Also, Happy Birthday, and yay no more treatment, Perkins!

I am thrilled that Perkin's birthday coincided with the ending of treatments. That is such spectacular timing!

(I mostly keep my Happy Birthdays) to Facebook these days. But I can be meta here!

I'm kind of psyched because the beastly fans and dehumidifiers that have been noisily sucking my house ALL WEEK are being removed this morning! The rest of the post-flood work won't be a cinch, but at least now I can leave the hotel and hang out at my house to do laundry, etc, without being driven insane by the noise.

If anyone here has State Farm and a claim on your homeownership policy that required extensive repairs, could you please let me know? The first week managing the emergency stuff has gone okay, but now for the repairs process, I have loads of questions and don't really know what to expect. Their website has my claim info, but it hasn't been updated since last Monday. More to the point, the areas of their website where I am supposed to be able to click through and see how (in general) the repairs and claims process is supposed to work? The links aren't working. So if you have experience and can tell me what waiting periods/delays etc are normal, then I'll know what to expect. (Please don't suggest Googling, because I already have and it led to Scary State Farm Stories which are not at all helpful and in fact very harmful to my state of mind.)

Congrats, Suzi!

Sparky, I hope this helps get Sass home.

Happy birthday, Perkins! End-of-treatments is a great birthday present!

I also use coconut oil, or sweet almond oil, to remove makeup.

Maria, take all the help that's offered, seriously. Echoing what others have said -- you can't do all this alone; you're going to need help too. People who love you both want to help; letting them help shows you love and trust them - -don't feel bad about it!

java, call your State Farm rep. They should be happy to answer your questions and reassure you. That's what they're there for! If he/she isn't in today, leave a voicemail - I've had insurance reps call me back on weekends. And for gosh sakes, don't Google! That way lies madness.

Skipping oh-my-goodness-you-don't-wanna-know-how-many posts, because today is such a big double Buffista event, even I at my current computers?-what's-that? lack of internet time can't not acknowledge.

Happy birthday, Perkins! With lots of wishes for a great day and a wonderful year!

Happy birthday, beloved Phoenix Board! With lots of wishes for great posts from wonderful people behind them!

Zen, I've been on the phone with various State Farm people all week..and honestly they've been pretty vague and not great at returning phone calls (I've been waiting for 3 days for my actual adjuster to call me back...). If I learn that this is normal, I may not freak out so much. I just need to know when to press them more without turning into the crazy paranoid person.

Nilly! Hi, Nilly!

I would imagine stuff would take time, java, but I have no personal experience.

Where do you get coconut oil? Is that grocery store stuff?

I tried the Avon silicone cream as primer this morning, and the makeup does look different. I'm just not sure how primer is supposed to look and feel, so I dunno what I'm getting for my (lack of) money. I think I should buy a real primer first and then try replacement products. We'll see if it lasts better today.

Today is canning day, but I woke up late and now I don't feel like doing it. And I finally actually looked at the recipe, and I have double what I need. But I'm not supposed to just double the batch, am I? Because I also have pint jars instead of half-pint. But I dunno if I'm going to seriously overrun my pot if I try to double up.

Thanks for the congrats.

This is my first belt test in over a year, at least. Between various health things, I just haven't had the strength and stamina for a 4 plus hour test. I did fine last night (other than having my big toe stomped on and bruised) and I even went to class this morning. And now I'm done. Lunch and then severe nappage.

I need a cabana boy.

java, I dunno. Me, I wouldn't be real happy with that level of service. If things are going to take time, they just do, but someone should be available and willing to give you an idea of how much time, at least.

Where do you get coconut oil? Is that grocery store stuff?

I buy the coconut oil I use on my skin from the grocery store, and the coconut oil I use in my food from the organic all-natural store. Coconut oil is a solid at room temperature, but its melting point is 76degF, so it melts in your hand pretty quickly. It is shelf-stable for a longlong time and doesn't need to be refrigerated.

I've skived off most of the day, and am only now getting around to catching up. MFN, I do hope you take your f-in-law's offer to help, unless he's likely to be more work than he helps with. Sounds like he'll be handy for handling the daytime Stuff. You can make it up to him by bringing home really good takeout -- your husband probably won't have much appetite, but that way you can reward your FiL.

Some in-laws would only add to the stress in this situation, so it's a YiLMV situation.

Jesse, I hadn't remembered about your father's diagnosis, and now I feel like a bad Buffista!

Happy Birthday, Perkins!