To borrow (and manipulate) a favorite movie line of mine:
"Wherever we go, whatever we do... I'm taking this laundry room with me." :-)
I LOVE IT.
I'm getting to use it tonight (for it's intended use, for a change) and it's just soooooo nice. I LOVE having a separate room to do laundry in instead of just a hallway. I love it that it has a door and you can close off the noise. I love it that I have cute red cabinets in which to store all manner of things. I love that I can pull the detergent out a titch and push the button and ~shlurp~ it drops right into the washer with no mess and no fuss. I love it that I have a utility sink (!!!) and it's all nice and clean with fresh shelf paper in the cabinet below. I love it that I have a little bar to hang clothes on and a great big shelf around the corner to use for a folding table. I love it that I have carpet in there instead of a hard floor of some kind--carpet always feels so much cleaner to me. I love it that the carpet is just in squares so if we ever have a leak and have to replace some of it, we can just pull up a square or two and use some of the extras we bought. I love it that I HAVE carpet squares, but I can't SEE the squares--it just looks like regular carpet. Shall I go on???
I washed dishes in my utility sink tonight. :-)
I ran three loads of laundry tonight. :-)
And it didn't flood my kitchen or anything!!! :-)
Yes, life is grand and I am LOVING my new utility room. One more thing that I love...
I LOVE IT than I can have clean clothes whenever I need them!!! For the past two or three months we've been hauling suitcases of clean clothes and bags or baskets of dirty clothes back and forth from one house to the other, sometimes two or three times a week. I did laundry when I was at the house with a washer, and I waited when I was at the other house. But now! Oh, now I can do laundry any ole' day I please!!! I can't remember ever really looking forward to doing laundry but this is just oh-so-exciting!!! And it's sooooo nice because the room is so bright and happy and cute and FRESH and CLEAN! What a happy place to be. :-) I am soooooo thankful--and have been sure to thank God a dozen times today (is that all?) for the best laundry room in the whole wide world. And it's FINISHED. That's a rare jewel of a phrase around here and it is ever so sweet to be able to say it.
That's the big news around here. You might have guessed.
Yesterday didn't go according to schedule (do we EVER have days that go according to schedule?) but it turned out to be a nice day anyway. I helped the kids with school for a while, then we had some errands to run with James. Got home just in time for the plumbers to show up and surmise our problem (though they didn't have time to fix it), then worked on school stuff with the kids for a while longer before heading out on more errands. First stop: the Foundry. I don't know how he managed it, but Sam has strategically outgrown all of his clothes immediately after I got them sorted out and knew what (used to) fit him. I had those boys try on every stitch of clothing they own just a few weeks ago when we were packing up from the Powells' house and I got rid of everything that was too small. But suddenly all of his pant legs and sleeves are too short! Crazy. We did find several pairs of pants for Joe and Sam, so that's good.
The trip to the Foundry also had a very negative affect on me. I tried on several super cute, super nice, super cheap shirts and jackets... only the grimace and quickly re-hang them. They should have fit. A year ago they would have fit. I noticed a week or two ago that my favorite skirt is no longer loose and in need of adjusting all the time. That's the good news. The bad news... is obvious. Something has got to be done. I don't typically worry too much about weight, but this is getting gross. Ha! Actually, I'm not the least bit worried about weight. I have no idea what I weigh and I couldn't care less. I just want to feel good, have energy... and not look totally gross in my clothes. I determined years ago that I would not be one of those old ladies whose clothes showcases her rolls of flab. Hahahahaha! Is this getting too graphic? I'm sorry. Let's just say it's time to get things under control before they are completely out of control. ;-)
Don't know where all of that came from. Again, my apologies!
After we left the Foundry we stopped next door at the giant building that says AUCTION across the front. The parking lot has always been vacant when we've been there, so we didn't think it was actually in use. We have now discovered that they have an auction there every Tuesday night. You can go in on Mondays and see what's there to be bid on, place a silent bid if you want to, or come back for the actual auction the next night. James thinks he has died and gone to heaven. Did I mention this place is less than 3 miles from our house? I will never see my husband again on a Tuesday night for as long as we live here. ;-) I'm happy for him. He LOVES stuff like that. He and his dad love to go to auctions together and Sam already has the bug, too. The two of them will have a blast. Even though it's a bad, bad thing. Can you imagine how much junk he's going to start hauling home now?! And the worst part of all... I can't even say "We don't have ROOM for that!!!" anymore! This house is just way, way too big. Ha!
We washed the car yesterday, too, then vacuumed it out--something that has needed done for a couple of months now. Gross. It feels sooooo much better. Then we went to Wal-Mart to get supplies for school projects for the kids, then to the church for dinner. Joe had been jealous when Michael told him at church on Sunday that they were going home for lunch because his Gran had made a pot roast. Joe is DYING for home cooked food (or even "home slapped food" here lately--meaning you slap together a PB&J or something) and is soooooo tired of eating out. Aren't we all! Anyway, Michael felt bad for him and brought a big plate full of roast and potatoes and carrots and peas and mac-n-cheese and I don't know what all and gave it to Joe at church that night. Since we don't have a fridge yet we just kept it in the fridge at the church, then last night James and I took sandwiches to the church for dinner and let the boys polish off the "home cooked" meal. They happily scarfed down every bite, then we washed the plate up and delivered it back to the Ridlespurges. It was nice to stop by and see them for a little while--seems like it's been ages since we've done that!
