Hi! It’s me! Lily!
So today there was no school. The city told us what they needed and where to drop it off, so we trundled over to the local hardware store (it actually was hit by the tornado, but the worst that happened was a bunch of grills got thrown around) and picked up stuff like tarps, work gloves, etc. Then we went over to the baseball field where they were taking donations and dropped it all off. After that, we went around to see if anyone needed help with tree branches and stuff.
Most houses just had a little damage, but some were… in very bad shape. Not just knocked over fences, but some houses were pretty much goners. Sad. But we did what we could. The city put dumpsters out and we helped put some of the debris in. It wasn’t much, but we did what we could. Around lunchtime we went to the grocery store and got lots of water and ready made sandwiches, and handed them out to the first responders and city crews, who seemed to appreciate the gesture, anyway.
We got home in the evening and Dave ordered pizza. I think he wanted to do grilling but we were all tired, and Dave said we deserved pizza. Beth didn’t even complain at all. I guess she figured that it was better than school, and like I said, she’s not a bad girl, just doesn’t take anything off people.
Anyway, Dave got a call from the pastor later in the evening, and turns out that a family was looking for a temporary place to stay, having been displaced by the storm. We didn’t have room for a lot of people, but it was a single mother and her daughter, so after discussing it, they said we’d take them in for a few days while they talked to insurance and figured out what to do.
Anyway, they came over with a few things. The mother was a youngish middle aged hispanic woman named Maria, and her daughter was a girl about Beth’s age named Diana. Of course neither of them were happy about the situation, but we made them as comfortable as we could. Their house was repairable, but there were holes in it and it couldn’t be lived in until contractors could come and fix it. Aww. We fed them leftover pizza and settled them in with the couch. The couch isn’t awful at all. Like I said when Crystal stayed over that first time, heck, I’d sleep on it, it’s mega comfy. They still have their car, it only sustained minor damage, so there’s that.
I guess they’ll move into a hotel when one becomes available, but things are a bit booked up right now, as you can imagine.
Tomorrow night when the girls come over, we’ll include Diana too. After all, while she’s here, she’s family.
My first impressions of Diana is, she’s sweet, but a bit fiery. She’s short, a little shorter than Beth, with curly, black hair and a brownish complexion. Kind of like Beth, actually, they look somewhat similar in that way. But Diana’s features are more hispanic where Beth’s are a bit more like Sabby. She’s not mean by any means, but she’s not too happy with the situation (obviously) and isn’t shy about saying how she feels. But it’s more matter of fact than anything, she’s not lashing out like Beth probably would. I think we’ll get along, but she needs to get to get to know us first. And the other way around.
Okay well we’re going to introduce Diana to the joys of hair brushing now, and get to know her a little. Maybe we’re not best friends yet, but if she’s going to be living with us for a while, we might as well get along, right?
Oh! My present for Beth arrived while we were gone!! I love Amazon!!!