Creating Kris ~ a young mom blogs... » hill to haven

New House Construction Album: 2nd part of layouts

Kris — Wed, 03 Mar 2010 13:04:47 +0000

* in case you missed it, the first part of the New House Construction album layouts were discussed in this entry.

My scrapbook of construction photos of our new home is now complete! The album covers 24 pages and the time span of July 2008 to April 2009 – from the time we started shopping to the time our house was built and we got the keys! I do have other photos that continue the story (our first days, weeks, months as new home-owners) but I’m thinking I’ll do another album for those.

So these layouts have all the pictures from our last couple months leading up to the completion of the house. We had two inspections before taking possession (that’d be why there’s a picture of my spouse and I wearing silly construction hats), so there was ample opportunity to go through and take lots of pictures of everything. I left out many of the “boring” but very essential pictures: such as pictures of little flaws that needed to be fixed. One of the perks of buying a brand new home is the warranty, but it only goes as far as you can show the problems were due to construction faults, etc.

I’m glad to have all of these photos of our house in (near) “mint” condition… before the kids got at it!! They have managed to flood a small room *each* (our son the laundry room and our daughter the kids’ bathroom), so it has definitely lost it’s shine a little. No matter; we are all in the process of making it a home, our home, and that involves a little destruction here and there I guess! It is also a good “Before” reference for visitors who will see our newly decorated home and paint jobs. Which, like I said, will be the subject of a whole other album! For those I’ll be waiting to make sure we indeed get to keep our house… Sadly, the resulting financial difficulties from my car accident and the disabilities that it caused may force us to sell this beautiful dream home. I hope I won’t be looking at these pictures with longing and regret though, but with fondness and nostalgica as the years go by and we build many memories here.

A couple fave layouts from this section of the album:

To see the layouts, visit this album OR if you’ve already seen the first batch and want to start off at the 2nd batch, you can skip right to this picture.

TFL!

new house construction scrapbook

Kris — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 13:04:17 +0000

I created this album to tell the story (through pictures and a little bit of journaling) of the construction of our new house. After we bought this home in summer 2008, we stopped by at least once a month to check on the progress as it was built from the ground up. It was very exciting to see all the pieces come together – the foundation, the walls, the roof, the inside wiring and plumbing, the counter-tops, the flooring, and all the decorative fixtures and features we’d picked out.

Part 1 of the album has been uploaded to my Scrappy & Stampy Gallery…

Click on the picture to see the gallery album with pictures of each layout. Unlike the other albums in the gallery, these pics have been placed in ascending order. Try a slideshow; it’ll be almost like flipping through the pages for real.

Here are a few favourite layouts from the first half of this album…

Most of the cardstock and other materials used to create the album were Stampin’ Up items, but I also dipped into my stash and pulled some papers and things from my CM supplies as well as papers from Michaels and Costco. I used almost all of the paper I had left in the Washington Apple paper pack that I’d used to create our change-of-address cards back in the summer.

Throughout the album, there are also lots of silver rub-on flowers and flourishes. Other embellishments include buttons, brads, punched cork, ribbons, hemp thread, gemstones, staples, velum, and felt flowers. The journaling in printed in a dark brown on white cardstock. For techniques, I did a lot of paper-piercing, inked edges, punched shapes and stamping.

Part 2 of the album is currently in the works (albeit slowly, especially the journaling component) so stay tuned for when I upload pics of those pages!

Happy Scrappin’!

It’s dismal enough now, I hate to think about what may be ahead…

Kris — Sat, 01 Aug 2009 02:06:57 +0000

… as the time runs out, the bank account dries up, and I get sicker and in more pain from having to do way more than my current body seems to be able to!

I am back and forth about what I’d like to keep up on this blog with regards to my disability and what I want to keep locked. I already feel so abused by “the system” that I worry about what will happen next. But an update is due…

Here’s a basic snapshot of my current situation:

- Since my complete benefit cut-off in May, I’ve now missed out on about $4K of income that I should have been receiving. That’s on top of reimbursements for expenses related to my disability. I don’t have enough funding to justify continuing any of my treatments, including the aquafit class I did for 6 months.

- I applied for the Ontario Disability Support Program’s employment supports in May – I still haven’t been accepted. And that program is to get help finding some type of job that I could possibly try, not even to get any income replacement!!

- I did check with the “financial support” (welfare) side of ODSP though finally, and sure enough our family income is too high for me to qualify.

- I’ve had many calls from workplaces and recruiting agencies since updating my CV. I’ve even applied to a couple postings that mentioned flexible hours. None would be possible – even if I did make it past the first few weeks I’d either be fired or have to quit.

- I’ve been chasing after my lawyer with no luck reaching her. This is the new lawyer since the old one told me after 3 months that he had a conflict and was dropping me. The whole idea of a “save my house” settlement seems soooo far away right now!

- I’ve been chasing after the car accident insurance for info about the type of doctor they would allow to do a rebuttal exam on me and they’ve stonewalled me. It’s now passed the deadline when I could submit the appeal.

- We’ve saved money by having the kids either home with me or with family members but a) it sucks! and b) my parents go back overseas after the summer’s over so Avery is here full-time… how can I possibly look after this busy little guy when I can’t take him outside?!

Needless to say, I’m still miserable and on my way to being broke and miserable.

And my headaches have gotten worse, especially since stopping my migraine meds (I should really go and get a refill but it’s expensive and also I don’t want to go for an MRI like I know I’ll be sent for because it freakin’ hurts so much…)

For now, here’s a copy of the most recent letter to car accident insurance people… and really, if you’re reading it, think about the people who don’t have a university degree and writing/typing skills! How the hell do they fight back against all these bureaucratic nightmares?!

Please note my change of address and contact information. Please also note I am still waiting for reimbursement for medical expenses incured prior to the date of wrongful termination of benefits.

Please find enclosed:

* Claim Statements showing 80% of costs covered for walker rental and pain medications.

I received your letter about the Rehabilitation benefits but I don’t think it meets the requirements of the Ontario Disability Support Program. ODSP basically need to have something in writing that confirms State Farm is no longer helping me so that they can perhaps help me. How do I apply for Rehabilitation benefits so that I can send them a copy of the rejection letter? I have tried to find information and forms on the State Farm website with no success, even after going through the trouble of registering for an online account. The State Farm server keeps timing out on me or saying my policies aren’t “internet enabled”.

I have received no response with regards to the improper conduct on the part of the vocational and transport services that State Farm is using in Ottawa. The information I provided in a recent letter about the false information has also degraded these companies from being simply “disorganized” to actually being quite unethical and unreliable. I would also like to add that in addition to their flawed account of my physical condition and misrepresentation of things I said during the examinations, the tests themselves were contaminated by the unethical behaviour of the staff. In one case, when I made a mistake in assembling something (perhaps due to an impaired sense of concentration experienced regularly due to pain meds), an occupational therapist stepped in to redo the task for me! An investigation is warranted here.

I continue to advise my friends, family members, and online networks about State Farm’s conduct in my case and warn them against investing in insurance from this responsibility-avoiding company.

C.C. to my lawyer