Today the plumbers showed up and replaced the wicked pipe whose fault it was that my washer flooded my kitchen (let's pretend that sentence makes sense), so THAT was exciting--though pricey. Plumbers are always pricey. You can feel the OUCH just picking up the phone to call and talk to 'em, you know? But in the end we are now up and running and able to do laundry. And have I mentioned that I'm a little excited about that?! ;-)
The accomplishments of the day around here were that I got the dining room and the foyer all primed. I don't know how, but it already looks so much better! I'm feeling really encouraged about the possibility of getting some big things done around here in the next two weeks and perhaps (dare I say it aloud?) getting some flooring put in! ~gasp!~ Wouldn't that be grand??? The term "two weeks" seems so attainable and makes me feel encouraged. Although I just realized that I've been saying "two weeks" for several days now... Do I mean two weeks from today or two weeks from when I first started using the term? Ha! Either way, if it serves to motivate me and make me feel encouraged and primed to keep working with drive I'm going to keep saying it--and trying to believe it. :-) Two weeks... :-)
In other news, the boys miss Katie but they won't admit it for at least another day or two. At least that's my opinion. :-) It sure is a lot quieter around here without her! HA! There is a marked difference when she's not here and I'll be glad to have her home, but I'm so glad she's getting to spend time with my folks. And James is so glad that my Mom is sewing lots of new skirts and dresses for her! That girl really needed some and you just can't find them anywhere. What a blessing to have a Mom so talented and willing to help out! I'm anxious to see all of the new stuff.
That's about it. I'm going to try to get to bed at a decent hour tonight so I can get a fresh start in the morning. Lots to get done this week--Mom's coming next week! :-)
Tuesday, February 28, 2012
Sunday, February 26, 2012
Visiting Aunt Sue & the Folks
After our new washer arrived and flooded our kitchen on Wednesday (ha!) we got all packed up for a mini-trip to Cleveland. Aunt Sue had flown in to visit Mom & Dad the night before and we didn't want to miss out on seeing her. So after church that night we took off and drove the three hours up there, arriving sometime after 1:00am.
We then spent Thursday and Friday just hanging out. It was soooooo nice. It was the most enjoyably relaxing two days I've had in a long, long, long time. Since Katie & Joe's birthday hadn't exactly panned out the way we had hoped the week before (including not a single present to unwrap) Mom said we could have a little party for them up there. It was GREAT. James and I went to the store to pick up a little something for each of them that morning and found some terrific deals on clearance.
But before I post pictures of the post-birthday birthday party, I'll put some up from their real birthday a couple of weeks ago.
Both kids had requested a trip to the Hoover Library. They would move in there permanently if they could. Here is Katie diving into her stack of books.
The adults didn't seem quite as excited about this particular stop. Ha!
Joe wanted to stop by Guitar Center to check out the expensive guitar room. Jacob gave him a few pointers while they were there--and then copied an instructional DVD for him that Joe has LOVED watching and says he's learning lots from.
Katie wanted to stop by Christmas Tree Shops. Philip found this great birthday hat. We didn't want to actually buy it, but thought it was worth a picture.
Then it was off to Sam's Club to buy a birthday cake. How is it that teenagers do things that I don't allow my kids to do... but it somehow seems acceptable?! ;-)
The lighting of the candles...
Katie blowing out her eleven...
And Joe finishing off his ten... minus one, it looks like.
And the whole crowd.
Okay, back to our Cleveland trip this past weekend.
After our shopping trip that morning James and I got home at about noon and Mom had the table all ready--Frito pie for lunch and party stuff in place: balloons (thanks to Aunt Sue), party hats, those little blow thingies, and adorable and delicious strawberry cupcakes. We enjoyed a nice lunch together, then the kids lit the candles, one on each cupcake, and we sang to them.
Then somebody started making use of the party blowers. Dad didn't think they were very fun so he went for the big ammo. He's ALWAYS had a thing for long cardboard tubes.
Since Mom is the one who bought the crazy little blowers we told the kids they should all go blow them at her. :-)
And Sue... being Aunt Sue. :-)
Uh-oh. Looks like I've got my pictures out of order. Candle lighting here.
Sam getting into the spirit of things.
And then it was present time. Joe got a great set of disk shooters with wa-a-a-a-a-ay too many disks. I look forward to finding them all over my house along with all of the foam darts that are already there.
Katie's gift from Aunt Sue was a cute little coin purse and a journal.
From Grandma & Granddad, Joe got a BIG container of BBs and a cool slingshot that doubles as a whistle of some kind. He was pretty excited about it.
Katie got a bag full of random things from us. This is her Phase 10 dice game in a can. Very cute and way fun.
She received other miscellaneous items that I won't elaborate on, but this was her response. :-)
And an adorable blouse and jumper that Grandma Vicki had made--I failed to get a picture of the jumper, but I'm sure there will be pictures of it later on. I'm sure she'll be wearing it lots!
Aunt Sue took on the job of removing Joe's toys from the box. Never an easy thing these days. And Aunt Sue with a knife is pretty scary. ;-)
After the party we just played. Had a nice, relaxing day full of nothing but fun, enjoyable time together. I loved every minute of it. I just kept thinking, "Wow, this is sooooo nice. This is the nicest day I can remember in a long, long time!"
Dad recently bought a set of épées at an antique store. You know, the thin, pointy swords used for fencing. Like Zorro or the Three Musketeers. That's a fantastic toy for grandchildren to have, don't you think? Especially since there were no masks or protective gear of any kind. Ha! They really are cool and the kids loved them. Here's Dad teaching Sam a few things...
Joe and Katie's turn.
And I couldn't resist putting this clip up. :-)
Then it was time to shoot some guns from the back deck. I love shooting guns. Dad picked up a neat little pistol sometime recently that was lots of fun to shoot, then we moved to the .22 rifle.
James' turn.
And Sam...
Even Mom got in on the action.
Aunt Sue, hilarious as always. She makes everything way more fun than it otherwise would be! Ha!
After a while Dad pulled out an old 30/30 that he says hasn't been shot in 30 years--since the first year he hunted elk in Colorado. He decided to let Aunt Sue give it a try first, but didn't tell her about the change of caliber--she thought she was still working with a .22--HA!
I shot the 30/30, too--my first time with anything bigger than a .22 (but I was prepared a little better than Aunt Sue was--ha!) and it was very fun. It always gives you a little surge of that-is-so-cool when you blast a can and it jumps into the air, but when you're using a bigger gun and it blows the can to smithereens it just takes the thrill to a whole new level. SO COOL. :-)
Dad shot this tree and told the boys they could go dig the bullet out, but they were unable to do it alone. James worked on it for a little while, to no avail.
