News

Today we got a bit of good news.  Our daughter and her boyfriend will be able to get back to their townhouse on Wednesday.  Tomorrow one area of town can get back to their homes and all the businesses in town will be able to get back to survey any damage or open up!  Great news!!!!!  We can go and stay with our daughter which will be so much more comfortable than being here in the motel.  The dogs will have a yard to run around free!!!!!!!!  They will be happy....still confused but happy!  Still no news on our area but hopefully, because we are the last area to be allowed to return, they will be able to concentrate on it and gets things good-to-go!  I was looking at pictures on my iPad tonight and saw pictures of inside the house....I miss it.  And I saw a lot of things I didn't haul upstairs and it makes me sad.  It can all be replaced but still.............

Tomorrow we are taking Amy to Edmonton to stay with her brother and girlfriend....she will be thrilled to be away from here and on Thursday she will go to her friends place.  Saturday they are in the Color Me Rad race.  They signed up months ago!!  I'm hoping she can stay there for a bit.....once we get into our house she will be needed back here.  But for now, she can have some fun!  I know Jenna (my sons girlfriend) will keep her busy...it's great she's on holidays this week.  Amy will need to "train" and Jenna likes her exercise too!  Perfect!

Fingers crossed the time until we can get home is near.  It will be a happy and a sad day........

Graduation

It dawned on me yesterday, really hit me, that Friday was to be our daughters...the youngest...grad ceremony and banquet.  The weather would have been absolutely perfect for their outside ceremony and to have family and friends at our home, bbq-ing and enjoying the event for the long weekend.  Wow.  Currently grad has been postponed until August 22nd.  Amy's dress was in a bridal shop downtown High River, but I went in last Wednesday (the day before the flood) to ask the shop owners to please ask the seamstress to return my calls as Amy's dress, purchased there, needed to be hemmed and after leaving several messages, I was not getting an answer back and I needed to get the dress hemmed.  After hearing how swamped their seamstress was I was given a name to another lady in Okotoks.  I called her right from the shop and we were able to go to her house, with the dress and have it measured for hemming!  I consider it a miracle.....her dress is safe and dry in Colleens home in Okotoks rather than destroyed in the flood of the downtown.  Now, in the whole scheme of things, this is a totally, completely minor concern.  But having your town and house destroyed then having your grad postponed (we hope) one of the positives is the dress is safe.  :)

It's still a frustrating situation.  Day by day we are trying not to go insane.  I have a hard time even reading or listening to the progress reports anymore because info reported is either wrong, or it changes, or its vague.  Or it's just frustrating...or idiotic....We have no say, no control whatsoever and as property owners, I'm almost looking forward to getting in and telling any government officials to get off my property!  (And that's not me....I'm usually a nice, kind, considerate person). Our property, our rights and our way of life has been totally violated.  By Mother Nature, the government and even, in some peoples cases,the RCMP.  It's not fair and I find myself in that self pity mode again that I must avoid......because life throws us these damn curve balls and I've survived the ones that have been thrown at me so far.  I can't have this one beat me.  *deep breath*

Here are two media photos taken yesterday.  Looking at them I see our water level has gone down quite a bit in the front.  What I'd give to have my vehicle here instead of in my driveway! I'd love to see if the back is improving.

Mail, etc

Today my daughter and I went into Okotoks.  High Riverites were able to pick up their mail there starting this morning.  Shaylan had to go to the bank so we went there first, then I popped into the quilt shop, Rumpled Quiltskins for some template plastic.  They had a ton of donated items for us "refugees".....mostly clothes, but the store was full!!  I didn't need anything but the plastic so it didn't get in my way.  :). We went to Shoppers and looked at magazines.  Then I remembered the mail....so back downtown we went.  Nothing exciting was waiting for me there.  I was surprised at how quickly we got the mail!!!  (I'm waiting for a couple of parcels....all quilty stuff!  I'm sure they will be there soon). Then a stop in Walmart.  Hubby only packed a couple of days worth of clothes!!!  We had one of the new frosted chai tea frappes at McDonalds.....YUMMY and refreshing!!!!!!!

Some people will be allowed back into town tomorrow...many will be able to stay, some will have to live elsewhere while repairing their home and some will be devastated that their home is uninhabitable.  I couldn't imagine........we are a long way from getting in.  Our area is still sitting in water although our MLA said she noticed a big difference today....I'm hoping she was talking about our area!! I'm also hopeful their 3-5 week prediction will be half....of three weeks.  I'm sure keeping my fingers crossed!!!!!!!!!!!!!  Shaylan and her bf should be able to get home within the week...again, I am hoping we are allowed to stay with them.  It will be a lot more comfortable than this motel room with all these dogs!

