While minding my own business and abiding by all of the quarantine rules of house lockdown, a washing machine hose burst on the second floor of my home.
What a mess.
Once we got the water shut off, and the remediation people arrived, this was the following process.
- Sop up all the water and get anything wet out of the house,
- Tear up rugs, pull down walls and ceilings wherever waters spots appear
- Pack up EVERYTHING into a POD truck to take EVERYTHING to off-site storage (EVERYTHING)
- 21 large commercial drying fans ran for 24 hours a day, for 5 days
- Once all walls, ceilings and flooring was dry, restoration began.
The night of the incident, for some reason I was reasonably calm, I kept trying to remember people that were being displaced because of COVID-19 quarantined away from home. There was no point in getting ruffled it was just going to be what it was. Even later that night when my dining room ceiling collapsed onto the floor below, I just calmly went to bed.
So, I went to bed that night thinking it would probably be just one room and maybe one closet that would need repairs. The professionals would take care of it and I would be good to go. That was BEFORE I was told I had to move into a Hotel during renovations. (more on that later)
Every day more water spots were discovered and more demolition would take place. The end result, the water had impacted every room in the house except the kitchen. Every day I would check on my house, and another wall or ceiling or floor would be ripped out. I just could not believe what was happening.
So, there I was in a hotel, is there such a thing as a double quarantine? Not only was I quarantined, but I was quarantined outside of my own home. A stay I thought might last a few weeks and perhaps even a month, lasted more than 3 months.
Because of the pandemic, the hotel was providing very few services. Cleaning services were once a week, no restaurants were open, they were renting only the first floor, and there were maybe 10 cars in the parking lot. Little science fiction feeling vibes were going on. So, this was definitely NOT a mini-vacation stay. No this was EXTREMELY different.
However, someone once said,
“Losing your head in a crisis is a good way to BECOME the crisis.”
So, I had to work at staying calm and let everyone do their job, and obviously, I made it through okay.
But the reason I wanted to share this story is because during that bizarre journey through my SUMMER OF 2020, like so many others with similar stories, I learned so much about myself, and other people.
First of all we’re all so much more resilient then we know.
I actually stayed at the hotel from June to August, while there, I came across this quote,
“When written in Chinese, the word crisis is composed of 2 characters. One represents DANGER and the other represents OPPORTUNITY.”
I felt I was past the danger part, so, I had to start focusing on the OPPORTUNITY part.
Being quarantined in a hotel with limited services for 24 hours a day, you better have some creative ways to pass the time away. TV was not an option, and you could only read so much in a day.
I had 2 areas I could apply OPPORTUNITY to. DAISY LIST of course, and redecorating.
I began to work on the post COVID19 “Evolution of DAISY LIST”, and I watched HGTV until I was up to double and triple repeats. I then had to turn to Utube and the Internet for new ideas and I found 2 decorators that saved the day for me.
REBECCA ROBESON
Fell in LOVE with Rebecca’s style, her presentation, and definitely her personality. Beautiful with a little bit of bling, bling, but down to earth and comfortable. I learned so many small pointers from her, that I could apply to my own home right away. I couldn’t get enough of her. She put emphasis on inexpensive ways to reuse and repurpose things you already have. That prompted me to look at everything with new eyes. I’m using so many of her ideas, and I’m still watching her constantly. Google her.
Madebycarli:
She wasn’t afraid to tackle any project by herself. She was comfortable trying anything. For years I’ve wanted to learn how to use power tools, like drills, saws and screwdrivers. However, let’s just say I think I’m allergic to any kind of power tool, you name it. On top of that, I have no patience when something doesn’t turn out right the first time. When I watched madebycarli, I immediately wanted to try all kinds of projects. Yea, right, as soon as I do, I’ll share the results of one of my projects, however, DON’T WAIT FOR IT!
But that’s okay, I still enjoy watching both of them. I’ve gotten so many ideas that I have been able to apply. If you’re redecorating, these are the two to watch. Google both of them.
They say the whole point of ADVERSITY is for the lessons we learn from them.
The lesson I learned was,
“ADVERSITY STRENGTHENS,
PROBLEMS THAT DON’T BREAK YOU MAKE YOU!”
So as my daughter always says,
KEEP IT MOVING!
Stay tuned for the renovation!