Last night I had an almost completely sleepless night of worry about the when, how, and how much of the kitchen project.
I was worried about how busy our fall is and how we weren't going to have time to get things done.
I was worried about how the timing of everything was going to make our vacation stressful, make my fall scrapbooking retreats stressful, make everything stressful.
I was worried about the outflow of money for the kitchen and vacation coinciding, and causing more stress.
I was worried that being in a hurry was going to make the project cost more than it would otherwise.
So I decided to give us a break. We aren't going to do the bulk of the kitchen until early spring. We are going to enjoy our busy fall. We are going to enjoy the church dinners, weddings, family get-togethers, and even a little motorcycle trip. I will be able to focus the needed time on preparations for my fall scrapping frenzy. I will be able to prepare for our long-awaited anniversary trip and come home to a house that isn't all torn up. (Because there isn't much worse than returning from a vacation to a mess.)
I might even have the opportunity to make some money, allowing me to have more of what I want in my kitchen.
We are going to go ahead and take out the ceiling, move the door, and continue with the electrical work that Colin has been doing. Then, in late-winter or so, we'll order the cabinets and get ready for the big job.
I feel so much better.
Wednesday, August 31, 2016
Monday, August 29, 2016
There is some good news
I have my floor. It's in a pile of boxes on my front porch, but I have it.
That's especially exciting because when we were ready to purchase, I discovered that it had been discontinued. A few cartons were available spread over a 100 mile radius. I was picturing a couple of days of driving from store to store buying 1-3 cartons at a time.
Then I remembered that the husband spends all week in the 'burbs. The 'burbs have LOTS of stores, and a search showed me that one of those stores had 70 cartons of my discontinued flooring.
So he went and bought it. On clearance.
Sunday, August 28, 2016
One step forward, four steps back
As I promised, this kitchen thing isn't going to be quick.
After getting cabinet prices from a local family-owned place, I decided to compare what the big-box stores had to offer. Sticker shock, mainly.
Our kitchen presents some challenges. It is small. The measurements are such that the most standard cabinet sizes don't fit without leaving more space than we ideally want to leave. We are planning to have the cabinets run to the ceiling to gain space, but that also limits the availability of cabinets other than high-end. So, yeah. Pricey.
And then there is the plan to move the basement door, which is filling me with more than a little trepidation. It would add two feet of counter space, and room for the dishwasher on the perimeter of the kitchen, but, if not well-executed--or finished promptly--could leave me with an ongoing unsightly opening in the center hall of the main floor of my house. (Did I mention that my husband, who doesn't live here during the week, wants to do the work himself?)
(My main bathroom is unfinished after almost five years.)
You see my problem.
Trying to stay within my budget, figure out all of the details of something that is way outside of my comfort zone, and fear of making a huge mistake are all contributing to a certain paralysis.
But those holes in the ceiling are calling for progress.
After getting cabinet prices from a local family-owned place, I decided to compare what the big-box stores had to offer. Sticker shock, mainly.
Our kitchen presents some challenges. It is small. The measurements are such that the most standard cabinet sizes don't fit without leaving more space than we ideally want to leave. We are planning to have the cabinets run to the ceiling to gain space, but that also limits the availability of cabinets other than high-end. So, yeah. Pricey.
And then there is the plan to move the basement door, which is filling me with more than a little trepidation. It would add two feet of counter space, and room for the dishwasher on the perimeter of the kitchen, but, if not well-executed--or finished promptly--could leave me with an ongoing unsightly opening in the center hall of the main floor of my house. (Did I mention that my husband, who doesn't live here during the week, wants to do the work himself?)
(My main bathroom is unfinished after almost five years.)
You see my problem.
Trying to stay within my budget, figure out all of the details of something that is way outside of my comfort zone, and fear of making a huge mistake are all contributing to a certain paralysis.
But those holes in the ceiling are calling for progress.
Tuesday, August 16, 2016
It has begun
My long-awaited kitchen remodel is not going to be quick. It is going to happen in small increments interspersed with bursts of activity.
This happened Sunday:
There are actually two more like it now.
We can see the original plaster ceiling above the lower ceiling that was put in in the late 1940s. We can see the water damage that happened in one corner of that ceiling sometime in the last 70 years. We can see the wiring for all of the outlets and lights in our kitchen that runs between the two ceilings.
