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Construction Update #3

Sat, 26 Dec 2009 13:30:43 GMT

                                                                  Design Phase One: COMPLETE
                                                     Design Phase Two: COMPLETE
Fabrication of Support Components and Roof Structures: COMPLETE
                                                                  Site Prep:  COMPLETE
                                                                    Framing:  COMPLETE
                                                  Mechanical/Electrical:  COMPLETE
                                                            Roofing/Siding: IN PROGRESS

A few random pictures...

Site Prep --a simple Slab construction. No basement.

Window Glazing

Mechanical/Electrical Phase Complete

The framing on this one has been a bit rocky (note the cans holding walls up) but I finally finished the roof system yesterday. Now for the most challenging part: siding, roofing, and finishing touches. My goal is always to finish it to take to a family gathering at New Years.

Probably no more pics until it's finished now!

Hope you have all been having a beautiful, blessed Christmas as we have!

Construction Update #2

Thu, 24 Dec 2009 04:13:20 GMT

My back hurts, my feet hurt, and I am feeling great! Such a sense of accomplishment to have gotten so much done. A bunch of the calendars are printed. The last of the gifts are wrapped, not counting the one that didn't arrive in time. The food is mostly ready for fondue tomorrow evening, and the gingerbread house made a lot more progress today than it did yesterday. Which I guess really isn't saying much, because yesterday I put some things together, they fell down, so I put them together again and they fell down again, That time, a piece broke. I realized I had messed up the icing recipe, so I worked on the icing a bit, and then it finally hung together. But I ended up accomplishing very little by the end of the day.

Today it did go better. The piece that broke turned out to be too short anyway, so I just added a chunk in the middle to make it fit. It turned out there were several spots that needed some alterations--I need to fire that architect, I guess! I managed to get most of the walls up, but not all of the roof is on yet. I did make all the siding today, which was a rather long job. Some tasty fringe benefits, though...

                                                                   Design Phase One: COMPLETE
                                                     Design Phase Two: COMPLETE
Fabrication of Support Components and Roof Structures: COMPLETE
                                                                  Site Prep:  COMPLETE
                                                                    Framing:  IN PROGRESS
                                                  Mechanical/Electrical:  COMPLETE
                                                            Roofing/Siding:

I'm definitely still behind schedule, but oh, well. You'll have that sometimes. My family has been most understanding. My 18 yr old son fixed us lunch and cleaned up the kitchen so that I could keep on with my creative blitz. And I guess we skipped supper, now that I think about it...

I was going to upload a couple more pictures, but I'm getting a message that the service is unavailable ?? Weird.

So sorry...no pics. Maybe tomorrow?

Construction Update

Tue, 22 Dec 2009 03:59:32 GMT

Just in case you're interested in the status of our latest project, here's a report.

                                                                 Design Phase One: COMPLETE
                                                     Design Phase Two: COMPLETE
Fabrication of Support Components and Roof Structures: COMPLETE
                                                                  Site Prep: IN PROGRESS
                                                                    Framing:
                                                  Mechanical/Electrical:
                                                            Roofing/Siding:

If you want pictures, here's one of Design Phase One

and here's Design Phase Two

The Fabrication:

The Completed Components:

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

While I'm uploading pictures, here are a couple of my granddaughter.

Still sweeter than sugar at eight months old!

...and now, after fabricating structural components all evening, I am ready for bed! Good night.

Grateful For An Outstretched Hand

Mon, 21 Dec 2009 14:24:45 GMT

I don't know if anyone noticed, but last Monday I didn't post a gratitude journal. And this time, the reason really was that I couldn't come up with things to be thankful for. In fact, I didn't even open a blog page to try. I couldn't bear to think about it. The remembrance that I should be grateful niggled at the edges of my brain, but I shoved it back into a dusty corner.

Does anyone else get Christmas blues, or am I the only one?

Okay, deep down inside I knew that I had a lot to give thanks for, but somehow those blues overpowered everything. I woke up miserable, feeling like a failure, and completely overwhelmed by a to-do list that seemed endless and impossible. I was on the verge of tears all day. I have always felt that "other people" manage to juggle a lot more things in their lives than I do, and sometimes the knowledge of my shortcomings just reaches out its snaky fingers and drags me down into the ooze.

