Emmett, EMILIO, Emma..RIP sweet Emily

[Tonja]

I feel so guilty right now. I love my animals so very much and would never do anything to harm them but I do feel guilty over Emily and Geico. I still hand feed them and hold them when I can but with the cleanup and the restoration of my house I feel I have neglected them a bit. I have to get things taken care of and still in the clean up process. I just feel so bad I cant give them the attention they need right now. I talk to them and hold them and make sure they eat and their vivs are clean and it just doesn't seem to be enough. I have to have my house in order and fixed and it seems its all I can really concentrate on right now. I will make it up to them when this is over!
On another note I am very proud of myself. Hubby cant do to much with his left wrist healing after breaking it and surgery AGAIN, so I went to the hardware store and got all new light switches and outlets for the basement. I did not trust what was down there since they were flooded. Marched down into the basement armed with a screwdriver and changed them all out by myself with no help. I have never done anything like that before so when I got the switches replaced had to turn on the power and THEY WORKED! Changed out the outlet to the sump pump and got it working just fine. Then came the outlet with the test button and reset button on it and replaced it and it would not work. I went and got another new one thinking the outlet was bad when in fact I had the wires reversed so fixed it and it worked............YAY ME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Got the new windows into the basement today..3 windows were expensive since they are egress windows,,,you can push them out to get out of the house in a hurry if need be. So no more plywood over the window wells. Funny how windows gives you peace of mind in that no one can come into the house through windowless basement window holes lol.
I am still terrified everytime it rains, I know its psychological..scared of more flooding. I suppose that will ease off in time since its only been two weeks. Now just need wallboard and all that implies and carpet and I am done.
I don't think any of you know how much the support you all have given to me these two weeks means to me. It has helped me keep my wits about me and stay focused on what needed to be and needs to be done. Each of you are truly like family and I love each of you dearly, you hold a special place in my heart.
Time to put Em and Geico to bed..give them some snuggles and tuck them in for the night. Again thank you for your support through this or I would not have made it. BTW if you see any marbles rolling around hand them back to me, Ive lost mine somewhere along the way in this mess lol!!!!! Love and hugs to each of you.

 

[sweetiepie9]

Oh Tonya, I just wish I lived closer so I could have helped you during all you've been through. Please don't feel guilty about Geico and Em, they're fine and just the fact that they're well fed and have personal time with you every day is more than enough. I only have an hour in the am to spend with my 6 and I'm fine with it. They don't get out of their tanks much except on weekends when I'm home, and I don't feel guilty. They're well taken care of and they all know I love them. They get snuggles in the am before I leave for work and all is well when I get home. Having Jake come over every day to snuggle them and turn off all their lights helps, too. So get on with what you've been doing & know that your two are two of the best kept beardies on the planet!

I'm very proud of you for getting out & fixing things, replacing things and just getting things done to get your home back in good shape, I'm also so glad that you were able to save all your precious pictures and keepsakes. We're all behind you, so if you need to vent, you're in the right place. As for being afraid when it rains, it stands to reason that you would be, that was a major stressful event you, your hubby and your neighbours went through! It will take time for that fear to leave you, it's all normal reactions, not to be worried about it at all. I'm glad your hubby got through the surgery and is healing well.

Love you, too, woman, take care of yourself. Just don't get overtired more than you can handle, k?

 

[beardie parents]

I completely understand what you are saying. Anything such as this that is totally out of the ordinary is very stressful.

We were evacuated a couple of years ago in early June because of the monument fire (it started in Mexico). We had no clean up like you've had to do but it was still stressful.

 

[Tonja]

Got Geico and Emily up for the day and fed them warm boiled skinless boneless chicken breasts as a treat for breakfast. I weighed them today and Geico is 676 grams and Emily is now 529 grams so I guess I shouldn't worry to much about neglecting them during this ordeal. Made my heart feel good they are steadily gaining some weight.

