Moldy Miracle

Well, I hardly know where to start...
As you may know from reading Max's blog, we were greeted by mold when we walked into our apartment last Thursday. The stink was awful. Upon inspection, we found mold growing pretty much everywere from our computer to our mattresses to our clothes and shoes. We decided it wouldn't be healthy to stay and went to Grandma's house until we could get things sorted out with our renter's insurance company and with the building complex. Things still aren't resolved yet, but we do have a brand new, renovated apartment upstairs and down the hall from our old one. The new apartment is awesome: light tan walls with crown moulding, brand new/bigger Whirlpool appliances, nice wood cabinetry, track lighting, and sweet-looking countertops. It's usually two hundred more a month for rent but the building complex decided to give it to us at our normal rent (if they didn't and the mold was toxic, we could sue for a lot--if we wanted that headache!). Right now we're sleeping on the floor on some mattress pads and eating out of Grandma's dishes. The only furniture we have in here is a new desk from Ikea, and a new office chair so that Max can do all of his studying as he prepares for his first day of class next week. We are waiting for the mold report from the expert. If he determines that it was caused by an event (which we believe is standing water from a few months ago when firefighters put out a fire in the dumpster), then our renter's insurance will reimburse us for up to 5000 dollars as we replace everything... so we're definitely praying for that to happen. It would be fun to go on a shopping spree and get a new bed, bedding, a couch, and new clothes and shoes! But I'm trying not to get my hopes up. We will definitely have a lot of work to do as Max studies, I get my classroom ready, and we both shop for items and/or clean salvageable items. I'm trying not to panic...

Today, I worked in my classroom for the first time since being back. The room got kinda trashed over the summer (summer school) and I have a lot to do to get the room reorganized, to get myself organized, and to plan for the first week of school. Tomorrow I go to Long Beach for a two day conference about teaching reading that the district is paying for. I'm going with a colleague so it should be fun!