List of Needs and Wants

Okay, I'm getting a little overwhelmed with offers of help, so I thought I'd start here with a short list of things we will need eventually. Unfortunately, this weekend is kind of a lost cause since the insurance adjustor hasn't been out here yet and we can't really get started on anything. Very frustrating but we know we're in this for the long haul.

Immediate needs:
- A long-term temporary place to stay. The contractor says it will be 6-8 weeks and although they'll technically be working upstairs most of the time, it's not really possible to stay here with all the construction going on. We're hoping to find an apartment or maybe borrow someone's camper so we can come home to work but still eat and sleep somewhere else.
- Clothes for Jacob. He really just needs summer clothes for now: shorts, tees, underwear, socks, and a swimming suit. I don't want to buy these new unless I can't find a source for hand-me-downs.

Immediate wants: things that would make our life a little less complicated but aren't really "necessary:"
- Gift cards to local fast-food places or restaurants since we can't eat here (we have electricity but everything is covered with soot!) We will eventually get another place to live and then we won't have to eat out as much but it's kind of unavoidable at this point.
- A pre-paid cell phone for coordinating the construction. Not truly "necessary" since we do still have a real phone but I'm sure they'll turn off the power once in a while and it would be nice to have one at our second location. I'm kind of hoping someone has one they're not using or something...?
- Cash is not really necessary at this point because the insurance agent gave us a check to start staying in hotels, etc.

Later needs/wants:
- After we get the scoop from the adjustor and contractor on Monday (hopefully) we will start calling local people to help with the clean-up. We're hoping that if we do part of the clean-up and/or destruction ourselves we can save a little money and use that to pay the deductible, but we don't know if that's possible or not.
- After the whole thing is over, we will need to replace a lot of carpet, furniture and mattresses. They can stay for now but they're pretty smoky and we'll have to replace them. Everything we currently have was found at garage sales or whatever and I plan to re-furnish the house with all used things again so keep us in mind if you come across any good deals. :)
- Jacob is kind of sad that he lost all his books so I will also start asking for donations to his new library. He had a pretty good collection for an 11-year-old and he'll be anxious to get more books.

I think that's it for now! Like I said, we really don't know anything yet this weekend so we're kind of just hanging out in hotels and coming home to clean every once in a while. Thanks again for praying for us this week!

Laurie