Emily

shes fixing to shed yet again on her back leg


Geico also is fixing to shed again on his upper tail and his back legs and part of his back at the hips

Going to shed part of his head also


All that's left from my basement and cleanup crews with FEMA agents inspecting losses. Had to toss out the big Halloween decorations as they were all but destroyed in the flood.
FEMA leaving my home..those dumpsters..well we still have one but filled 3 of them totally to overflowing between 6 homes or less

all that was left of 72 bins in my basement...still had to get rid of more but my pictures were saved

town cleaning up glass from broken windows and debris and mud from the street

my crazy neighbor Josh taking pictures of cleanup across the street from us although they didn't get the damage and water like our side of the street did..1 foot to just a couple of inches

 

[zandi202]

I'm glad Geico and Emily doing well put your mind at ease! You needed that!

 

[Tonja]

Thank you Zandi! I think they are doing well but still wish I could give them a little more time through this. In my head I know they are fine but my heart says they need attention more so than I can give them right now. Insurance agent comes tomorrow so hopefully we can get this ordeal over with. FEMA told us in an email < the cowards> that we did not lose enough important things or things we need to live each day <doesn't matter what I lost in the way of household things like cookware, sheets, towels and stuff> to warrant them cutting us a check so no money from FEMA. Initially we were supposed to get some money to replace stuff but now they say no that we did not lose enough even with Dennis breaking his wrist which they kept emphazing and asking about. We had 8.5 feet of water in our basement, our neighbor to the right of us had 1 foot and got almost 6000.00 from FEMA! Doesn't seem fair or right. Don't get me wrong I am happy my neighbor got his disaster money without hardly any damage. Anyway guess that's the way the ball bounces. Guess it would have been different had I lost an eye or a limb but thankfully we are ok. Anyway I feel a little better about Geico and Emily since they are gaining weight and shedding yet again. they have 3000 crickets arriving sometime today..will split them into two 20 gallon tanks with cricket food and crystal water. Hubby is picking up some fresh greens for them on the way home from work. Now its raining again...will it ever stop? Well that's about it for not

 

[zandi202]

It hasn't ended for me yet so I have yet to discover the stopping point yet.

I understand where you're coming from though mine isn't because of such a devastation like the one you are facing. Between school and work I definitely have not given my babies the time they need and want. I feel bad that my babies even have to adjust to the new schedule, but this is life sometimes. Crazy and chaotic.

Good luck with everything! Take care and give the babies cuddles for me!

 

[morphmom]

My goodness! What a ton of work! Yikes! Sad you lost many of your Halloween things but very glad you were able to save your photo's.
-Good for you for learning a new skill! And without help!? I'd be scared to start. I can do everything else in the house but electrical work scares the day lights outta me!
-Wow! Your babes don't look like babes anymore. They're growing/Have grown so beautifully. Their colors, their round bellies, just ideal. You'll get your time back with them. They'll understand :wink:

 

[Tonja]

been outside all day long in the garage tearing photo albums apart to get pictures out of the muddy sticky sleeves...yes they were saved. Fed Emily and Geico a bit ago and put a little flannel bed I made in Emilys tank since she doesn't like her hammock anymore. So what does Miss Priss Pants Emily do, she gets behind it and moves it to her basking spot and promptly sat her lizard butt on it and has the front half on her basking spot. Oh well if shes comfortable, she can keep it there till she wants to move it again. Gonna freeze tonight so gonna put their heat emitters on them for tonight. Still raining and pray we don't get snow out of this freeze. Insurance comes tomorrow and the Church comes Monday with a professional spray team to spray my basement really well with mold and mildew killer free of charge through Samritans' Purse. That is a relief for me, no mold or mildew sickness once they spray really well. Anyway will put Emily and Geico to bed about 8:30 or 9 tonight. Thanks for all your support and Holly, I was scared to death to change the switches and outlets out. Electricity scares me to no end but it had to be done!

 

[Tonja]

I wish I could catch her in the act but Emily is quite the housekeeper. Emily has managed to move her stool/bed to under her hammock and then moved her bunny to her hammock so she can half lay in her hammock and half on her bunny. Geico drags Mr Gorilla around his viv but nothing like Emily so I just leave things where they put them since apparently my housekeeping for them isn't good enough lol. Both are still sleeping till about 9 am then I get them up and feed them at 10 am, this gives them time to wake up and warm up a bit. My little piggys will have boiled chicken for breakfast and their greens.
I think I am going to start moving some things back to the basement today, all but my precious moments and pictures which will now find a home in the garage. Then I can clean up the back yard of plywood and tarps that were over the window wells and tarp the washed out the window well that is totally washed out..then will cut down the weeds and trim bushes that are overgrown. It seems my shrubbery has taken on a new life of its own and has grown a foot since the flood. Then I will put all the downspouts back where they belong since they floated to all over the yard. As chilly as it is my hibiscus is still blooming like crazy and I need to pick all my gooseberries and raspberries if I have the time! its never ending lol.