It is helpful to know what we are dealing with.
What I don't have a picture of is the aftermath of this job. After Colin pulled out the power tool. After the cloud of drywall dust covered the contents of the main floor of my house. After COlin left on his motorcycle.
Thank goodness for my friends Jacqui and Effie, who--fueled by margaritas--helped clean the mess up while the men were out riding. I'd still be cleaning.
I've decided that this much-neglected blog is the best way to document this process, so any of you who are interested can be along for the ride. Hang on. This could get bumpy.
This happened Sunday:
We can see the original plaster ceiling above the lower ceiling that was put in in the late 1940s. We can see the water damage that happened in one corner of that ceiling sometime in the last 70 years. We can see the wiring for all of the outlets and lights in our kitchen that runs between the two ceilings.
It is helpful to know what we are dealing with.
What I don't have a picture of is the aftermath of this job. After Colin pulled out the power tool. After the cloud of drywall dust covered the contents of the main floor of my house. After COlin left on his motorcycle.
Thank goodness for my friends Jacqui and Effie, who--fueled by margaritas--helped clean the mess up while the men were out riding. I'd still be cleaning.
I've decided that this much-neglected blog is the best way to document this process, so any of you who are interested can be along for the ride. Hang on. This could get bumpy.
Friday, May 13, 2016
Hanging on
These paragraphs have been so helpful to me, and I keep returning to them to remind myself that getting rid of things isn't getting rid of my memories of the person who they belonged to. I am very sentimental, and getting rid of anything that belonged to either of my grandmothers is really hard for me, no matter how much I don't need it.
And things that remind me of my kids' childhoods. SO hard to part with.
We have a rummage sale coming up at church, and being able to donate things is good motivation. And every time I get ready, out of sentiment, to hang onto something that I really don't want, I remind myself of these ideas.
Tuesday, May 10, 2016
Funerals: The good stuff
We have had a lot of funerals at church in the past eighteen months. We've had three since Easter, with one more coming soon. So many of our dear saints who lived full, active lives into their 80s and 90s have left us, and it has left a hole.
I am in charge of the funeral dinners at church, but I have always gone to the funerals anyway. In our earlier years at Redeemer, I went to most of them because I was taking sons to acolyte and it didn't make sense to drive back home. Over time, as I got to know the people, I just wanted to be there.
At the last couple of funerals, as I looked around the sanctuary and noticed how few congregation members were there, I started thinking about the place of funerals. (This has been part of a much broader musing on relationships within the church, the whole idea of a church family, etc., that will be making appearances here and in my presentation at the Family Retreat this summer, but I digress.)
I've been thinking about why people don't go and why I wish they would.
Funerals are never convenient. Believe me, the pastors and church secretary know this. People are busy and don't want to take time out of a Monday morning or Saturday afternoon to go to a funeral. Moms don't want to bring their kids, or aren't sure they belong. People say that they didn't really know the deceased. Because we fight so hard to avoid thinking about death, we are really uncomfortable with those who are dealing with it up close and personal.
But death is real. Avoiding thinking about it doesn't make it go away, and I think there is a lot of value in pausing to acknowledge it. My job forces me to: Putting together the funeral bulletin. Marking someone as "Removed by Death" in the software. Putting together their obituary for the bulletin. Each of these takes precedent over other more routine tasks, because death comes when it comes, no matter how busy we all are with our lives.
And so do funerals. And you should go, if you can. There are so many good reasons that it's hard to know where to start.
First, if your pastor is doing his job, you're going to get the good stuff at a funeral. The real stuff. The life-giving Gospel. If you come to a funeral at Redeemer, you are going to hear sermons that are among the pastors' best.
You will sing hymns and responses. I admit to a selfish thought here. This will mean that there are more people singing. The acolytes, Pastors, and I sometimes are reminiscent of a very small and thinly-spread choir. But singing hymns together, feeling the tears as you sing "I KNOW THAT MY REDEEMER LIVES," this is a good thing. And it's a witness to the families who are all too often not church people that this is real, and important, and not just to blue-haired old ladies, but to middle-aged men, and moms, and kids, too.
It means a huge amount to people to have their loss acknowledged. Huge.
