rain to get a better look! Some of them go by once, turn around, and come back for a second look.
Just think of the marketing opportunities! Set up a toll booth at each end of the street. Better yet, target the gawkers by holding a Boy Scout/ YMYW/ cheerleader car wash fundraiser at the bottom of our driveway! No need to stand on the corner with a posterboard to advertise; these cars come right to you! Get some buckets of soapy water and towels. I'd offer the hose in our front yard, but last I saw it was melted to the plastic hose wheel.
On a more serious note, the security guard that was here the first two nights told my brother Ben that at one point in the middle of the night, some would-be looters drove their minivan right up into the driveway before he flashed his lights and they sped away. Sylvia and I both had similar experiences last night. It's educational to realize how many opportunist looters there are out there. Lock your doors, please, especially if your house hasn't burned down recently!

Thank you!
To the Andersons, for a wonderful dinner and their time chatting with us last night, and for letting me use their computer for a few minutes.

Updated list of things we need:

--list moved to most recent entry--

Thank you all! Thank you Thank you!