Then Dad came out with the big equipment (ha!), but even with the power tools he was unable to get down deep enough to dislodge the slug.
Charlie had a rather exciting day that day. He had only ever spent time around Brady and other BIG dogs, and if he was ever around a little dog he would totally spazz out like he didn't realize it was a DOG just like him. (I think he thinks he's one of the big guys himself.) But Mom & Dad's neighbors got a Yorkie sometime recently and she showed up in the yard while the kids were fencing. Charlie freaked out, as usual, but finally got over it and decided Bells wasn't so bad after all. Within ten minutes he was totally in love. Ha! He followed her around all afternoon and could think of nothing else. She seemed to enjoy all of the attention and it wasn't very long before she decided she was part of the family, even joining us in the house and finding a spot of her own on the couch. (The invitation to come in came from my Dad, NOT my Mom--obviously! HA!) She was a cute little girl and Charlie was devastated (and drove us crazy the rest of the night) when we had one of the kids take her home. I'm not sure he'll ever be the same again. Ha!
Mom fixed a great ham dinner that night, then we set up a projector and looked at tons of pictures and video clips from their trip to Israel, Turkey, and India. We all really enjoyed it (even Joe talked about how cool it was) and I was moved to tears several times--especially during the clip of the service they had with Brother Jones and his daughter in Turkey. It was the first service he's been in for 7 years, and the first service ever for his daughter. To think of having even just a few people in your home, singing When the Church of God Arises and having Sunday School together and hearing a message live for the first time in all those years... I can't imagine the feeling of isolation they must have over there and how much it must have meant to have somebody there with them. Anyway, I also really enjoyed the clip of Dad having a mini-service on Mt. Hattin where the CPMA marker stands in honor of the location where Jesus organized the Church. And the clips of the elephan "blessing" Mom and Dad--that was pretty great, too. Ha!
Friday was even more relaxing than Thursday had been. We did pretty much nothing the whole day, just played lots of games. Aunt Sue was dumb enough to get roped into a game of Monopoly with the kids. I only showed up long enough to take a picture, then I got gone as quickly as possible. I know how these games go!
I really can't remember much else about that day. I started to feel sick that afternoon and it continued to intensify throughout the day--runny nose, stuffiness, headache, all that stuff. But we played games and more games--Phase 10 dice, Rack-o and more I Buy. We ended up watching Daniel Boone together than evening--a pretty good one. It's always best when Jimmy Dean is on. :-)
It was bedtime after that, but the kids begged for more time because it was their last night with Aunt Sue, so we all went to the dining room and played the craziest game of Pictionary I have EVER played! Hahahahaha! We laughed sooooo hard. It was the first time the kids had played and they did great, but mostly we all just cracked up at Aunt Sue. She is a wild woman and keeps us all in stitches. Sam got pretty wound up, too, so between Aunt Sue doing the wave and Sam dancing on his chair it was a most memorable evening. I only wish I had some pictures or video clips from THAT!
Aunt Sue left early the next morning. I woke up feeling horrible and only worked at a snail's pace collecting our belongings and getting packed up. Mom cooked a fantastic late breakfast for us: eggs, hashbrowns, sausage, bisquits and gravy. I think it was somewhere around noon before we got loaded up and headed for home--one child short. Sort of on a whim Mom mentioned that she could keep Katie there this coming week and do some sewing for her and teach her some sewing things, too. We typically would have said no because we didn't have Kate's school stuff with us and didn't want her to fall behind... but she is desperately in need of some skirts and we can't find any anywhere! So James declared it "home ec" week for Katie and said she was to learn to cook and bake and sew and all manner of domestic schooling was to take place every day. I'm sure she's having a ball already. Joe was jealous and wanted to stay, too. Sam was anything but jealous and only wished that Joe would've been allowed to stay "at Alcatraz" with Katie so he could be an only child and be with just James and me for a whole week. Ha! He would have been so lonely and bored by the end of the week, he just doesn't know it. ;-)
Anyway, from the time we pulled out of the driveway at Mom's house I slept. We stopped at Southeastern Salvage in Chattanooga and bought a faucet for the kitchen (James found a nice cast iron sink on sale 50% off last week--now we just need a countertop so we can get it installed!), then I was asleep again. We stopped for lunch in Gadsden, then I drove the rest of the way home because James was feeling so tired. We arrived at 4:00 or so. I didn't unload a thing. I walked in the door, set my purse down, and crawled straight into bed. A sore throat had kicked in by then among other things and I just felt so, so exhausted. I slept until 6:00, then got up to work on Sunday School stuff for a little while. I changed into some warm pj's, then even dug out my Granddad's thick, heavy robe--I was just sooooo cold. Actually, it was a case of the sweaty chills. You know, where you feel hot and miserable under all of the covers and clothing, but if you take just one layer off you find yourself shivering and needing to put it back on. I was back in bed by 9:00 and slept for ten hours! But, praise the Lord, I woke up feeling much, much better. I had really prayed that the Lord would touch and help me--I wanted to be in church and I knew I had a Sunday School class counting on me--and He did. I'm not 100% yet, but a thousand times better. Thank God! He is so good to hear and answer our prayers.
James preached this morning and--despite our conversation this afternoon (ha!)--he did a great job. He preached on the Word of God not changing--Jesus still means what He said the first time, regardless of who or how many people want to change it or "say it wrong" like the Ephraimites. It was very good.
We decided to try Ruby Tuesdays with the Washburns for lunch. It was pricier than what we like to pay... but it was sooooo good! And they had a terrific little salad bar. It tasted like something different and that was good. And, as always, we had a great time fellwshipping with them. They are so great to be around. We hope they enjoy being with us as much as we enjoy being with them and that they don't have any ulterior motives or anything. Ha! ;-)
After all of the sleeping I did yesterday afternoon and last night, I didn't even get desperate for a nap today (!) so I spent the rest of the afternoon uploading all of the pictures for this blog (it takes a while, you know!) while the boys watched Savage Sam--the sequel to Old Yeller. It's a great show and doesn't make you cry at the end. Sam told me that he likes it because it gives him "that Texas feeling." Strangely enough, I knew exactly what he meant--and I feel the same way! :-)
Tonight was Lesson 4 of The Body of Christ course. It was very good and I was much more alert and coherent than last time. Ha! The Sunday night McAlister's crowd was pretty small tonight. Sister Krystal was home sick so the Coxes didn't come and the Ridlespurges have decided to save some of that eating out money for other purposes (something we intend to do as soon as I have a kitchen!), so that left us to enjoy the Washburns company for the second time today. :-) I just love fellowshipping with Church folks. It's the best.