Who knows what tomorrow will bring........

Feeling defeated.....

Nothing exciting happened today.  I think I am starting to get cabin fever, I'm starting to feel like I will never see our home, except through pictures, again.  The police reported taking guns from people's homes for whatever reason...and I feel violated.  I feel like I might not want to go back and live in that town again.....but I don't have a choice.  And I'm hoping things just cannot get worse and can only get better!
Tomorrow they are supposed to be announcing a re-entry plan.  Our house is still sitting in water like when we left....and they've been pumping water for three days.

The back of our house (brown on the right).  The water is under the roof of our walkout basement...still.  I'm sure the front doesn't look any different either from when we left Friday morning.

Tomorrow I will be alone with the dogs.  I'd love a break from the dogs.  God, listen to me whine!!!  Sorry!!!!!  Enough!  

Maybe I can start one of the projects I bought yesterday!  That would be FUN!  I'm gonna try!! :-)

Today's "Happy"

Other than the quilt shop visit who cannot be happy with these????

Please excuse the reading glasses....I was texting my son!!  LOL

A Smile Today

Today was a new day.  And it was a great one!!!!!!  No, we weren't allowed back into our town but the announcement today said "days not weeks" so that's encouraging!!!!  But my sweet little friend Morgan was bored and offered to drive me to the quilt shop in Coaldale!!!!!!!!!!!!  Chicken Feed Quilts.  heres their website http://www.chickenfeedquilts.com/.  You can also find them on Facebook.  Amy stayed behind and didn't go to work with her dad to watch the dogs.  When I walked through the door I was in Heaven!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Lynette Anderson had been there in May with a trunk show and class and Joanne showed me Lynette's method on appliqué.  Awesome!!!!  So I bought quite a few Lynette Anderson things....sure wish I had of been there for the show and class.  But this shop had everything from wool and embroidery to civil war and country to bright and funky!  Flannels too.  Lots of precuts and kits.  Absolutely wonderful!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  Here are some pictures.  I had also bought some notions and a couple of kits but they didn't have pictures on them so they are just brown paper packages. Did I say how much I LOVE this shop??

Day....what day is it???

It was easier keeping track of the days when I was on my "vacation" up north!  Lets see, we evacuated Friday morning and today is Tuesday right?  Day 5?

One of the most frustrating parts for me is the communication.  There's no lack of it....between Facebook and the radio and tv we get enough....but it's what is being said.  A lot of smoke and mirrors....indirect, beat around the bush stuff.  Last night I listened in on the information, Q&A from Danielle Smith, our MLA.  She re-played the recordings from our mayor from Sunday and Monday (so no new news there).  She talked about her pet rescue effort (no new news there), she talked about how hard it's been on the rescuers and volunteers (of course it is!!) and she told us that as of last night, water, sewer, gas and power were functional!!!  Halelujua!!!!!!  The mayor said those needed to be functioning before we could be let back in....but wait!  Now Danielle is telling us streets need to be cleared of water and abandoned vehicles, services need to be restored (grocery and gas stations, hospital, etc).  Really??  Okotoks is 10-15 minutes away!!!!!!!!!  I'm waiting for them to say "the pretty flowers planted around the town office must be re-planted and blooming before any residents are allowed back in!"  Mayor B.....things do NOT have to be picture perfect in order for us to be allowed in to see our homes!!!!!!!!!!!!  And get over the fact there are still about 1000 residents there who refused to evacuate!!!!  Who cares!?!?!?!???!!!  Move on....don't worry about them as they are obviously not worried about themselves!
I did see pictures of huge pumps pumping our lake.  It will take some time but at least it's a start.  Danielle said all houses have been inspected.....but today I see all but those surrounded by water, which would be ours.  They have divers coming in now for those ones.  I'm assuming it meant ours anyway.
No one is wanting to give a time frame as to when we can get back.  I understand that.....people will either get their hopes up or be even more upset and angry if the time passes.  But I can't help but feel the longer the water sits in our homes, the more damage it will do.   And that worries me.
Today I am "home alone" and what I wouldn't do for my sewing machine and a project to work on!!  Or even a vehicle!!  But I have my iPad, some magazines, an embroidery project, 5 dogs (my daughter went back to work today too) and two kittens!  Whew!!!!!!!!!!!  Hoping our room gets cleaned today........I miss my home.  <3