It is good for your kids. My tears at the last funeral were brought on by thinking about what an incredible gift acolyting at funerals has been to my sons. They know death is real. Over the last 13 years, they've acolyted for the funerals of the elderly and the young. They've acolyted for those they've barely known and for those they've loved. They've learned to control their emotions while they serve. They have spent extra time with Pastor on the way too and from funerals. They've gotten to know and serve our members in another way. And they've heard all those devil-kicking sermons.
And people have loved having them there. I have received so many words of appreciation for their presence. Being there for each other is an important part of this church family thing. Really. Even for the people who only come to Sunday services. They appreciate the presence of their church family at the time of death. I know this because they tell me.
Death isn't something to hide from our children. How much better that they get used to the idea and practice saying goodbye to the elderly lady that always sat in the back pew, or the man with the hair growing out of his ears, so that grandma's funeral isn't their first? How wonderful it is to hear their young voices joining in the prayers and the singing, because they are part of the church family.
As I said, this is part of some larger thoughts that will be showing up over the next couple of months. I know there was a post shared by some of my friends last week that had to do with funerals that I didn't read because I didn't want to get my thoughts muddled before I had a chance to write this, so I think I'll seek that out now.
I am in charge of the funeral dinners at church, but I have always gone to the funerals anyway. In our earlier years at Redeemer, I went to most of them because I was taking sons to acolyte and it didn't make sense to drive back home. Over time, as I got to know the people, I just wanted to be there.
At the last couple of funerals, as I looked around the sanctuary and noticed how few congregation members were there, I started thinking about the place of funerals. (This has been part of a much broader musing on relationships within the church, the whole idea of a church family, etc., that will be making appearances here and in my presentation at the Family Retreat this summer, but I digress.)
I've been thinking about why people don't go and why I wish they would.
Funerals are never convenient. Believe me, the pastors and church secretary know this. People are busy and don't want to take time out of a Monday morning or Saturday afternoon to go to a funeral. Moms don't want to bring their kids, or aren't sure they belong. People say that they didn't really know the deceased. Because we fight so hard to avoid thinking about death, we are really uncomfortable with those who are dealing with it up close and personal.
But death is real. Avoiding thinking about it doesn't make it go away, and I think there is a lot of value in pausing to acknowledge it. My job forces me to: Putting together the funeral bulletin. Marking someone as "Removed by Death" in the software. Putting together their obituary for the bulletin. Each of these takes precedent over other more routine tasks, because death comes when it comes, no matter how busy we all are with our lives.
And so do funerals. And you should go, if you can. There are so many good reasons that it's hard to know where to start.
First, if your pastor is doing his job, you're going to get the good stuff at a funeral. The real stuff. The life-giving Gospel. If you come to a funeral at Redeemer, you are going to hear sermons that are among the pastors' best.
You will sing hymns and responses. I admit to a selfish thought here. This will mean that there are more people singing. The acolytes, Pastors, and I sometimes are reminiscent of a very small and thinly-spread choir. But singing hymns together, feeling the tears as you sing "I KNOW THAT MY REDEEMER LIVES," this is a good thing. And it's a witness to the families who are all too often not church people that this is real, and important, and not just to blue-haired old ladies, but to middle-aged men, and moms, and kids, too.
It means a huge amount to people to have their loss acknowledged. Huge.
It is good for your kids. My tears at the last funeral were brought on by thinking about what an incredible gift acolyting at funerals has been to my sons. They know death is real. Over the last 13 years, they've acolyted for the funerals of the elderly and the young. They've acolyted for those they've barely known and for those they've loved. They've learned to control their emotions while they serve. They have spent extra time with Pastor on the way too and from funerals. They've gotten to know and serve our members in another way. And they've heard all those devil-kicking sermons.
And people have loved having them there. I have received so many words of appreciation for their presence. Being there for each other is an important part of this church family thing. Really. Even for the people who only come to Sunday services. They appreciate the presence of their church family at the time of death. I know this because they tell me.
Death isn't something to hide from our children. How much better that they get used to the idea and practice saying goodbye to the elderly lady that always sat in the back pew, or the man with the hair growing out of his ears, so that grandma's funeral isn't their first? How wonderful it is to hear their young voices joining in the prayers and the singing, because they are part of the church family.