And that brings us to the end of a wonderful, relaxing, blessed weekend. Even with the sickness thrown into the mix, it was just a fantastic weekend and I'm soooo thankful that it worked out for us to spend some time with Aunt Sue and Mom and Dad. And now??? BACK TO WORK! :-)
We then spent Thursday and Friday just hanging out. It was soooooo nice. It was the most enjoyably relaxing two days I've had in a long, long, long time. Since Katie & Joe's birthday hadn't exactly panned out the way we had hoped the week before (including not a single present to unwrap) Mom said we could have a little party for them up there. It was GREAT. James and I went to the store to pick up a little something for each of them that morning and found some terrific deals on clearance.
But before I post pictures of the post-birthday birthday party, I'll put some up from their real birthday a couple of weeks ago.
Both kids had requested a trip to the Hoover Library. They would move in there permanently if they could. Here is Katie diving into her stack of books.
The adults didn't seem quite as excited about this particular stop. Ha!
Joe wanted to stop by Guitar Center to check out the expensive guitar room. Jacob gave him a few pointers while they were there--and then copied an instructional DVD for him that Joe has LOVED watching and says he's learning lots from.
Katie wanted to stop by Christmas Tree Shops. Philip found this great birthday hat. We didn't want to actually buy it, but thought it was worth a picture.
Then it was off to Sam's Club to buy a birthday cake. How is it that teenagers do things that I don't allow my kids to do... but it somehow seems acceptable?! ;-)
The lighting of the candles...
Katie blowing out her eleven...
And Joe finishing off his ten... minus one, it looks like.
And the whole crowd.
Okay, back to our Cleveland trip this past weekend.
After our shopping trip that morning James and I got home at about noon and Mom had the table all ready--Frito pie for lunch and party stuff in place: balloons (thanks to Aunt Sue), party hats, those little blow thingies, and adorable and delicious strawberry cupcakes. We enjoyed a nice lunch together, then the kids lit the candles, one on each cupcake, and we sang to them.
Then somebody started making use of the party blowers. Dad didn't think they were very fun so he went for the big ammo. He's ALWAYS had a thing for long cardboard tubes.
Since Mom is the one who bought the crazy little blowers we told the kids they should all go blow them at her. :-)
And Sue... being Aunt Sue. :-)
Uh-oh. Looks like I've got my pictures out of order. Candle lighting here.
Sam getting into the spirit of things.
And then it was present time. Joe got a great set of disk shooters with wa-a-a-a-a-ay too many disks. I look forward to finding them all over my house along with all of the foam darts that are already there.
Katie's gift from Aunt Sue was a cute little coin purse and a journal.
From Grandma & Granddad, Joe got a BIG container of BBs and a cool slingshot that doubles as a whistle of some kind. He was pretty excited about it.
Katie got a bag full of random things from us. This is her Phase 10 dice game in a can. Very cute and way fun.
She received other miscellaneous items that I won't elaborate on, but this was her response. :-)
And an adorable blouse and jumper that Grandma Vicki had made--I failed to get a picture of the jumper, but I'm sure there will be pictures of it later on. I'm sure she'll be wearing it lots!
Aunt Sue took on the job of removing Joe's toys from the box. Never an easy thing these days. And Aunt Sue with a knife is pretty scary. ;-)
After the party we just played. Had a nice, relaxing day full of nothing but fun, enjoyable time together. I loved every minute of it. I just kept thinking, "Wow, this is sooooo nice. This is the nicest day I can remember in a long, long time!"
Dad recently bought a set of épées at an antique store. You know, the thin, pointy swords used for fencing. Like Zorro or the Three Musketeers. That's a fantastic toy for grandchildren to have, don't you think? Especially since there were no masks or protective gear of any kind. Ha! They really are cool and the kids loved them. Here's Dad teaching Sam a few things...
Joe and Katie's turn.
And I couldn't resist putting this clip up. :-)
Then it was time to shoot some guns from the back deck. I love shooting guns. Dad picked up a neat little pistol sometime recently that was lots of fun to shoot, then we moved to the .22 rifle.
James' turn.
And Sam...
Even Mom got in on the action.
Aunt Sue, hilarious as always. She makes everything way more fun than it otherwise would be! Ha!
After a while Dad pulled out an old 30/30 that he says hasn't been shot in 30 years--since the first year he hunted elk in Colorado. He decided to let Aunt Sue give it a try first, but didn't tell her about the change of caliber--she thought she was still working with a .22--HA!
I shot the 30/30, too--my first time with anything bigger than a .22 (but I was prepared a little better than Aunt Sue was--ha!) and it was very fun. It always gives you a little surge of that-is-so-cool when you blast a can and it jumps into the air, but when you're using a bigger gun and it blows the can to smithereens it just takes the thrill to a whole new level. SO COOL. :-)
Dad shot this tree and told the boys they could go dig the bullet out, but they were unable to do it alone. James worked on it for a little while, to no avail.
Then Dad came out with the big equipment (ha!), but even with the power tools he was unable to get down deep enough to dislodge the slug.
Charlie had a rather exciting day that day. He had only ever spent time around Brady and other BIG dogs, and if he was ever around a little dog he would totally spazz out like he didn't realize it was a DOG just like him. (I think he thinks he's one of the big guys himself.) But Mom & Dad's neighbors got a Yorkie sometime recently and she showed up in the yard while the kids were fencing. Charlie freaked out, as usual, but finally got over it and decided Bells wasn't so bad after all. Within ten minutes he was totally in love. Ha! He followed her around all afternoon and could think of nothing else. She seemed to enjoy all of the attention and it wasn't very long before she decided she was part of the family, even joining us in the house and finding a spot of her own on the couch. (The invitation to come in came from my Dad, NOT my Mom--obviously! HA!) She was a cute little girl and Charlie was devastated (and drove us crazy the rest of the night) when we had one of the kids take her home. I'm not sure he'll ever be the same again. Ha!
