Just when ya think the work is done...
The ChiefHubby & I were kept busy all through this summer, not just with the usual summer happenings (gatherings, concerts, July 4th, mowing home for me & at church for him), but with a ton of leadership in & our help to two of our Besties, Mark & Wendy Cotner, we managed to get not only a back deck porch built, but also a BEAUTIFULLY crafted front porch deck! Mark, and Wendy too, is as talented in his craftmanship- being as durable perfectionists as our late Grandpa Raymer. That says it all! So when our mission trip time arrived (Team Mountain Mission School in Grundy, Virginia) for the week of July 10-16, we'd busted our heinies to get all our obligations done and the house & yard picked up and re-seeded the day before we left Indiana. I'll still be doing a blogpost on our end of the Team's work for the measley 3 days we were there (with only ONE stinkin' day of work completed on our part). While taking Sunday afternoon time away from the actual work to have a chance to show Wendy the views of Breaks Inter-State Park that the rest of us got to view on last year's trip (this was her first trip there), I recieved an urgent cell text from our neighbor who was not at home either (they were visiting her parents in Minnesota- yup, same area our Ygr Purdue couple settled in by GOD's design; not anyone else's!). Her sister was staying at their house next door to us to puppysit their kids' 2 dogs. Her sister's boyfriend happened to be there after lunch when they heard a loud crash and ran out to see the pool had.....exploded....is the only description I have. They texted me the words "your pool broke", but later in the evening when we finally got net service to work, and we got hold of another friend/nearby neighbor (who is the former GVFD Assistant Chief...Dave Armick & his wife, Jody... all those years working alongside David) ran over to get & send photos. But, "exploded" is what it more resembles!
From the description Dave & Jody told David over the phone, a decision had to be made: the mission trip would have to finish without us. I was NOT happy about that. I felt like we'd failed it. We'd failed THE KIDS there at Mountain Mission School. We'd just barely gotten time to get to talk to any of the kids. We DID get in a full day's work that I felt was a REALLY GOOD DAY on Saturday, even tho I was still feeling sick from a URI and coughing my head off day&night through an antibiotic and the usual megaload of meds I have to take. But from prior experience with the school last year; over the week-long stay, the kids warm up and start talking to visitors & trusting us more. We committed to making that place, that school, those kids; our MISSION to give our time, talents, treasure, teaching, testimony, and LOVE for the coming years..as GOD so wills. And I look forward to going back again next year also. But not knowing if the damage was only on our OWN property, or not, David was right; we needed to get home & take care of it all. It was NOT as bad as I feared from initial looks. But finding how it went into the house itself was a bit of a shock. (BLESS DAVE & JODY for cleaning it up and even moving the bar chairs & all else that the Larimore Tsunami hit in its way, to get them dried out!!!!) Not the least to mention that we'd had TONS of ppl in that pool, and sitting around all the decking, over three weeks of three gatherings/pool parties. And had we not been away on a trip; I would have been in that pool myself at that very time after church & lunch. Seeing how I mostly 'lead the way' of seeing who can obtain the biggest splash into the pool...over & over, of course....we'd have had alot of hurt people whom we love dearly. I do NOT believe in 'coincidence'. I know GOD is omniscient. 
I've gotten a cpl hundred msgs over the past 48 hrs, so blogging it seemed the best way to explain- and show- it all. We are OK- both kitties were at home & BudderCup came running & her usual bawling her head off when we drove up. After an evening of me worrying & calling for Shax...he ended up rolling around at the backdoor in ecstasy before we were ready to drop dead in bed. Another set of friends ,Scott, Terri, & just their younger of their two daughters, happened by while David started pulling up the mess. They stayed to not just help David cut up all the metal, but load it all up into the back of the truck. As it dries out, we can rake up all the (just newly spread soil, grass seed, mulch, and all new POOL ROCK!!) mass amount of items from the yard and we are, just as I get this typed, seeing about a new pool. It is a couple years earlier than planned but since July 14th is our 31st Wedding Anniversary...I get a new pool for it...and the Anniversaries to come. And for Labor Day, my 50th birthday in October, and probably CHRISTmas and Easter....for the next 20 years! lol!!
