HELP!

I've fallen behind and I can't get caught up!!!

But it's my duty to try.

The Monstrosity: Day Eight

According to my notes (which is the only reason I have ANYTHING to blog), Day Eight was much more productive than Day Seven. Day Seven was one of those days when I wandered from room to room, scraping my life away but only seeing more and more things that needed scraped. I didn’t conquer a single thing.

Somehow from the time we arrived on Day Eight things looked a little brighter. I went upstairs to begin scraping and sanding some more and as I walked from room to room taking inventory of what needed done I began to think, “Hey… there’s really not all that much left to do up here!” To be clear, there are TONS of things to do up there, but there’s not so much left to do to get us ready to PAINT, which is my #1 goal in life right now, right after serving God, being a good wife, and being a good mom. I guess that makes it my #4 goal in life right now. I’ll love it when we’re finished and I no longer have to have goals that involve silly, temporal things such as paint. :-)

Kody and Michael came back to work some more that day. I got them busy scraping peel and stick tiles out of the drawers and cabinets of the upstairs bathrooms. Ah, yes. Remember all of those people who should be shot for wallpapering a fourth layer on top of the others? They should only be shot AFTER all of the people who affix peel and stick tiles to the inside of drawers and cabinets have been shot. I’m all about proper priorities. ;-)

I’ve got minimal scraping left to do upstairs, a little bit of sanding, and then I just need to CLEAN everything. And we’ll be ready to paint!!! How exciting is that?! Of course, then there’s the downstairs… But really, we can’t be very far away from being ready to paint there either. I’m thinking just another few days of work and we’ll be all set to go. WOW. That would be amazing.

The boys had done all they could do with the drawers and cabinets, so James got them busy pulling up carpet. Two of the upstairs rooms were de-carpeted by the end of the day. Wa-Hoo! That nasty, smelly stuff is gone and it makes me sooooo happy! Someday we will install fresh, new, non-smelly carpet. Oh, happy day!

The Ridlespurges hadn't seen the house since Day Two, I think, so they stopped in that night to check out the progress. They insist they see some. They are too kind. HA! Anyway, we were able to convince them to stay and join us for dinner. Look!!! Our first dinner guests!!! How exciting is that?!

Ha! Okay, so maybe it's a little pitiful. But at least we've got a table there now and don't have to sit on the floor to eat anymore. And we fed them Little Caesar's pizza. Talk about pitiful! HA! It was fun anyway. :-)

The big news of Day Eight was the HUGE money we spent that we were really hoping to NOT have to spend. The furnace and AC units were very, very old. We knew that. We were just hoping that they would tough it out for another year or two or three. Nope. One unit HAD to be replaced and the others were going to need it in the very near future anyway, so we just thanked God that we had the money to take care of it all right now and had it done. And tried real hard not to think about the fact that we just spent about half of our remodeling budget in one swift move. Ha! I’ve been trying to mentally make the adjustment and see what we can live with that we didn’t used to think we could live with. ;-)

Anyway, though it was a huge chunk of money to dish out in one day (OUCH), it does feel good to know that we’ve got brand new units under warranty and no longer have to wonder (as we already have been), “Hhmmm… I wonder when these things are going to go out on us?” It’s almost relieving to just have that upgrade done with. So far the only time we actually SEE improvement at the house is when we pay other people large sums of money. The come, they rip out old stuff and slap shiny new stuff in it’s place, and they’re DONE. Boy, I wish I could do that!

The Monstrosity: Day Nine

That was last Wednesday. We got there to find Brother Hopkins and two Mexican guys slapping sheetrock up all over the house. Actually, the other guys slapped it up and Brother Hopkins followed behind them to do the finishing work. He is sooooo fun to watch. Before long the heat and air dude was back to finish hooking up the heat pumps and whatnot to the new systems. Then Kody and Michael showed up to start ripping out carpet with James again. With everybody zipping this way and that all through the house I felt like I was in the way wherever I went, so I just went to the bedroom and pulled out the kids’ computers. I sat there and graded and checked all of the schoolwork I’d not been staying on top of for the past two weeks or so. That took a while! But it felt good to have it done and get the kids’ work all sorted out again.