Mom fixed a great ham dinner that night, then we set up a projector and looked at tons of pictures and video clips from their trip to Israel, Turkey, and India. We all really enjoyed it (even Joe talked about how cool it was) and I was moved to tears several times--especially during the clip of the service they had with Brother Jones and his daughter in Turkey. It was the first service he's been in for 7 years, and the first service ever for his daughter. To think of having even just a few people in your home, singing When the Church of God Arises and having Sunday School together and hearing a message live for the first time in all those years... I can't imagine the feeling of isolation they must have over there and how much it must have meant to have somebody there with them. Anyway, I also really enjoyed the clip of Dad having a mini-service on Mt. Hattin where the CPMA marker stands in honor of the location where Jesus organized the Church. And the clips of the elephan "blessing" Mom and Dad--that was pretty great, too. Ha!
Friday was even more relaxing than Thursday had been. We did pretty much nothing the whole day, just played lots of games. Aunt Sue was dumb enough to get roped into a game of Monopoly with the kids. I only showed up long enough to take a picture, then I got gone as quickly as possible. I know how these games go!
I really can't remember much else about that day. I started to feel sick that afternoon and it continued to intensify throughout the day--runny nose, stuffiness, headache, all that stuff. But we played games and more games--Phase 10 dice, Rack-o and more I Buy. We ended up watching Daniel Boone together than evening--a pretty good one. It's always best when Jimmy Dean is on. :-)
It was bedtime after that, but the kids begged for more time because it was their last night with Aunt Sue, so we all went to the dining room and played the craziest game of Pictionary I have EVER played! Hahahahaha! We laughed sooooo hard. It was the first time the kids had played and they did great, but mostly we all just cracked up at Aunt Sue. She is a wild woman and keeps us all in stitches. Sam got pretty wound up, too, so between Aunt Sue doing the wave and Sam dancing on his chair it was a most memorable evening. I only wish I had some pictures or video clips from THAT!
Aunt Sue left early the next morning. I woke up feeling horrible and only worked at a snail's pace collecting our belongings and getting packed up. Mom cooked a fantastic late breakfast for us: eggs, hashbrowns, sausage, bisquits and gravy. I think it was somewhere around noon before we got loaded up and headed for home--one child short. Sort of on a whim Mom mentioned that she could keep Katie there this coming week and do some sewing for her and teach her some sewing things, too. We typically would have said no because we didn't have Kate's school stuff with us and didn't want her to fall behind... but she is desperately in need of some skirts and we can't find any anywhere! So James declared it "home ec" week for Katie and said she was to learn to cook and bake and sew and all manner of domestic schooling was to take place every day. I'm sure she's having a ball already. Joe was jealous and wanted to stay, too. Sam was anything but jealous and only wished that Joe would've been allowed to stay "at Alcatraz" with Katie so he could be an only child and be with just James and me for a whole week. Ha! He would have been so lonely and bored by the end of the week, he just doesn't know it. ;-)
Anyway, from the time we pulled out of the driveway at Mom's house I slept. We stopped at Southeastern Salvage in Chattanooga and bought a faucet for the kitchen (James found a nice cast iron sink on sale 50% off last week--now we just need a countertop so we can get it installed!), then I was asleep again. We stopped for lunch in Gadsden, then I drove the rest of the way home because James was feeling so tired. We arrived at 4:00 or so. I didn't unload a thing. I walked in the door, set my purse down, and crawled straight into bed. A sore throat had kicked in by then among other things and I just felt so, so exhausted. I slept until 6:00, then got up to work on Sunday School stuff for a little while. I changed into some warm pj's, then even dug out my Granddad's thick, heavy robe--I was just sooooo cold. Actually, it was a case of the sweaty chills. You know, where you feel hot and miserable under all of the covers and clothing, but if you take just one layer off you find yourself shivering and needing to put it back on. I was back in bed by 9:00 and slept for ten hours! But, praise the Lord, I woke up feeling much, much better. I had really prayed that the Lord would touch and help me--I wanted to be in church and I knew I had a Sunday School class counting on me--and He did. I'm not 100% yet, but a thousand times better. Thank God! He is so good to hear and answer our prayers.
James preached this morning and--despite our conversation this afternoon (ha!)--he did a great job. He preached on the Word of God not changing--Jesus still means what He said the first time, regardless of who or how many people want to change it or "say it wrong" like the Ephraimites. It was very good.
We decided to try Ruby Tuesdays with the Washburns for lunch. It was pricier than what we like to pay... but it was sooooo good! And they had a terrific little salad bar. It tasted like something different and that was good. And, as always, we had a great time fellwshipping with them. They are so great to be around. We hope they enjoy being with us as much as we enjoy being with them and that they don't have any ulterior motives or anything. Ha! ;-)
After all of the sleeping I did yesterday afternoon and last night, I didn't even get desperate for a nap today (!) so I spent the rest of the afternoon uploading all of the pictures for this blog (it takes a while, you know!) while the boys watched Savage Sam--the sequel to Old Yeller. It's a great show and doesn't make you cry at the end. Sam told me that he likes it because it gives him "that Texas feeling." Strangely enough, I knew exactly what he meant--and I feel the same way! :-)
Tonight was Lesson 4 of The Body of Christ course. It was very good and I was much more alert and coherent than last time. Ha! The Sunday night McAlister's crowd was pretty small tonight. Sister Krystal was home sick so the Coxes didn't come and the Ridlespurges have decided to save some of that eating out money for other purposes (something we intend to do as soon as I have a kitchen!), so that left us to enjoy the Washburns company for the second time today. :-) I just love fellowshipping with Church folks. It's the best.
