Tuesday, June 12, 2012

Under Water Adventure in Donna's Scrap Room


Viewer Discretion is Advised.

If you are an avid scrapbooker, card maker or crafter of any type, the following photos may be hard for you to see. Please proceed at your own discretion.











If you have never seen my scrap room before, please look at my right side bar and you will see a photo with a title bar that says Donna's Scrap Room. Click on the photo to see all the photos that I had posted of my sanctuary.

On Monday, May 28th at 6:00 a.m., we woke up to 8 inches of water in our basement. It was coming in through our drain, toilet & bath tub. It didn't stop there. The water continued to rise until late afternoon stopping at 2.5 feet high.

My parents, my cousin Brandi & her two girls came over as soon as I called them. My best-friend's husband (Gerry) came over. My girlfriend (Irene) my mother-in-law & later in the day Brandi's mom came to help us save as much as we could & take care of TJ.

We started pulling stuff out of our basement at 6 a.m. and didn't quit until shortly after 6 p.m. Not only was my basement my scrap area, it was also my photo archival area, our spare bedroom, our storage room, our laundry room & Amy's cool hang out room.

Amy & I lost a lot of keepsakes & scrapbooking supplies & tools, but with the help of some amazing friends & family we also saved a lot. I only lost 12 photo albums and most of the photos in those albums are on cds. So they can easily be printed again. I only have approximately 2 dozen photos that need to be scanned and printed.

Trevor's shed, my living room, TJ's nursery & Amy's room is storing all the items that we were able to save.

Due to the height of the water, the hydro & gas were cut off to my house. The gas hasn't been put back on, but some of the hydro has been.

First General from Sudbury, needed the hydro to be restored to completely dry out my basement with their 10 fans & 2 dehumidifiers. To give the contractors the hydro they needed, an electrician disconnected all the basement breakers & put in some sort of panel for the contractors to use.

This gave me hydro back upstairs, but only to part of my house because we found out the hard way that a good portion of my wiring on the main floor was connected to the basement breakers.

This is why DAT'S Scrapbooking has been CLOSED.

At this time, we do not know when we will be re-opening. We need the electrical work in the basement completed, the new furnace put in, the tankless water heater taken care of, a shower rebuilt downstairs & my washing machine plumbed back in to be able to return home.

You may ask....why a shower and the washing machine. Well, we have always showered in the basement. The bath tub upstairs is built on the slant of the house and therefore is only good for TJ's baths. The washing machine is because I do a load of TJ laundry every second day. 

I have been doing enough carting of my close to 25 pound son back & forth to the house taking care of flood related items that to continue to do so while running the store will just add too much stress to my life.

So, with so many people displaced, who knows how long it is going to be before we can move back home. My contractor is working hard for me and has already found a company to put my furnace in tomorrow. We are now just waiting to hear back from the other parties involved to see when they can get their areas of expertise done at my house.

We are all hanging in there. We have had some rough days.....inventorying on Monday & seeing all that we have lost was one of them.

A BIG THANK YOU goes out to Lee-Ann, Mom, Shanna & Brandi for helping Amy & I get all the inventory done this past Monday.

We are trying to keep positive and just take it all day by day. I got to see Amy at her track & field try-outs for the first time because I didn't have to run the store. 

I also got to see her at her 3 Pitch tournament & this week I will get to see her at her Tennis tournament. Last Thursday, TJ spent 6 hours in the new baby pool we bought him for the backyard. I got to take some great photos of that. 

As soon as I can open the store again, I will and I will definitely get the word out to you. 

Thank you all for your kind words, support & understanding throughout this crazy time in our lives.

7 comments:

  1. Once again, I have no words for this - and as you well know, I am not often left speechless! As you have been doing, keep yourchin up girl and know that so many of us have you all in our thoughts.
    Love and hugs,
    Shan
    p.s. Sooo glad to hear that the furnace might be happening soon, that is progress for certain!

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  2. My heart goes out to you Donna and Family. I can't even imagine how hard it must be for you. Take care. Maureen J.

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  3. Oh Donna, I'm so sorry . . . just heartbreaking!!!
    Take care,
    Caroline

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  4. My thoughts are with your family at this very difficult time. I am glad to hear that things are moving forward, and that you were able to save precious memories. Take care Brenda

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  5. Oh Donna, these photos are totally heart-wrenching :( You loved this room so much. You were so excited when it was finished. You were very proud of your scrap escape and Amy's hang out. All the work and planning you and Trevor put into the remodelling :(
    I'm glad the furnace is going in; hopefully the other repairs will happen soon. I don't blame you for closing the store right now. You just take your time and keep your chin up.
    Hugs

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  6. I can't imagine what you must be going through. My heart goes out to you and your family. Glad you were able to save some things.
    Shirley(from Dryden)

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  7. I have no words ! I dont know you and just found your blog this morning as I searched yahoo for "dream scrap rooms" and clicked on a beautiful image ....and sadly found this post!
    I literally gasped when I saw the first image. Holy molely, that is horrible! Thank God you have family and friends to help you during this distressing time. Long before I was a scrapper I had a flood in my basement, only about 8"-10" but the entire basement had to be gutted and redone. Oh the mess, the inventory for insurance, the contractors day after day Oh my ! Cant imagine having 2.5 feet ! and all that beautiful scrappy stuff and photos. My heart is heavy for you and I hope you get your feet back under you quickly and when complete its even better than ever! Hugs

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