While he began cleanup, (left MMSchool abt 8am & arrived home abt 5pm) I was unpacking and gathering up all the soggy stuff that got hit. The Chief & I kept finding large rocks... hunks of mud...and my always-floating pair of duckies high-water-surfed waaaay out to the front of the house. (Omagosh!!! I am just now reminded that only our 'Johnny Gage FF/PM duckie is MISSING!! Better send out an ambu & Squad to search for 'im!! Somebody dispatch USAR!!!) David laughingly said "Looks like we had our own Tsunami...Larimore Fashion!"...um, yeah... mmm-hmmm. And during the unpacking from what was to have been a 7-day-w-5-workday stay; I wouldda been the one with nothing left but the VERY-minimalistic packing I'd had. Whereas, The always-ready, retired-FFChief, former Boy Scout (pack 14 prs underwear....just in case, ya never know) ChiefHubby had enough clothing and shoes to restock a full wardrobe after said Tsunami!!! I was still snickering over watching our group of fellow mission-attenders unpack: they each cleaned off the matresses...spread out a fitted sheet....spread out (matching, mind you) top sheets....then nice home-away-from-home comforter bedspreads...topped that with pillows- after slipping on matching pillowcases. (I won't pick on any Bears or Stuffies placed on top as I seem to be the leader in that...but sadly forgot mine... wah!) And will the REAL OUTDOOR GURL please stand up: (w CH's help & suggestion) I pushed my bunks over to the nearest outlet corner, set out my outlet bar, attached all my techie toys w their plugins, unroll my sleeping bag, drop my extra blanket at the foot, and my pillow at the top, plunk down & open my iGear, & look over watching all of them making up their 'cushy beds', & call out: "Man! U guys are such....GIRLS!!!" HaHa!! Then I end up being the first one to pack it all in & head for home with my tail hung low. Left Indiana with a pool at home & a smile on my face. Head back home as a PoolGurl...with no pool. :`(
That pool lasted EXACTLY 20 years this very week!!! We try hard to take care of what we haveAnd we are very BLESSED in how many memories we have of the people who came to share good times with us in it....of our own private times...and how that pool was my only companion while I was sick those 5 yrs of the last 10 having trauma-induced RA after a life-saving surgery turned my world upside-down. The boys were either at school or pretty much had a life of their own by then. David's job always took at least 10 hrs out of the day, plus his other obligations on the Fire Dept, & not to mention church work...left me time at home alone a lot. Sleeping while floating on air mattress was about the ONLY comfortable position. At that point, walking in the pool, not only was a way for me to spend my recovery time, but it also led to me deciding life was worth staying alive for. And only GOD understands what HE & I talked over during that time. So yeah...it was more than "just a pool". I remind myself that I always get to keep the good memories of this life as my gift, while my real treasures are laid up for me in my Real Home- Heaven!
We took a trip to Indy yesterday - our Anniversary- & stopped in Kokomo on the way home on US31 at the Outback Steakhouse to share dinner & over the mandatory YUMMY FAVE Bloomin' Onion, had a chance to go over our options for a new pool. Some of our future-new-pool plans changed without realizing it: deeper than the 24x48 is out since it wouldn't match with the decking already in place, and..they no longer have bottom drains like we did (permanently discontinued after children were hurt being caught in the suction of the water in the drain), and our plan to drop the drain deeper is also out due to voiding any warranty of the new liner if we reinserted our still-existing bottom drain. Also out is pro installation, as noone will install within 8 inches of an exisisting structure (decking). The pluses are: we have already installed our own pool before and have learned from any mistakes, we made our pool (original outside & liner as well) last for 20 years specifically due to our own work & care for it all. We also have plenty of experience in replacing worn working parts- motor, filter, pipings, fittings, skimmer aparatus, etc. Sooooo. As soon as the cleanup is finished, and we find the right replacement We don't need the full pkg that most companies sell and forget Family Leisure in Indy whose salesman was ready to sell us "any pool in stock" only to tell us about each choice we picked with a "Oops. We are out of stock on that one." and by the time I'd made the THIRD pick and it was far inferior of what we were wanting....I clicked on my cell phone to find out for myself if I could just order the sucker online from their supplier myself (yep) and bypass that place entirely. Shhesh! Why are they even open....HEEEELLLLLLOOOOooooooo?!?