The most thrilling news of the day can be contained in one word (though you know it won’t be): FOXTAIL!!! I finally talked to Robert. He’s the mountain man who owns the True Value Hardware in the little town where we lived in New Mexico. I told him that I used to call once or twice a year (though not in the past two years at least!) to have him mix up paint for me, that I had tried everything I could think of to locate the colors (though I spared him all the gory details) and was wondering if perhaps he could help me—and that the main color I was concerned with was a dark red we called Foxtail. He remembered. :-) After a few minutes he called me back and said he had found my old code for Foxtail!!!! Wa-Hoo!!!! “Thank you sooooooooooo much! I can’t tell you how much this means to me! I LOVE YOU, ROBERT!!!” Red is the absolute scariest color to choose—it’s sooooo easy to pick a horrible one when you think you’ve found something beautiful—so I was THRILLED to have the code for a red that I already know I like instead of spending money on several shades that end up being hideous. If Robert would have been nearby I probably would have kissed him on his big white bushy beard. Ha! No... probably not.

So Day Nine was a good day. By the end of the day we had our new heat and air units fully functional, lots of nasty carpet removed (though we’ll be able to re-use some of the pad and save some money—thank the Lord!), we had ALL of the sheetrock installed in the necessary places all over the house (the peacocks or pheasants or WHATEVER they were are GONE!), and FOXTAIL—we have Foxtail! And all I did was sit with a computer or a phone all day long. I really think I’m seeing a pattern develop here. ;-)

When we got home that night I had lots of cleaning, baking, studying, and laundry to do. There was more of the same to be done Thursday morning. James and I drove to Cleveland that afternoon and arrived about dinner time. We were very happy to see our children and I think they were happy to see us, too. Charlie sure acted happy to see me anyway. :-) Dad was still away on his hunting trip to Colorado so we didn't get to see him, but Sister Bishop and Sister Fender were there. Sister Bishop, being the coolest old lady in the world, had acquired quite a shiner while playing with the kids. We'll just say she pulled a Matt Barnes.




We had a good time visiting that night and helping Mom with a few last minute details for the Ladies’ Retreat, though she had things pretty much under control by the time we arrived.

James and the kids spent the weekend at Mom & Dad's house--and Dad arrived sometime on Friday so the kids were thrilled to be able to see him at last after having been at his house for over a week! James and the kids went to Fields of the Wood on Friday and it sounds like they had a good and memorable trip. That makes me happy.

We ladies had a FANTASTIC Retreat. It was just so, so, so, so, so good! I LOVED being there and was so blessed by so many things. It's just incredible how God tailors each Retreat according to the ladies and specific needs that will be there. This one was sooooo different from the Retreat we had in Alabama a few weeks ago, but both were so beautiful. There seemed to be an unexpected theme of divine healing--physical healing, spiritual healing, mental healing--throughout the weekend and I was overwhelmed with how blessed we are to serve such a loving and powerful God. (I say unexpected simply because it was never taught or preached about--just experienced.) Sister Bishop was the guest speaker and was a wonderful blessing, as always. Melanie Hogan did the devotions and music and had baskets full of rotten, smelly, fly infested fruit (with the cutest little homemade flies you ever saw), then an empty basket finally rid of the nastiness, and at last a basket full of bright, shiny, ripe fruit--ALWAYS ABOUNDING being our theme for the weekend. Allene Cox taught a GREAT class on intercessory prayer and I taught a class on Jekyll and Hyde. Okay, so the class was actually on hypocrisy, but I LOVE Robert Louis Stevenson's The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde and all of the fantastic spiritual parallels that are to be found in it, so it was the main illustration used. We had lots of good fun and fellowship, as any self respecting Ladies' Retreat does, and I was privileged to get to know some girls a little better than I did before. And I fell in love with Mary Shelton--she is the neatest lady ever! Ha! I've never really been around her before, but I think she is just fantastic. One in a million. :-) I found these pictures on my camera when we got home. It's that crazy game where everybody stands in a circle and then reaches into the middle and grabs hands with other people from the other side of the circle--then you're supposed to untangle yourselves without letting go. Riiiiiiiight.