And that brings us to the end of a wonderful, relaxing, blessed weekend. Even with the sickness thrown into the mix, it was just a fantastic weekend and I'm soooo thankful that it worked out for us to spend some time with Aunt Sue and Mom and Dad. And now??? BACK TO WORK! :-)
Wednesday, February 22, 2012
Laundry Day!!!
I've never been so excited to do laundry before in my life! HA! Our new washer and dryer were delivered today, so now I can do laundry IN MY VERY OWN HOUSE!!!!!
WA-HOOOOO!!!!
WA-HOOOOO!!!!
Lookie! Lookie! Lookie!
And from the other angle so Mom can see that we did get a little clothes rod put up in there. Most of Katie's clothes are on a rod in the basement right now, but we told her she could keep some things up in this room until she gets her own closet. Someday. :-)
And look--it's the very first load of laundry!!!! How neat is that?! Only very few people will know how to say "how neat is that" properly and I'm pretty sure none of them read this blog. ~sigh~ Oh, well. Let me add, That's pretty neat!
Monday, February 20, 2012
Staying Caught Up
It doesn't feel like I have much to blog about, but I really don't want to fall behind again, so...
It STILL feels like we just can't get into high gear on the house. We've been spinning our wheels for a week now! We have high hopes and great aspirations each day, but it seems like we keep getting distracted with other things we weren't expecting or just running out of steam. James and I have both been so tired. That sure doesn't help.
On Saturday we hung a few more cabinet doors in the kitchen, finished poly-ing the doors in the utility room, surely did a few other things I'm forgetting (!), then headed to Best Buy to look at the fridges they had on sale. James had a gift card, so we decided to stop at Red Lobster on our way. Bad decision. They were WAY crowded and we knew we'd have to wait to be seate, but we were in no hurry. Our first mistake was sitting directly in front of the lobster tank. Surprisingly, it is Sam and not Joe who has a tender heart toward animals. He went and looked at all of the lobsters and one of them crawled up to the edge of the tank "and looked right at me" and all that. Then he sat back down and got to thinking about all of those nice lobsters being tossed into boiling water and cooked and eaten. It was more than he could handle. He pulled his hat down low over his eyes, sinched his knees up to his chest and hid the best he could while trying to choke back the tears. One of the employees grabbed the stick and pulled a lobster out of the tank and I thought Sam was going to totally lose it, but she was just showing it to a kid who had asked, then put him back in the tank. Needless to say, Sam was not in very good spirits for the duration of our meal. And nobody dared order lobster. Ha! We never have before, but there's no way we could have done it that day!
We were finally seated... and then finally had our drink order taken... and then finally had the drinks arrive... and then a long time later had the garlic cheese bisquits arrive... and then finally had some soup show up... and then finally (way after we should have already eaten and been gone) had the waitress show up to tell us they were out of one of the items we had ordered and we'd need to choose something else... shall I continue? Ha! We never did get the re-ordered meal. We didn't have an extra hour to wait for it. ;-) Needless to say, James spoke with a manager before we left. He made me stay at the table, but he assures me that he was nice. I really want to believe him... HA!
We stopped by Best Buy, but didn't find a fridge that will work for us. We decided to check Sears again since we were so close. We found one that I really, really like, but it’s a little pricey and has a shiny finish that is bound to scratch easily. The sort of bumpy finish that all refrigerators used to have seems to be on the way out. Anyway, we’re going to do some more shopping around and see what we can come up with.
For some unknown reason we decided to leave Sears and actually venture into the mall itself. Actually the reason is known. I just remembered it. James was really hoping to find an Orange Julius. Do they have Orange Julius around here??? This was my first time actually being in the mall here. On a Saturday. Evening. We’d only been walking through the hallway for a few minutes when I looked at James and said, “What are we DOING here???” I hate malls, but most especially on Saturdays and evenings, much less a Saturday evening. I just feel all gross and dirty and contaminated--like I just waded through a pool of worldliness and can't wait to go wash it all off! Ha! Of course, I found out today that the mall here has a Lego Store so we'll have to go there again some time (Sam will be in heaven!), but we'll be sure to do it on a Thursday morning or something--anything will be better than Saturday night!
Sunday School was interesting yesterday. First of all, we had to change classrooms. Apparently a mouse died in the wall or something because it stinks REALLY bad. It didn't seem too bad the first time I walked in, but it didn't take long to realize how bad it was. So we hauled a table across the hallway into a different classroom. I had Zack and Jackson for class--then Jacob and Jadyn showed up toward the end. I'm not sure any of them remember what we learned, but they DO remember the glue exploding. They were having a hard time getting it to come out of the bottle, so I was attempting to clear the tip for them. I finally turned it upright and gave it a little squeeze hoping to see where it was clogged up. You know the rest. The was a big POW and I was covered. It was all over my face and in my bangs. Ha!!! The kids just CRACKED UP. I had to laugh. It really was a grand explosion. I excused myself and went to clean up in the restroom, but was unable to do much with my hair. It wasn't regular school glue, it was heavy duty craft glue. Naturally. I ran into Brother Washburn on my way back to the classroom. He's our Sunday School Superintendant and I had aready run into him two or three times since Sunday School had begun, needing to run to the classroom to get this, or into the office to copy that, etc. I'm sure he was wondering if I ever actually go to the room where my students are. HA!
Sunday night we had Communion & Feetwashing service. That is always SUCH a blessing. I think I understand and appreciate it more and more as time goes on. We went with the Hopkins and Ridlespurges and Washburns to the Sunday night spot (McAlisters) after service.
Today we FINALLY succeeded in getting the rest of the kitchen cabinet doors hung. Is it exaggerating to say that it was a nightmare? We hung and unhung and rehung and switched doors and drilled new holes and pushed and pulled and stripped out screws and scratched paint all over the place and took doors off again and shaved them down with the saw and, oh, you name it. HA! It was CRAZY. But at the end of the day they are all ON, they are relatively straight, and they all open and close--some more easily than others, but there comes a time when you just have to call it good enough. James cut the rest of the sheetrock out of the ceiling space in the kitchen afterwards, so then I spent about 45 minutes cleaning powder and dust off of all of the newly hung doors. Tomorrow morning they'll be ready for me to do LOTS and LOTS of touch-up painting in red and green and yellow. Not sure how long that will take, but once it dries real good I'll start putting the poly on them.