As I said, this is part of some larger thoughts that will be showing up over the next couple of months. I know there was a post shared by some of my friends last week that had to do with funerals that I didn't read because I didn't want to get my thoughts muddled before I had a chance to write this, so I think I'll seek that out now.
Sunday, May 08, 2016
Things you never saw being a part of your life
Sometimes life takes us in directions we didn't expect to go. Definitely the most profound and life-changing of those for me was getting married at 20 and having my first child at 21. I wasn't planning on kids. Certainly not at 21. And definitely not many!
And no way was I going to be a stay-at-home mom.
Well, things changed. Four kids. HOMESCHOOLING stay-at-home- mom. And the only changes I would make if I could go back, would be to enjoy it more and not to have been so worried about doing something more. (You know, to really "contribute" to the family. To "use my brains." Et cetera. Ad nauseum.)
So that was good. But that's not what this post is about.
There are some things that you REALLY don't expect to be part of your life. Things you wouldn't choose, but don't have much control over. Sometimes your husband has a heart attack, and survives, but seems to have lost his mind a little bit.
I haven't been on it yet, but that is apparently part of the deal. But so much not part of the plan.
And no way was I going to be a stay-at-home mom.
Well, things changed. Four kids. HOMESCHOOLING stay-at-home- mom. And the only changes I would make if I could go back, would be to enjoy it more and not to have been so worried about doing something more. (You know, to really "contribute" to the family. To "use my brains." Et cetera. Ad nauseum.)
So that was good. But that's not what this post is about.
There are some things that you REALLY don't expect to be part of your life. Things you wouldn't choose, but don't have much control over. Sometimes your husband has a heart attack, and survives, but seems to have lost his mind a little bit.
 |
| THIS WAS NOT PART OF THE PLAN. |
 |
| I love these ladies. But the vest? Not so much. |
Saturday, May 07, 2016
Taking control
The realization came to me slowly over the last couple of months; I've been just letting life happen. I had totally lost control of everything: my house, the way that I was eating, my activity level, but especially the way that I was spending my time.
I was a wreck. Physically mentally and emotionally. I was spending hours each night binge-watching crap TV shows on Netflix, instead of just the occasional cooking show while I worked in the kitchen. As a result I was reading and writing less. I was eating too much of the wrong stuff. Drinking too much wine. Looking around at the chaos in my house and hating it, but not doing anything about it, because I was so busy.
Yeah, I have been busy. Kind of. But not really. I'm tired at night after busy days, but vegging with bad TV isn't the answer. Vegging with bad TV won't bring my husband home from Illinois, my friends back from the ends of the earth, my Wicked back from the grave, or my children back to the nest.
What finally woke me up was the return of an inflammatory eye condition that has damaged the vision in my left eye. I had been feeling my high inflammation level for over a month, and just wasn't taking action. I was in constant pain, so I was inactive, which definitely isn't the answer. I have lived with a certain level of pain for 20 years, but this was at another level. The treatment for this condition is a course of Prednisone. I have been dreading the treatment almost as much as the return of the problem, because the drug really makes me miserable.
I decided that it was time to get back in control. I have gone back to eating well-balanced, veggie-filled meals. I am taking the vitamins and supplements that have helped me so much in the past. I am getting on top of my house, a little at a time, killing two birds with one stone by doing constant physical work during the six-eight hours a day that the medication side effects are the worst. I am listening to my pastors' sermons or to music while I clean instead of so many political podcasts. (Not totally giving them up, but not dwelling on it so much.)
I am reading more. I am writing again. I am doing my genealogy research. I am walking. I feel awake for the first time in a while.
Over the next couple of weeks I am going to be moving all of my blogs and consolidating them on a WordPress site. I am back to work on the book that several of you have been after me to write, and that I've had bits of written for years. I have plans for my house.
And I'm staying away from the crap TV.
I was a wreck. Physically mentally and emotionally. I was spending hours each night binge-watching crap TV shows on Netflix, instead of just the occasional cooking show while I worked in the kitchen. As a result I was reading and writing less. I was eating too much of the wrong stuff. Drinking too much wine. Looking around at the chaos in my house and hating it, but not doing anything about it, because I was so busy.