I'm sure there are a whole bunch of things I'm forgetting, but that seems to be what I do of late--forget. More than usual. Scary.

We got back to Mom's house Sunday afternoon. It was nice to see Dad for a few minutes before we loaded up and headed back to Alabama. He had shot a real nice buck while in Colorado and insists that he's mounting the antlers. Mom insists they are not going in her house. I am definitely with Dad on this one! I wouldn't want to have dead creatures hanging all over my walls, but one set of antlers wouldn't hurt anything. And look how big and broad they are--she ought to let her man show off his trophy, don't you think??? :-)



When we got home late that night Sam was finally able to open his other birthday present: a remote controlled helicopter. He went through two of them last Christmas and though they both broke almost immediately upon revving them up (we were able to return them and get our money back), he just can't help but love them. He was soooooo excited.




This chopper is a lot better quality than the one he had last year (it was 70% off and cost the same amount as the cheaper one) and it has been a BLAST! Sam is getting the hang of flying it, though he crouches and ducks and sways the whole time. HA! James plays with it quite often, too. "It's my turn!!!" he keeps telling Sam. He flew it into the back of Katie's hair today. That was a royal mess! It got all tangled up there and it took me a while to dislodge it, then remove the loose hairs that were tightly woven around the blades. I really should have taken a picture while it was still stuck to the back of Kate's head. HA!

The Monstrosity: Day Ten

We stumbled upon a wallpaper store in Alabaser that we'd never noticed before, so we stopped there on our way to the Monstrosity Monday morning. We spent a very long time there thinking and pondering and re-pondering and doing some math--and finally left with two wallpapers and some fresh ideas. We worked at the house the rest of the day but at the end it was another one of those “What have we accomplished today?” days. At least we had wallpaper.

The Monstrosity: Day Ten and a Half

We only worked in the morning. I scraped and scrubbed in Sam’s room. An idea is growing in my mind of what I’d like to do in there, but it sounds NUTS and I’m not saying it out loud. Or maybe ever. If I get guts enough to try it I’ll just take pictures when it’s all over with. But only if it turns out well. ;-) Anyway, all of the trim and baseboards and walls have been wiped or scrubbed or scraped (or all of the above) and are now ready for whatever future awaits them.

We left at noon-ish, went to the church to clean up and change clothes, then headed east. We stopped at Bass Pro Shops and enjoyed all sorts of free stuff (duck shoot, toy train, remote controlled trucks, laser shooting gallery, etc.) that they have set up because it's Christmastime. It was GREAT.

We got to Sister Bishop's house and brought our things in, then went to the Revival with her that night. Brother Ammons was preaching in Anniston this past week and we enjoyed going to be with them for the service. Just after the dismissal prayer the Washburns arrived. Ha! They thought service started at 7:00 and they'd only be 30 minutes late. It started at 6:00. Sister Bishop invited them over to the house along with the Cogburns and Brother Ammons. We enjoyed some sandwiches and some DELICIOUS soup (was it delicious because I haven't been cooking because we're always at the Monstrosity and I'm starved for some home cooked food, or because Sister Bishop is just a fantastic cook??? Probably BOTH!), and then enjoyed lots of stories and singing--until after midnight. I was soooooo tired, but certainly enjoyed the fellowship.

I discovered that I didn't have my bathroom bag with me--the one with my shampoo and brush and all manner of necessary things. Sister Bishop had an extra toothbrush (a new one, to be clear!) and I soaked my contacts in a cup of water overnight, but everything else just had to wait. ~Bleagh~ I had left my bag at the church in Bessemer when we changed there. Dumb.