The other accomplishment of the day was moving the children out of our room. WA-HOO!!! The community room was fun while it lasted, but it's time has passed. The room was trashed all the time--five people's beds and all of the STUFF they feel like they need stacked on the floor beside the beds. (By "beds" of course we mean sleeping bags and air mattresses.) And the kids stuff never stayed in stacks--it was continually scattered all around the room and it makes me batty to not have a clean place to go to, especially to try to read or pray or sleep. So this evening we hauled all of the kids' bedding and junk to the living room and got them set up out there, then cleaned our bedroom up. ~Aaahhhh~ It feels sooooo good. And I'm amazed at how BIG this room is now that all of that other STUFF isn't here anymore! Ha!
That's about it. I will post a few pictures of Sam before I go. The first is--obviously--his attempt to look like his Dad... with an electrical tape beard and "pokey-up" hair. In his Dad's glasses I think he looks like Melissa Hendricks' boy, Dan. Cute. :-)
And here he is sleeping in his bin. He found this a week or two ago and decided he wanted to use it for a bed. He's been sleeping in it (or at least paritally in it--ha!) ever since. Goofy kid!
I LOVE how he's sleeping in this shot. Hahahaha! CRACKS ME UP. Joe's sleeping position is good, too, but Sam's--I just have NO IDEA how a person can sleep like that! By the way, notice all of the STUFF everywhere??? THAT is why I had to move the kids out of our room. My sanity depended on it. ;-)
It STILL feels like we just can't get into high gear on the house. We've been spinning our wheels for a week now! We have high hopes and great aspirations each day, but it seems like we keep getting distracted with other things we weren't expecting or just running out of steam. James and I have both been so tired. That sure doesn't help.
On Saturday we hung a few more cabinet doors in the kitchen, finished poly-ing the doors in the utility room, surely did a few other things I'm forgetting (!), then headed to Best Buy to look at the fridges they had on sale. James had a gift card, so we decided to stop at Red Lobster on our way. Bad decision. They were WAY crowded and we knew we'd have to wait to be seate, but we were in no hurry. Our first mistake was sitting directly in front of the lobster tank. Surprisingly, it is Sam and not Joe who has a tender heart toward animals. He went and looked at all of the lobsters and one of them crawled up to the edge of the tank "and looked right at me" and all that. Then he sat back down and got to thinking about all of those nice lobsters being tossed into boiling water and cooked and eaten. It was more than he could handle. He pulled his hat down low over his eyes, sinched his knees up to his chest and hid the best he could while trying to choke back the tears. One of the employees grabbed the stick and pulled a lobster out of the tank and I thought Sam was going to totally lose it, but she was just showing it to a kid who had asked, then put him back in the tank. Needless to say, Sam was not in very good spirits for the duration of our meal. And nobody dared order lobster. Ha! We never have before, but there's no way we could have done it that day!
We were finally seated... and then finally had our drink order taken... and then finally had the drinks arrive... and then a long time later had the garlic cheese bisquits arrive... and then finally had some soup show up... and then finally (way after we should have already eaten and been gone) had the waitress show up to tell us they were out of one of the items we had ordered and we'd need to choose something else... shall I continue? Ha! We never did get the re-ordered meal. We didn't have an extra hour to wait for it. ;-) Needless to say, James spoke with a manager before we left. He made me stay at the table, but he assures me that he was nice. I really want to believe him... HA!
We stopped by Best Buy, but didn't find a fridge that will work for us. We decided to check Sears again since we were so close. We found one that I really, really like, but it’s a little pricey and has a shiny finish that is bound to scratch easily. The sort of bumpy finish that all refrigerators used to have seems to be on the way out. Anyway, we’re going to do some more shopping around and see what we can come up with.
For some unknown reason we decided to leave Sears and actually venture into the mall itself. Actually the reason is known. I just remembered it. James was really hoping to find an Orange Julius. Do they have Orange Julius around here??? This was my first time actually being in the mall here. On a Saturday. Evening. We’d only been walking through the hallway for a few minutes when I looked at James and said, “What are we DOING here???” I hate malls, but most especially on Saturdays and evenings, much less a Saturday evening. I just feel all gross and dirty and contaminated--like I just waded through a pool of worldliness and can't wait to go wash it all off! Ha! Of course, I found out today that the mall here has a Lego Store so we'll have to go there again some time (Sam will be in heaven!), but we'll be sure to do it on a Thursday morning or something--anything will be better than Saturday night!
Sunday School was interesting yesterday. First of all, we had to change classrooms. Apparently a mouse died in the wall or something because it stinks REALLY bad. It didn't seem too bad the first time I walked in, but it didn't take long to realize how bad it was. So we hauled a table across the hallway into a different classroom. I had Zack and Jackson for class--then Jacob and Jadyn showed up toward the end. I'm not sure any of them remember what we learned, but they DO remember the glue exploding. They were having a hard time getting it to come out of the bottle, so I was attempting to clear the tip for them. I finally turned it upright and gave it a little squeeze hoping to see where it was clogged up. You know the rest. The was a big POW and I was covered. It was all over my face and in my bangs. Ha!!! The kids just CRACKED UP. I had to laugh. It really was a grand explosion. I excused myself and went to clean up in the restroom, but was unable to do much with my hair. It wasn't regular school glue, it was heavy duty craft glue. Naturally. I ran into Brother Washburn on my way back to the classroom. He's our Sunday School Superintendant and I had aready run into him two or three times since Sunday School had begun, needing to run to the classroom to get this, or into the office to copy that, etc. I'm sure he was wondering if I ever actually go to the room where my students are. HA!
Sunday night we had Communion & Feetwashing service. That is always SUCH a blessing. I think I understand and appreciate it more and more as time goes on. We went with the Hopkins and Ridlespurges and Washburns to the Sunday night spot (McAlisters) after service.
