Mouse in the House

We have a mouse in the house! If there is one, then there are others!

Shortly after I left for work this morning, I got a phone call from my wife, Jamie. She had seen a mouse in the kitchen. Our two watchful kitties saw it as well. While the cats kept an eye on the mouse, who was hiding under the dishwasher, my wife woke up our kids to give them a heads up about the mouse in the house. My daughter Rachel, who is also scared of mice, decided she was going to stay in her room all day and asked Jamie if she could make her a lunch so she wouldn't have to get out of her bedroom until I got home. My son Caleb was worried at all; he was just annoyed Jamie woke him up early. As my wife was about to make my daughter as sandwich, the mouse decided to make a mad dash from under our dishwasher towards the stove. Scout, our boy kitty, caught the mouse and proudly brought it to my wife, who screamed, startling the cat, who promptly dropped the mouse. The mouse then ran under our couch.

Needless to say the screaming got the kids up in a hurry. Caleb trying to help the kitties got a bucket to try and trap the mouse. At that point Rachel came up with the idea to spend the day doing their homeschooling from a local Starbucks and I could pick them up after my sub assignment was over. Caleb would have preferred to stay home, but he didn't want Rachel to be at Starbucks by herself. As they started to get ready, the mouse decided to make a run from the couch back into the kitchen. Our vigilant cats chased it down and Scout once again caught the mouse and started bringing it to Jamie. Of course she screamed again and the cat dropped the mouse and the mouse got away again. The kids quickly got dressed, packed up their laptops to do schoolwork and brought some books to take with them to Starbucks where they planned to spend the day. Jamie even gave them some money to eat the the Panda Express next door to Starbucks.

How do I know this story? While sitting at school I started getting text messages telling me what was going on. I called during a passing period between classes and got filled in on the rest of the story. (I hope I'm telling it correctly.) I called the kids at Starbucks during a break and told them I can come visit them during the conference/lunch period I had between 10:00 and 1:30. We decided that the kids would come back home to do their school work if; 1) I set some traps to catch the mice and 2) they could still eat at Panda Express for lunch. I agreed. So at 10:00 I left school to get the kids. I got them some lunch at Panda Express and took them home. We had 4 mouse traps at the house already; so I set the traps and went back to school.

Shortly after getting back to school I ate my lunch and got ready for the next class. As the next class started, the students were called to a special assembly over scheduling for next year and I was told I could go home if I wanted to. Since my daughter Rachel was already nervous about being in the house with the mouse, I decided I would go on home to help her feel better about the situation.

So traps are set, cats are on the prowl and hopefully we can eliminate our mouse problem very soon!

Packing, Packing, Packing

The packing is underway! The Realtor has been consulted! We are going to move!

The kids start ACU Summer Camps on Sunday, Jamie starts her new job in Waxahachie, TX on June 13th and we are going to have a garage sale to get rid of excess furniture and stuff we don't won't to move with us. Things are getting busy.

In the meantime, we will use what time we have together as a family packing things up. I will keep working at Starbucks until the house sells or I get another job in the Dallas area.

The cats seem to think the packed boxes are castles for them to climb, play and sleep on.

My son is a little concerned that we have to pack up his X-Box and other game systems. We have to do that to show our home to potential buyers. The only things we plan on leaving until the last minute are the beds, clothes, essential toiletries and kitchen utensils, one television, one DVD player and the DVDs, and the Nintendo Wii (so the kids can play some games until the last minute). Of course the washer and dryer and our freezer full of meat will have to wait as well.

The dining room table (and chairs), the computer area and a few chairs will stay behind to help "show" the house. Everything else must go!

I am already tired!

At Last, a Little Justice

Our home owner's insurance company finally came through regarding our roof. After I called to appeal their initial decision that their was no damage to the house, they sent the adjuster back out to our home. Thank goodness I was there this time. I showed him where it was leaking into our bedroom, and then he spent the next 20 minutes on our roof looking for what might be causing the leak. He finally found a small hole (a little smaller than a dime) in our roof.

He first thought it was a bullet hole. After telling him that no one was shooting at our house, he told me he finds bullet holes in people's roofs all the time, especially after July 4th or New Year's Day. He told me that some people just get trigger happy during these times and fire their guns into the air. They just don't realize that what goes up must come down somewhere, even if it is almost two-three miles away.

He then determined the hole was caused by a tree limb that fell from the oak tree that over hangs our home. He estimated the damage for a limb removal, (even though we had removed all limbs several weeks earlier), a roof patch repair and for some repair work for the inside of the home.

We should be getting an insurance check soon to fix the damage. He also told me that our roof, as a whole, can not be replaced yet; however, it is old enough to show any kind of severe wind or hail damage. He suggested the next hail storm that blows through to file another claim and if he is still working this area, he would "find" the hail damage and get our roof replaced. How nice!

I Hate My Home Owner Insurance Company

I really do! I just hate them. Shortly after I first started blogging we had several things go wrong with our home. (God is Renovating Our House) -- We had our AC/Heating Unit go out, we had a major leak in our roof, that caused ceiling damage to our kitchen (which has yet to be fully repaired) and just other general stuff. Both times we filed and insurance claim just to have it denied by our insurance company.

About a month ago we had a hail storm and some major wind. We once again called our insurance to file a claim to check for damage to our roof. After their inspection, they once again denied any claim for damages. The day we got the letter from the insurance company, it rained fairly heavy in our area, and another leak was discovered. This time the leak is directly over LadyBug's and My bed. The same brown spot that appeared on our kitchen ceiling is now forming over our bed. I called our insurance company back and told them, that it had rained plenty of times since the last time we had our roof fixed (at our own expense), and we never discovered a leak. But the first time it rained after the hail/wind storm our roof is now leaking. I told them there must be some damage to the roof. They are supposed to call me back again to discuss my options about filing an appeal to the recent denial of our claim of damage.

Why can't the insurance company just pony up the dough and pay to fix our roof. We have the coverage to do this. Over the years we have paid them well over the $4,000+ required to fix our roof. I just can't understand why an insurance company would be so willing to take your money, yet so stingy in using to fix a legitimate problem with our home. I just hate our home owners insurance company. We may have to switch companies!

Any suggestions on roofing a house for yourself? I know it takes time and a few good friends. But It can be done right?