I like you and Mr. Raven and pray for the best for both of you.

Raven....just got to read your messages...wish I had some magic wand and could wave it to make all of your problems disappear...but do send you my love and lots of prayers. Hang in there and many big hugs...((((0))))

Stay safe! We'll be thinking about you.

I just heard an update that the storms are supposed to hit around 7 am.

Never have so many people who live elsewhere been so focused on the weather around Houston! Hoping MAY will work the magic needed to stop the wind and rain.

Raven, was your DH *seen* by an MD? Given the muck he's been dealing with, this could be anything. His immune system is probably working overtime now, too.

Hoping Raven checks in. I was looking at the weather map. We got a little rain, but the 'storm' stayed up North of the Houston area. That still could mean flooding downstream.

I hope Raven checks in soon too. We've been watching the weather news, and not knowing "exactly" where she is located, makes it hard to know if she is getting hit again with the horrible weather.

I am here. Happy to report that the worst of the storm missed us. I feel so bad for those who got hit by the multiple tornadoes. We did get a good bit of rain and we did get water in the house from the back yard which is still looking like a lake. There's big holes in the back wall of the house, it will have to be totally removed and a new wall built. They discovered termite damage we knew nothing about. So uncovering that was fortunate.

Mr Raven is doing much better now that the doctor put him on Augmentin. The swelling has gone down. When we get back he will be seen by the dentist. He has had teeth problems because he smoked heavily for years. He is facing full replacement of some sort.

Today the weather isnice. We could have gone to Oklahoma after all but this gives us one more day here to get stuff done.

I live in North Houston area just below TheWoodlands. So on the maps you can see Conroe to the north, South of that is The Woodlands, South of that is Spring and Champions. I live in that area my zip code is Champions. Keep going South and you get into the city of Houston. If you find Raveneaux country club you are very close to the Ravens lol. I think it was so kind of them to name such a fabulous country club after me hahaha.

Aug-Clav 875 mg and I ended a ten day relationship a week ago. Last Prednisone yesterday. Now Levofloxin and I are cohabiting. Thank goodness for Probiotics!

Safe journey tomorrow and be sure to soak up the family love when you are in Oklahoma. The house will take care of itself while you are gone.

We were just walking through the demolished house with no walls and discussing the way we want things done and changed in many cases. We decided if we have to go through this to make sure it's done correctly this time because it's going to have to be our forever home. I said if it happens again we will walk away and go live in the rv full time being gypsies on the road. But knowing my conditions are all progressive and will get worse and my mobility will be declining more as time passes, now is the time to address some of the mobility issues. Lots of hand rails in the bathrooms and showers. Making the kitchen more open plan for my wheelchair. Making the big new island the right height for me to use sitting in my chair. Have the island on locking casters so it's moveable if need be. I would like to figure out how to make it height adjustable too. We are going to remove the wall between the kitchen and formal dining room, make it all kitchen with a breakfast table area. The formal living room is plenty big enough to be a small dining room and living room combined. We have a huge den we use as our living area. The huge room that is my office and sun room could also easily be used for other purposes including a dining room. We don't really have a need for a formal dining room but future owners will have options. The bedrooms will remain the same with new paint, drywall, and I am going with carpet tiles in them. We are going to demo our master bath to make it more user friendly for me. I am looking forward to that part of this process. Picking tile, paint etc is going to happen soon. So I am depending on y'all to help me with those things! Everyone is going to be involved are you ready?

We are going to Oklahoma tomorrow be back Wednesday and the shopping begins!

Maybe, just maybe some good will come out of all this heartbreak. You both deserve lots of happiness in your"new" home. Take your time and make sure you incorporate all that is needed for your future. We all look forward to pictures of the progress. Hugs to both you and Mr. Raven.

I know this has to be incredibly hard. I like how you are able to turn it into an opportunity for better living.

Have a safe trip. Know we'll all be thinking of you.

So very, very thankful that the worst of storm missed you this time. Praying now for a safe trip and safe return. Thanks for the update and be sure to let us know when you get back.