All in all; I know a new pool will happen if I just be patient. (And in the meantime, the ULTRA-monsoony-muggy Indiana weather of 2015... I seriously think they need ta be thinkin' about changing the State Bird from a Cardinal to a MOSQUITO !!!) I am forever GRATEFUL & THANKFUL noone was around or in it at the time, thus noone was hurt; no other property was damaged, and our own house was still ok. No amount of insurance we have on all our belongings could make up for the loss of anyone's LIFE or LIMB. And I learned from this - once again- that in times of happiness, or in need of help: we have A TON OF PEOPLE WHO LOVE US!!! Our kids were all out of state- the older couple took a trip to Tennessee on vacation, but were on the way home at the same time, and stopped by to send us updates of the damages. Our younger set live up in Red Wing, MN, and we wanted to contact them AFTER we got settled down so they wouldn't worry that we or the pets were hurt. Our next door neighbor family watch over us & our home even when not at home- same as we do with them & theirs while they are gone (ironically the same area of Minnesota where our younger couplekids live). And I am CERTAIN that the rest of our neighborhood also watch over things just as we do for them- and we would all join to help each other even if we had any differences of opinion or the way we each live. Our kids are ALL important too- no matter whose they are. That's what is so great about this country we live in. And I wouldn't trade it!
So take a deeeeep breath, know it all is ok, and I DID have a good breakdown and cry over it the night before we got home. And I was hyperventing as we drove up. The Chief was too, just a TINY bit. ;) Here's the photos. With the *BANG!* ppl say they heard down the street, and the bent of the steel posts.....you'll see why I am so THANKFUL!!
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| BEFORE: David and I kinda 'helped' Mark Cotner and his brother Rick Cotner as they start the roof on the finished back bottom decking. The Chief and I can hammer and drill alot of things....as long as you tell us WHERE you want them hammered and drilled. Mark Cotner is a MASTER builder and his wife, Wendy, is a HUGELY talented MASTER crafter/artist. These two people are what I call Extreme Givers. And we are humbly proud to work alongside them and call them "Bestie"! |
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| SUNDAY; July 12 a photo sent by Dave Armick via cell a few hrs after the break. Rachelle Pearson's sister, Katie, was house/puppysitting next door and originally sought out how to contact us, calling Rachelle and trying across the street at Bill & Kim Watkins' house also. THANKS SO MUCH, EVERYONE !!!!! :) |
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| It doesn't look bad at all from here. Till you try to walk over to it.....and the amount of mixed stuff hidden in the soggy grass tells the real story. |
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| The pump is actually OK!! But, imagine some people- ESPECIALLY KIDS- who were filling this pool being hurled by all the steel that broke and hit the filter- flinging it aside out of the holder and the actual pump...... That steel held up SEVERAL TEEN BOYS walking on top of it during the night....(Thought "Mommy don't see that stuff", huh??) and also myself when I daily popped over it to turn the bottom drain on for daily bottom cleaning. That wall is pretty darned strong- even at 20 yrs old. It was the rust from around the skimmer that was weakened from overfill by a storm Saturday night. If we had been home (as I was doing daily) ...I'd been draining off the excess. So, no, the insurance will not cover it in this case. |
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| My BabyDucky was found along with several top liner-pulls....clear out past the new back porch decking and the camper. WHOA! What a wipeout!!!! |
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| I will soon have my house and property back to the way I like to keep it. I know all that takes is alotta elbow grease on my end, but it's work I like to do and take joy that GOD still enables me to enjoy on most days!!!! Then, I guess we'll have to end up having another pool party.... in THE NEW POOL...to give THANKS, and share it all around! ;) |
THANKS 2 ALL! for not only the nice comments left on all my crafts done recently, but all the NICE thoughts and prayers sent our way while I was sick again, for our Missions Trip, and then trying to contact me after hearing through whatever grapevine you did about the "Larimore Tsunami". SHEESH!! That makes TWO of those that affected us personally- the one in Japan affected David's job at SIA and the people of the company. Should I be.... a touch CONCERNED with my obessive love of WATER??
I guess I am a bit backed up on blogging again, but it will all get out at some point. In the meanwhile;
I send my sincere thoughts and prayers backatcha'all! Be safe, have a wonderful week, and....
Happy Blogging!!
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