The real problem is that I find Christmas to be a very difficult time. There is so much to do, and they're all good things that I want to do, but. I start feeling like a machine that has overheated and all it can do is flash warning lights and -.beep.beep.beep.- My brain begins to shut down. There is just too much for me to process. Some people seem to be energized by all the hustle-bustle and the lights and the shopping and cookie baking, but not me. Instead of working harder and faster and better under pressure, like Mike Mulligan's steam shovel, I am more like a PC with too many windows open. I get slower and slower, and eventually I freeze up.

Well, this year my Christmas freeze began last Monday. I continually ran the list of things-to-do through my brain, and calculated that there was no possible way to accomplish them all. I cursed myself repeatedly for yet again waiting too late to start Christmas preparations. I bemoaned the fact that I hate to shop, and no matter how much I love a person, I still am pitifully poor at selecting gifts. I thought of all the things I'd like to do, but know there will never be time for.

And I wallowed in my misery. Then I managed to pull a muscle in my back Thursday. Why does it seem that mental anguish needs some physical pain to accompany it? Maybe the shock of REAL pain (as opposed to imagined pain?) helps me to gain perspective? I don't know. But I do know that toward the end of the week things shaped up a bit. And all the truly vital things got done, even though my back hurt.

This morning as I was thinking over the last week, I realized that I had taken my eyes off my Messiah. He's supposed to be saving me out of this muddled morass of myopia. But did I reach to grasp His outstretched hand? Nope. I just kept staring down at the whirlpool eddying below me, and I didn't even look up to see Him standing there. It's a cruel irony that it is the celebration of His birth that is causing me such stress and frustration. Why is it that the trappings of joyous celebration are the things that cause me to stumble and fall?

The weekend, though, was uplifting, and I am back. God is good. And the hand of my Jesus is still reaching out to me.

Gifts that make my life worth living,
gifts that make my moments holy.
Not gifts that I wish for,
but gifts that I have received.
Gifts that bring me back
into Joy and Gratitude.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

a Savior who still loves me, even when I forget to look to Him
trudging through the snow caroling
lighted Christmas trees
cups of chili to warm us later
a little girl with startlingly blue eyes
the smell and taste of wassail simmering
a houseful of people we love
pictures of New Zealand, where it is spring!
Amy's delighted laugh
finishing my Christmas shopping
Amazon.com, where you can find pretty much anything
free shipping
hand-dipped truffles
the joy of a newly-engaged couple
an olivewood Nativity set from Bethlehem
a finished set of house plans
my kids, who cleaned my house this week
and did laundry
my husband, who loves me even when I am acting unloveable

and many wonderful friends who, once again, will probably not get Christmas greetings from me
because of my Christmas brain freeze/pity party,
but who I hope realize that I really do love them anyway.

I Remember Wednesday

Thu, 17 Dec 2009 04:04:16 GMT

~a snippet from the recesses of my memory~

My Word.A.Day today brought back some amusing memories.

My junior high math teacher was named Mrs. Gross. That was rather unfortunate for her because at that particular time, "Gross!" was one of the most-used words in the teenage vernacular. Naturally, she didn't appreciate it a great deal. So when she introduced herself to our class, she carefully explained that she didn't allow her name to be used as an adjective, so she wanted to give us an alternative word to use. She wrote it on the board, avoirdupois. Then she said the word slowly, "a-ver-du-pwah," and had us all repeat it after her. She said that this word meant the same thing as gross, so at least in her class, we should use this as an alternative.

We all repeated it after her, though a bit skeptical, and then someone asked the question. "That really means Gross?"

"Absolutely," she said, "it means a very heavy weight, which is what 'gross' means."

I'm afraid that most of us never did really catch on to the use of avoirdupois as an exclamation of disgust, but she did make enough of an impression that we were all pretty careful to guard our mouths... at least in math class!

I Remember Wednesday

Wed, 09 Dec 2009 13:36:02 GMT

~a snippet from the recesses of my memory~

As I enjoyed my shower this evening, I thought of my dad. My dad has always been a frugal man, and one thing that particularly irked him were long hot showers. I guess the thought of all that hot water going down the drain was more than he could take. He had a very effective, and possibly unique, method of training his children to limit their showers. He built us a new house when I was about seven or eight years old, and there was a heat lamp over the shower. The switch to the heat lamp was a timer, and the rule was that you were to set the timer for no more than ten minutes, and be out of the shower before it shut off.

