We arrived on the morning of April 11, three days after the fire in our neighborhood claimed the structures in our backyard and my room. Our uncle and our cousin picked us up; the latter actually showed us a photograph of my razed bedroom, and although it was a pretty small screen, I think it helped prepare me for the sight that would greet me upon arriving home.

When we finally got there, I promptly headed to my bedroom and went straight for the places where I knew our photo albums were tucked away. The moment I saw that ALL photo albums were intact, that all my old passports are alive, and that my hedgehog plushie from TJ was miraculously unscathed, I decided that the rest of my belongings can go eff themselves. Well not really. I managed to save several books, including a handful of Discworld books, plus our books with Tagalized Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty, and Snow White, all of which contain kickass illustrations.

We've done a fair bit of cleaning up already, and I think I'm very well prepared for our pending move to a new house hopefully by next month, if the deal doesn't fall through. I've managed to trim down my remaining items to the barest essentials, and I'll just replenish the things that need replenishing once we're all settled in.