Sister Bishop cooked us a wonderful breakfast, after which we intended to leave. But we couldn’t leave because of a tornado (the week before Thanksgiving?!) in the area. We finally got back to the Monstrosity just after lunchtime--and Sam and I scraped his bedroom door entirely. I didn't know it was possible, but we got it done--and I feel so much better. People who don't care enough to paint RIGHT shouldn't paint at all.

We were only there for a few hours, so we’ll call that Day Eleven with the half a day left over from before. ;-) Brother Hopkins also came and slapped mud all over the walls again. It's lookin’ good!

I had proofread some of the Evening Light on our way home from Anniston, but my computer ran out of juice (I couldn't print it out and had to just do it on the screen) so I only made it to page six. I hate it that I failed to do my job this month! It is a joy and a privilege to be able to do anything for the Church and I usually try to set all else aside when Evening Light time comes, but I just couldn't get it done this time. We didn't get to bed until about midnight that night--and I was soooooo tired I knew I wouldn't be any good even if I did try to stay up and read the rest of the paper. After that it was too late to get the corrections in.

The plan was solid for the next morning: SLEEP IN. I could almost feel a crash coming on and felt like my body was warning me--"Get me some rest, or else." The bed felt so, so good. ~Aaahhhh~

When we finally got the day rolling we did devotions and school, just like what "normal" used to be for us. The kids were so happy to have a regular day. Even Charlie seemed happy to just be home and was so much more playful. Sam made tomato soup for lunch, the kids swept and mopped the floors, I ironed and packed again. We tried to go to Revival in Anniston again that night, but there was an accident and we weren't able to get through. I hate getting everybody looking and smelling pretty and all loaded up--for nothing! Ha!

The Monstrosity: Day Twelve

I got Sam’s room FINISHED and Katie’s room FINISHED. (That just means they're ready now for paint or wallpaper or whatever.) I found a surprise in Katie's room. More wallpaper! I had taken a border off of the top of the walls there already, but there was another border that had been painted over. At least it was just on one wall. And it wasn't nearly as disturbing as the surprise that we found in Sam's room: a floor vent full of Cap'n Crunch. GROSS.

After finishing those two rooms I cleaned the upstairs bath enough that we'll be able to use it to get ready for church and such (it's the only bathroom with a mirror at this point). We were able to make it to Anniston for revival and were blessed to be there. After service we went to Wendy’s for Frostys with Sister Bishop, then drove on home--after picking up the suit jacket James had left and the chorus book I had left the other night. We are soooooo not with it right now!

That brings us up to today. I had sooooo much to do, but it was sooooo nice to be home! So nice that it was hard to get motivated. James and Joe went to run errands and were gone for a few hours. Katie and Sam wondered over to the other side of the mountain and met neighbors (and were in HUGE trouble when we found out they’d actually gone into the people’s HOUSE. What were they thinking?! We don’t even know who these people are!!!), I made lots of deviled eggs that really didn’t turn out all that great, two pumpkin pies that look terrific (all for the Thanksgiving pot-luck tomorrow), spaghetti and Emilee’s cheese bread (James is addicted) for dinner, did laundry, ironing, prepared our family Christmas letter (so hard to get into the spirit of that!) and labels, gathered the cards and other supplies, cleaned, packed, got ready for Sunday School... and that's all I can remember.

Just to give you a heads up, I probably won't be able to do much blogging this next week either. We will be going to church in Bessemer in the morning, then after the pot-luck we'll head to Cleveland--maybe going to one of our Alabama churches on the way. We'll stay at my parents' house, then go to Knoxville and do some shopping, then on to Pigeon Forge so James can FINALLY go to the Titanic museum. We'll get to Pennsylvania late Tuesday night. We'll leave there Saturday morning and get home late, late that night. I'm REALLY looking forward to this trip, though I'm so tired I don't know that I'll be much help driving. I had to laugh when we were talking about the 13 hour drive earlier today. Sam said, "Finally!!! A real trip. It's been way too long, Mom!" Ha! You can tell he was raised out west, for sure!