Yeah, I have been busy. Kind of. But not really. I'm tired at night after busy days, but vegging with bad TV isn't the answer. Vegging with bad TV won't bring my husband home from Illinois, my friends back from the ends of the earth, my Wicked back from the grave, or my children back to the nest.
What finally woke me up was the return of an inflammatory eye condition that has damaged the vision in my left eye. I had been feeling my high inflammation level for over a month, and just wasn't taking action. I was in constant pain, so I was inactive, which definitely isn't the answer. I have lived with a certain level of pain for 20 years, but this was at another level. The treatment for this condition is a course of Prednisone. I have been dreading the treatment almost as much as the return of the problem, because the drug really makes me miserable.
I decided that it was time to get back in control. I have gone back to eating well-balanced, veggie-filled meals. I am taking the vitamins and supplements that have helped me so much in the past. I am getting on top of my house, a little at a time, killing two birds with one stone by doing constant physical work during the six-eight hours a day that the medication side effects are the worst. I am listening to my pastors' sermons or to music while I clean instead of so many political podcasts. (Not totally giving them up, but not dwelling on it so much.)
I am reading more. I am writing again. I am doing my genealogy research. I am walking. I feel awake for the first time in a while.
Over the next couple of weeks I am going to be moving all of my blogs and consolidating them on a WordPress site. I am back to work on the book that several of you have been after me to write, and that I've had bits of written for years. I have plans for my house.
And I'm staying away from the crap TV.
Tuesday, February 23, 2016
Forty albums
So, one of my Facebook friends posted this earlier today, and I couldn't get it out of my mind. So I decided to take the time to jot these down now, partially because I want to look at other people's lists, without influencing mine.
"Here are the rules: List 12 albums that have stayed with you (okay, so I went with 40, ‘cause that’s just how I rock ‘n’ roll), but only one album per artist. Don't take too long, and don't think too hard. Tag ten friends to do the same thing, including me, so I can see what you put.
"Here are the rules: List 12 albums that have stayed with you (okay, so I went with 40, ‘cause that’s just how I rock ‘n’ roll), but only one album per artist. Don't take too long, and don't think too hard. Tag ten friends to do the same thing, including me, so I can see what you put.
So, here are 40 albums that have stayed with me, more or less in order of preference:"
I decided to go with 40, and pretty much did it stream-of-consciouness, only editing when I would get repeat artists. (Really, limiting me to one RUSH album is insane cruelty.)
I was a little surprised at some of the things that popped into my head, but I think that all of these are albums that--if I were to listen to them right now--I would be able to sing along with every song. I laughed a bit as I saw my mom's music show up midway through, and my kids' music here and there.
But really, I need more RUSH.
1. RUSH 2112
2. Kansas Point of Know Return
3. Styx Paradise Theater
4. Queen The Game
5. Billy Joel The Stranger
6. Journey Evolution
7. Prince and the Revolution Purple Rain
8. Lynyrd Skynyrd One More From the Road
9. Beach Boys Endless Summer
10. Evanescence Fallen
11. Imagine Dragons Night Visions
12. Lori Morgan Something in Red
13. Meat Loaf Bat Out of Hell
14. Bonnie Tyler Faster than the Speed of Night
15. Bob Seger Stranger in Town
16. Night Ranger Midnight Madness
17. Hootie and the Blowfish Cracked Rear View
18. Supertramp Breakfast in America
19. Survivor Vital Signs
20. Boomtown Rats Fine Art of Surfacing
21. Sugarhill Gang Sugarhill Gang
22. REO Speedwagon Hi Infidelity
23. Boston Third Stage
24. Carpenters A Song for You
25. Olivia Newton John I Honestly Love You
26. Gordon Lightfoot Sundown
27. Neil Diamond Serenade
28. Eagles Eagles
29. John Mellencamp Uh-huh
30. Jewel Spirit
31. Nik Kershaw Human Racing
32. Ozzy Osbourne Diary of a Madman
33. Bryan Adams Cuts Like a Knife
34. Sting The Dream of the Blue Turtles
35. U2 Joshua Tree
36. Amy Grant Heart in Motion
37. Mister Mister welcome to the Real World
38. Manfred Mann Chance
39. Muse The Resistance
40. Loverboy Get Lucky
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)