We are on the road again. We should have clear skies according to the weather man. Thanks again!

do you have anyone who can do checks on the house?

Yes my contractor lives next door and several of my neighbors are checking on it, my other neighbor has keys as well as the contractor. All the stuff that is left is locked up in storage containers in the front yard.

Safe trip Raven. I'm glad you are taking a break from home but I wish under different circumstances. DH is feeling better now? I'm hoping so, and I hope you find the gathering of family helpful. I'll be thinking of you....

Raven: When you get to the mold-remediation step, be very, very picky about any signs that it was not 100% -- any sneezing, any less-than perfect patching, etc. Otherwise it's like building a house of cards. My sister, whose roof leaked during a bad winter storm, had the crew return at least twice; in the meantime, she, her husband and their son stayed in a motel, which was covered by their insurance. You might want to check to see if your policy covers that. But hopefully you will have a much better crew than my sister did!

Like the rest here, hoping you have a safe trip back.

I wanted to say that I'm still thinking a lot about you and appreciate your keeping us informed about how things are going, and how you are holding up.

((hugs))

Safe driving

We had a good trip nice weather conditions and light traffic. We are together with the family at the farm. There was a short viewing tonight. The funeral is tomorrow at 10 am. Thanks for the thoughts.

You have certainly had your hands full! Add my prayers and good thoughts, to the list. Things happen for strange reasons, and sometimes, good things result because of it. Just go with the flow....not much choice. (sorry for the pun)

Ditto what Mimi said. Again, my sympathies on the loss of your brother-in-law. Safe trip back.

Just back at the farm from the funeral. It was very emotional. Lots and lots of people. He touched so many lives. We spoke to the person who my brother in law saved. He was just breaking down bad. He kept saying he doesn't know why he survived. He has survivor guilt. I hugged him and told him to live by the pay it forward rule now because he lived for a special reason. The minister said he loved what I had said and he used it in his message at the funeral. Pay it forward. A good message for everyone.

On, Raven, your comment to the guy your brother-in-law saved was so great. You are a wonderful person.

Your comment to that man couldn't have been any better, Raven. Prayers for a safe trip coming back home.

Raven, I think I'm glad you got to meet him if you didn't know him before. I'm still so sorry for your loss.

No we had never met his coworkers. The ones that were with him that day were pallbearers today. They all came and hugged me and my husband and thanked us for the honor to serve him one last time. They were like a family there. Very good people. I have some new plants to add to the atrium. I sure don't like getting plants this way but I am taking them and will try to keep them healthy. We are not sure what we are going to do about the farm. No one to live in the house and maintain it. We may offer one of the relatives free rent. Just to have someone living in it. It's a long way for us to have to go back and forth very often. Right now we could use another house just one not so far away.

Everyone please please please write a will!

Hi Raven, I sent you an email. Hopefully, it didn't go into your "spam/junk" email box.

Have a safe trip back.

Yes, a will and preferably a "living will". It is sooo important. We have ours and also have our complete funeral/burial paid for. Did that years ago.

NTT I got it thanks. I had begged my brother in law to get a will written immediately when we were herehere for their mothers funeral. I so wish I had him write his wishes down right then. Things get very complicated and costly when they don't have to be. His work paid for the funeral, he had a plot with the family already so that part was taken care of.

It was a beautiful day here today and I think it's supposed to be nice tomorrow for thethe drive home. We have enjoyed a break but are very anxious to get back to the house to see the progress.

In the Dallas area now on the road again for home. It's a beautiful day.

I hope you find a little progress when you get back. Have some lunch or nice early dinner somewhere on your way?

We picked up some goodies on the road. Making good progress so far. Dallas was not bad!

Raven, I haven't been on here much, but you both have been in my prayers and continue to be. I am glad that you are finding good in having to remodel. And what a wonderful thing to tell the man your DBIL saved. You are a wonderful person!