Today we FINALLY succeeded in getting the rest of the kitchen cabinet doors hung. Is it exaggerating to say that it was a nightmare? We hung and unhung and rehung and switched doors and drilled new holes and pushed and pulled and stripped out screws and scratched paint all over the place and took doors off again and shaved them down with the saw and, oh, you name it. HA! It was CRAZY. But at the end of the day they are all ON, they are relatively straight, and they all open and close--some more easily than others, but there comes a time when you just have to call it good enough. James cut the rest of the sheetrock out of the ceiling space in the kitchen afterwards, so then I spent about 45 minutes cleaning powder and dust off of all of the newly hung doors. Tomorrow morning they'll be ready for me to do LOTS and LOTS of touch-up painting in red and green and yellow. Not sure how long that will take, but once it dries real good I'll start putting the poly on them.
The other accomplishment of the day was moving the children out of our room. WA-HOO!!! The community room was fun while it lasted, but it's time has passed. The room was trashed all the time--five people's beds and all of the STUFF they feel like they need stacked on the floor beside the beds. (By "beds" of course we mean sleeping bags and air mattresses.) And the kids stuff never stayed in stacks--it was continually scattered all around the room and it makes me batty to not have a clean place to go to, especially to try to read or pray or sleep. So this evening we hauled all of the kids' bedding and junk to the living room and got them set up out there, then cleaned our bedroom up. ~Aaahhhh~ It feels sooooo good. And I'm amazed at how BIG this room is now that all of that other STUFF isn't here anymore! Ha!
That's about it. I will post a few pictures of Sam before I go. The first is--obviously--his attempt to look like his Dad... with an electrical tape beard and "pokey-up" hair. In his Dad's glasses I think he looks like Melissa Hendricks' boy, Dan. Cute. :-)
And here he is sleeping in his bin. He found this a week or two ago and decided he wanted to use it for a bed. He's been sleeping in it (or at least paritally in it--ha!) ever since. Goofy kid!
I LOVE how he's sleeping in this shot. Hahahaha! CRACKS ME UP. Joe's sleeping position is good, too, but Sam's--I just have NO IDEA how a person can sleep like that! By the way, notice all of the STUFF everywhere??? THAT is why I had to move the kids out of our room. My sanity depended on it. ;-)
Saturday, February 18, 2012
House Stuff
I'll post a few pictures of the work that went on while the Shulers were here. Here is Uncle Colin, working his plumbing magic for us. WHAT A BLESSING!!!
James is playing with his new toy here--some router bits to create a beautiful edge for window sills, counter tops, etc.
Jacob was James' right-hand man while they were here. He is a perfectionist and a fast learner, so it wasn't anytime at all before he was working all alone with lots of tools he'd never seen before and doing things (including tricky angle cuts on the chair rail) without James there. He learned a little about electricity, too... the hard way. Ha! James just ASSUMED that he'd know not to grab the sides of an outlet to pull it through the beadboard. ;-)
This is what you call laying down on the job. Jake was touching up with the green paint after installing that green beadboard panel under the desk.
Poor Philip. He got all of the lonely, ungratifying jobs like scraping this door... for hours.
So he took a few breaks here and there--and who could blame him! I went into the bedroom and opened the closet door one time... and found Philip sitting on a chair, bound and gagged, hands wrapped tightly with this chain. Sam's doing, of course. I just closed the door and decided to mind my own business. As you can see, Phil was able to free himself. Then it was Sam's turn to be chained up. :-)
How many Pollocks does it take... ;-)
James is playing with his new toy here--some router bits to create a beautiful edge for window sills, counter tops, etc.
Jacob was James' right-hand man while they were here. He is a perfectionist and a fast learner, so it wasn't anytime at all before he was working all alone with lots of tools he'd never seen before and doing things (including tricky angle cuts on the chair rail) without James there. He learned a little about electricity, too... the hard way. Ha! James just ASSUMED that he'd know not to grab the sides of an outlet to pull it through the beadboard. ;-)
This is what you call laying down on the job. Jake was touching up with the green paint after installing that green beadboard panel under the desk.
Poor Philip. He got all of the lonely, ungratifying jobs like scraping this door... for hours.
So he took a few breaks here and there--and who could blame him! I went into the bedroom and opened the closet door one time... and found Philip sitting on a chair, bound and gagged, hands wrapped tightly with this chain. Sam's doing, of course. I just closed the door and decided to mind my own business. As you can see, Phil was able to free himself. Then it was Sam's turn to be chained up. :-)
How many Pollocks does it take... ;-)
And that's about all of the work pictures I have. I did, however, walk around last night and take a few pictures of what things are looking like around here right now. Still got LOTS to do, but things are beginning to improve. Mom's been asking to see some pictures, so here we go...
James' office is coming together nicely. He got the ceiling fan in last week. As you can see, this is where all of the trim is being stained or painted, then stored until we need it in other places throughout the house.
This is the little half-bath on the main level--my bathroom. It makes me very, very happy. :-) Can't wait to get it finished!
And--gasp!--my DARK BLUE wall. I love it!!! :-) It just looks so sharp and crisp and clean with the white trim. And I love blue.
This is my ALMOST FINISHED utility room! :-) James laid the carpet squares last night and they look great. I can't see any seams anywhere. I do wish we would have found something a little lighter in color for that room... but I love it. I love having a finished floor in that room! Right now James is gone to Hoover, purchasing a washer and dryer to be delivered next Wednesday--then we'll be up and running! Wa-Hoo!!! The only thing left to do is poly the doors below the sink in there. I'll get that done today. Then we'll have TWO rooms finished: our master bathroom and the utility room. (Should I be saying "WA-HOO" or "It's about time!"??? Ha!)
And here is the half-finished kitchen. At least I hope we're half way there or more! We started hanging the cabinet doors last night and from this distance, they look terrific... so if you ever come over, please stand this far away to look at them. HA! I really do love them. The colors are so rich and pretty.
This is my desk area, already cluttered with miscellaneous items. I did find a few candles when I was unpacking the telephones last week. It made me happy to have SOMETHING cute to put on the shelves. :-)
That's it for now!
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