 

[sweetiepie9]

Wow, Tonya, you sure are busy getting everything back in place. Good luck, I know you'll do it. I'd get the raspberries & gooseberries in first though, so you'll have treats when you're finished!

And that is so funny that Emily is still housekeeping. I remember you telling me she used to do it a bit when she was younger. Guess no matter what you do, she has her own ideas of what she wants. That is so funny :lol: A housekeeping beardie :lol: Emily is just unique!

You'll get everything done, just pace yourself so you don't get sick, k'?

 

[Tonja]

almost time to feed Geico and Emily supper. Got half the bushes trimmed, cleaned out the garage, cut back my artic willow bushes and cleaned up another tub of stuff I found sitting in water that got inside the tub. Got my gooseberries in and raspberries in. Got crews coming in tomorrow to put stuff back in the basement, spray for mold and mildew, and to take the plastic that was in the crawl space out to the dumpster. Then I am done cept wallboard, carpet.
Emily is back to rearranging her house again, moved her stool so she can sprawl half on it and half on the floor. Shes so silly, just wish I could catch her in the act. Got some French bread in the oven so that will be good later on. I am exhausted but I see light now at the end of the tunnel. Oh and the yard where the dirt washed out has to be filled in and fixed but that's another crew.

 

[JangoMom]

Hey there Glad to hear that clean up is going good.. wish i lived closer to help. Just as someone else said..pace yourself so you don't get sick. Geico and Em are getting so big! Love the pictures Silly Em always arranging things :lol: Jango does that once in awhile.. the other day he had both of his hide logs in the middle of his viv and his one log he got from Santa last year moved sideways.. he's lucky it didn't fall on his head. Lots of hugs to you!

 

[Tonja]

Emily and Geico are doing fine through this ordeal. They are eating on schedule and now I have a bit more time to devote to them both and cuddle them a bit more now. I have given up on Emily, I keep her viv clean and all but shes so stubborn she wants things where she wants them and not where I put them so wherever she moves her things to, I, I give up and she can keep them there lol. Temps are dropping here and snow has hit the mountains and its so pretty to look at but I sure hope it doesn't impede those that still need help in Estes Park where they were hard hit along with Lyons. I got the garage cleaned out and up lol, it needed it so bad...but that's done now. Hubby gets his stitches out tomorrow so that will be done. He cant help to get things back in order in which there isn't much left to do. He feels so bad all of this falls on me but hey I am getting it done and yes I am pacing myself now, I cannot afford to get sick right now or for my lupus to flare up. Got two crews coming in this week I hope to get the rest of the basement cleaned out < residual wallboard and screws and the plastic that was on the floor of the crawl space> then the 2nd crew coming to spray for mold and mildew before it can grow. This is all being done free of charge to flood victims through Samaritan's Purse so its a big relief that they will help out those of us that got flooded. I will happily accept their help and they do it to take some of the financial burden off of us. We are in a no flood zone so we cannot get flood insurance, even with the irrigation ditch behind us so State Farm will not cover anything. FEMA wont cover anything as we did not lose enough but will give us a loan, another financial burden we don't need so no thanks on that one. I can live without wallboard or carpet on the steps to the basement for a bit but it has to eventually get done...still will not drink the water, its cloudy <could be air bubbles> and just doesn't look right to me so we have tons of bottled water and for cooking we boil it first. Anyway yall are probably sick of all my rambling about this flood, so here is where I will stop talking about it..nothing can be done about it cept to plunge forward and do what needs to be done. Em and Geico wave hello and send love for all the support and me and hubby to!

 

[beardie parents]

I'm glad you have soo much help. I feel the insurance companies should offer flood insurance, even when you aren't in a flood zone, for a just in case scenario like you've just had. If nothing else, they get extra money in their coffers.