For several month Jules and I have been on autopilot in many ways. She has been focusing on work – more hours are almost always great when you consult – and I have just been caught up in the normal stresses of call center management. Plus physical therapy so I can skate again.

That led to many weeks where we’d say to each other “We need to do some downsizing this weekend” or “Hey, we can go through <X> and see what we really need”. But then on Saturday we’d get involved with other things to destress and completely forget about it until Tuesday or Wednesday.

This morning we got a swift kick in the asses. I was having a nice Saturday morning cuppa tea when I heard someone loudly say “Fire!” Not a shout, just someone speaking loudly. That sounded odd so I looked out the back door and saw flames reflected in the next building. Long story short – Jules, Ciarda, and I are all fine. We made it out with paperwork, computers, and (after the fire was out) most of our clothing.

Now a lot of our stuff is trashed.

The first picture is our bedroom. Our bed is somewhere under there. As is my table full of stuff. The second picture is Jules’ office. You can’t see the windows because the ceiling has fallen down and covered them. Both of them have ceiling covering everything. Most things are waterlogged. What are we going to do? We are going to move on.