Thank you so much! Today another fema inspector came to look at the house and damages. This is from the disaster assistance department. To try to help us out with the contents of the house that the flood insurance doesn't cover. She was very nice and especially concerned about my condition and ability to get around. My wheelchair was in the house so it too was in the ick water. It's really started to rust and is not maneuvering properly so I will likely have to get a new one. I don't know yet about my mobility scooter we haven't been able to get it out and try it to see if it survived. I sure hope so.

Today we had a crew of electricians rewiring the entire house. Water had gotten into the plug sockets and they have started shooting out blue fire. We were very scared the house would burn down. With our luck lately I sure didn't want to chance itit. This is a big expense that probably is not going to be covered by insurance but it absolutely had to be done to make it safe.

I have been looking at tile and paint colors, stuff like that. I think I have picked my tile, it's porcelain wood look tile, looks like rustic reclaimed barn wood. I have seen several in person and loved the look. I will try to post a picture.

This is one of the countertops I like

I really like the counter top, and the look of the tile flooring. I do want to mention, however, that if you are prone to dropping things, especially in the kitchen, you might want to rethink tile for the kitchen. DD's inlaws just put tile in their kitchen, and because things got dropped, the tiles are cracked in places. The floor is less than 2 years old in their kitchen. I do understand the ease of clean up with the tiles should you flood again, though. And I pray you never flood again!

That countertop is very pretty and so is the barnwood looking tile, but I'm with Tami_Ohio in thinking about the hardness of tile floors and the chance of falling on that hard tile. Tile when wet can be very slippery like ice, as can hardwood floors, which is why we ended up carpeting over our floors.

I pretty much have to go with tile because it's about the only thing that will hold up to my rolling chair. I have had tile in all of my previous kitchens so I am pretty accustomed to it. One thing I definitely wanted was a non slip surface and this tile has that. Several reviews by people with it had very positive feedback. I considered linoleum, cork, and all alternatives, but each one said using rolling chairs would cancel the warranty. Definitely could not use laminates or real wood and no carpet! Lol I made sure to only look at tile with the highest hardness rating so it's rated for inside or outside.

I love having y'all give me feedback because I have never done this before. I have picked tile for a previous home but that's it. I need feedback! I am thinking of darker wood cabinets. My previous ones were light natural wood. My living room TV counter and bookcases were java and I love the color.

I need a backsplash that won't compete with the countertops.

I found this fairly neutral light gray subway tile. What do you think of this combination?

If you go with the gray, maybe think of some pop of color. Just a small line or two of a bright color, or if you have a spot over the range like in the pic. a mural. What ever you do it will be very nice.

I love Fleur-de-lis since I am from Louisiana so I am thinking of incorporating some Fleur-de-lis tiles or something like that to break up the gray tiles. I am thinking of using a blue gray paint for the walls. I like Benjamin Moore Harlequin blue.

I am glad you have good luck with the tile. I see why you go with that, and not other options. Even better that you can find some with that high of a hardness rating and can be used inside or out. I am liking your color choices so far! And if you send me your address again, I will make you some new dish cloths to go with your new kitchen! Your choice of colors, as close as I can get.

Oh how sweet of you! I have your beautiful work on display right here in my rv kitchen! As soon as I am positive on my colors I will definitely let you know. I am set on the floor tile so far and have a sample tile to admire.

Just let me know! I will do the best I can to come close to the color you want. Just will depend on what yarn colors are available to me in cotton. Might be a little different shade.

Raven, just ran across these at Zazzle. Take a peek. :-)

Oh that's great thank you I have it saved in my folder for rebuilding!

I am set on the Barnwood floor tile through out the living areas and kitchen. And I believe the blue gray paint. I looked at some cabinets at Lowe's I like in a dark wood with some of the upper cabinets having a frosted glass in the doors with lights in them. It really brightens them up. I have not decided on the master bath yet. I have a sample of Verdiana Bone from Lowe's I like, it looks like marble but is porcelain. I want to stay light and bright in there because there's only one small window in the toilet room. We did away with the giant window that was in the shower. Who puts a giant full length window in the shower that is in the front of the house. Not me! Lol