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About Us 2007 is when I began creating niche stores. Many kind and giving people shared their knowledge with me, making it easier to improve my sites. I have gathered much of what I've learned and put it here, on this site, as a way of giving back. It is my hope that this site will help you improve your niche stores and sites, too. ~ Rochelle
One Year Anniversary of Flood
Posted by
Rochelle in 
One year ago today, at this very time, my husband and I were in the garage, which was completely flooded, beginning to realize that we were in trouble. We just didn’t know how much trouble we were in yet.
As many of you may know, I am still working on flood repairs. It had been my goal to be done by today, as I didn’t want to go beyond the one year mark and STILL be working on the house, but it seems my goal was a bit out of reach. By my estimates, I still have at least one month of work to do, which, in reality, probably means two or three.
Earlier this week I was sorting through receipts (under normal circumstances I organize our receipts into envelopes, one envelope for each month – I just want to say that this type of organization really helped out when it was time to deal with the flood insurance representative). But, due to working on the house, I have simply collected receipts for the last year and finally sat down to deal with them. I had three gallon sized ziplock baggies of receipts, and an additional box full of them. The entire process took a full day of sorting and organizing.
It was a very strange thing to do. Honestly, I feel as though we lost a whole year. My memory of the past year is spotty. Perhaps I was so focused on getting the house fixed up that I didn’t take in daily activities. Looking at receipts for August ’08 was especially strange. I would see one for a week, three days, two days before the flood and think, “We had no idea what was coming our way.” In truth, it is hard to put into words how this felt, but I suspect that if any of you have been through a natural disaster (and I know at least one of you have), then you can probably understand this.
My focus at the moment, as it has for the last year, is on finishing the house. I fear this means I am a bit behind on emails. There are several emails in my Inbox from some of you, and I sincerely apologize for not getting to them yet. I haven’t been on the computer much. I promise I will eventually answer you, and ask that you bear with me a bit longer while I complete what I need to at home.
Last night, as I sat exhausted at the dinner table, my husband asked what I’d rather be doing than working on the house. I replied that I MUCH rather be working on a niche site. As much as I want to, I haven’t even had the chance to do much. I VERY MUCH want to create a new site using the N1WAY method, or even a new AdSense site, and have tons of ideas. Just not the time or opportunity to actually build them now. Soon. Soon.
May you all stay safe and have success working on your sites.
Rochelle
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6 Responses to “One Year Anniversary of Flood”
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Rochelle –
I have never gone through a natural disaster or any kind of total loss like you have, Kim has though (Hurricane Hugo)… she has told me how bad it was and how hard it was to come back from.
“What Doesn’t Kill Us – Makes us Stronger” right?
Just to lighten it up… some of my old and forgotten about niche sites have takes a year or so to finish also… and I still have alot of work to do on them.
Congrats on your efforts and accomplishments of doing most of this on your own!! You HAVE succeeded!
Mark
Hi Rochelle ~ I JUST (not 2 minutes ago) got an email from church about a family who lost everything last night to a house fire. I’m fighting back the tears – I hurt for them so much … and for us STILL! I can *smell* that horror like it was yesterday.
I also want you to know that I’ve set so many “be done with insurance” goals … and quite honestly almost 4 years later (Oct. 23rd) I’m still finishing hashing everything out with them. I’ve lost my ambition … so I might just close the file.
I always say we have “seasons” in life … and I know how it feels to want so badly to be spending your time doing something different. The good news is it sounds like you’re almost done with the “work” involved with the aftermath. Please know it’s also perfectly normal to continue to grieve for many years to come.
My offer still stands … if there’s anything at ALL I can do to help … with insurance, emotional support from someone who can try to understand, or with your online business … PLEASE just say the word! big *huGs* Suzanne
Mark,
Thanks for the encouragement. There is no doubt that Ned and I are stronger because of this. And, as Ned said yesterday, our house is better than it was before the flood. But, not how I would have chosen to get there.
How long did it take Kim to recover from the hurricane?
Rochelle
Rochelle –
When Kim went through it, it was nothing like a flood… most of the damage was to the outside of the home and yard. I think she said they lost like 35-40 trees in the yard, most ON the house and of course ON the cars.
It was several weeks (Almost a month if I recall) without power… so they were handtied to do anything at all! Once it did come back… it was several months of cleanup and repair.
Flood and Fire – My two biggest fears!! SO… we live on the TOP of a hill, and have smoke detectors and fire extinguishers throughout the house!
(My uncle was a fire fighter – he told me you could never have enough!)
Mark
Suzanne,
My heart goes out to the family who just lost everything. Hopefully, everyone is unhurt?
I can’t even imagine still dealing with this four years later. Fortunately, the insurance aspects was one of the easiest things we had to deal with. They were great, and we’ve been done with them for at least six months.
Did you, too, feel like a huge chunk of time was just gone when you looked back on it? It’s a very strange feeling.
Yes, the worst is over. Yes, I am so very close to being done. It’s the little things that are left, the little things I’ve set aside to do later. Later is now. The funny thing is, it actually kind of feels good to be doing these little things. It’s definitely good to see a room that is totally done (I am finishing room by room).
On the plus side, I’ve certainly learned from this, and have done many things different than before the flood. Such as, anything that is on the floor (under our bed, in closets, etc) is either something that can get wet OR is in some type of waterproof container. We now have tons of totes and plastic boxes. They are great for organizing, too.
Rochelle
Mark,
Yeah, a fire is a huge fear of mine, too. I’ve purchased several fire extinguishers, but should probably add a few more. I’ll take a flood over a fire any day! At least we had time to get out safely, whereas you never know with a fire.
Wow. A month without power! Showering must have been fun.
All day today I’ve been working on inventorying stuff we’ve gotten since the flood. This is something I’ve been doing for the past three to four years, and it REALLY helped when we dealt with the insurance agent. Pain in the butt, though. As I’ve been doing this I’m inventorying every little thing. I figure if we ever have a fire (shudder at the thought!) we will need to know everything we had. It all adds up. The pens and pencils, the reams of paper, all of it. I’d hate to have to rely on my memory if I have to say what we had.
If anyone wants to do the same I highly recommend Frostbow Home Inventory http://frostbow.com/products/home_inventory.shtml. It helps to keep a copy of your inventory database and the program somewhere else, should your original (the one on your computer) get destroyed.
Rochelle