New Life Update

My amazingly beautiful son just turned 4 months old a couple of days ago. I had been told so many horror stories about having to wake up every 4 hours during the night, being a zombie all the time, etc.... but those tales just don't apply to this cool little man. He sleeps all night and is so good natured...I can't get over how lucky mom and I are. I love his big smile he gives me when he first sees me in the morning. It reminds me of when he saw me for the first time in his life. Maybe he thinks I'm funny looking and it makes him laugh. Given the conditions we've been living with, his disposition is even more of a blessing. My family wasn't able to coordinate soon enough to stop the spread of the mold and hold back the additional damage of the summer rains and the family house that has stood for nearly 150 years seems doomed. We are living in a fema trailer next to the interstate and while were glad to have shelter and a relatively mold-free environment for the baby , the conditions are less than ideal. The problem is they're simply are not enough resources to install all these trailers properly. We were told that if we didn't have a location for the trailer (and an inspector ruled out putting one the family property) we would have to wait an indefinite amount of time and with a newborn, waiting wasn't an option. There is also a powerful chemical agent that one notices when entering the trailer that I now know from news reports is formaldahide. It makes your eyes burn and water.

My boss's landlord graciously offered a location on his property. While his property is being renovated, he had to house himself and my boss in trailers on an empty lot that falls within his property line. Our trailer wasn't configured properly and to make a long story short, all the sewerage from the property gushes out underneath our trailer. Sometimes the smell is unbearable. There have been countless reps from the Shaw Group (the trailer maintenance and installation company contracted by fema) have come over to observe but they all just come in, see the situation and with an obvious emotional combination of frustration and helplessness, shake their heads and promise to do something.

FEMA has promised to get us out of here into some decent housing soon, so there may be some light at the end of the tunnel but our shares of optimism are dwindling.