I loved long hot showers, so you can guess that occasionally the timer was set for longer than the allotted time. But that didn't phase my dad. He had a backup plan. The exposed plumbing in one corner of our laundry room included a valve that wasn't exactly standard equipment. It shut off the hot water. None of us knew this except Dad. When he decided that someone was taking too long in the shower, he would go down and shut it off briefly. If anyone mentioned the little shot of cold water they'd gotten during their shower, Dad said, "Hmmm. I bet you were just about to run out of hot water." And sure enough, if you tested it out, after a couple of cold shots, suddenly you were showering in freezing water.

I grew up believing that hot water ran out just like the electricity during a power outage. It flickered a time or two, then it was gone! I never did catch on. I was married and in my own home for years before I finally heard about this trick. I must admit, it worked quite wonderfully. I still tend to take short showers and not waste time. Or hot water.

Gratitude Monday

Mon, 07 Dec 2009 13:42:00 GMT

Gifts that make my life worth living,
gifts that make my moments holy.
Not gifts that I wish for,
but gifts that I have received.
Gifts that bring me back
into Joy and Gratitude.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

snowflakes drifting lazily through the air
a big fat letter from my family
sitting in a theater allowing the beautiful music of Handel's Messiah to wash over and around me
a Christmas tree blooming with poinsettias
glittery stars hung from the ceiling
rich fudgy brownies
a thoughtful game of Blokus 3D
a rowdy game of Scrabble Slam
a hilarious game of Uno Attack
two teenaged boys picking out some Beethoven on a piano
kittens frolicking in their first snow
hot chocolate with marshmallows
three little girls helping their daddy with his song ministry
my husband's enjoyment of his new truck
an email from a friend in New Zealand, where it is spring (and tomorrow )
the sparkle in baby Amy's eyes

And speaking of beautiful gifts, we're entering the season where we celebrate the greatest gift ever given:

Jesus, our Messiah

Given by the Father
in whom we live
and move
and have our being

Given to a virgin
who was humbled by others
but blessed by God

Given for me and you,
once sinners who had no hope
but now through Him can find eternal life
and peace
and JOY

No other gift can even compare
but still I am thankful for all the other
smaller gifts,
the everyday gifts.
God gives us so much more
than we can comprehend.

I heard a story about a man in Africa who lived in a hut made of straw and cow manure.
He was asked what one thing he would wish for if he could have just one wish.
He thought a moment and finally said, "My family and I know the love of Jesus.
I can't think of anything more I could wish for."

Is that how you're feeling today?
Do all other gifts pale to insignificance in comparison with this
Greatest Gift of All?

Not An Easy Road

Mon, 07 Dec 2009 04:08:15 GMT

My husband was talking during worship this morning about Mary and Joseph, and said something so profound that I just have to share it.

God planned for Mary to give birth to his son Jesus. He orchestrated it many centuries before she was born, and he knew exactly how it would occur. He knew that Mary would be unmarried, and how extremely shameful and embarrassing pregnancy would be for her. He knew that she would be from Nazareth, but would have her baby in Bethlehem. He knew that they would need to flee to Egypt in order to escape a murderous king. God knew exactly how things were going to happen. It was his Plan.

So why did God make it so hard? Why did Joseph have to doubt his betrothed wife? He was thinking about arranging a quiet divorce until the angel showed up to reassure him. Why did Mary have to take an extremely uncomfortable trip to Bethlehem when she was near her delivery time? Why in the world did God not at least arrange decent accommodations for her to give birth, rather than having to bed down with the animals? After all, HE had certainly had plenty of time to arrange it.

Why?

We have to step out of our comfortable American Christian mindset for a moment and think about it.

How many times do we look around when things get difficult and wonder if we are really within God's will? Why do we expect that he will make things work smoothly and easily just because we're obeying him? All through Scripture there are people who suffer terrible things, yet continue to glorify God and trust him.

God doesn't promise to make the path easy. He only promises to go with us. And when you think about it, which really is the easier choice? The smooth path without God or the difficult path with Him?

It's not even a fair question, is it?

Don't doubt Him--just keep walking!

Instant Communication--Back to the Old Ways?

Sat, 05 Dec 2009 04:13:51 GMT

A few months ago, I ranted about technology and communication and how different things are than they used to be. Read the previous posts here and here

By chance, this evening I happened onto a talk about that very subject that shares a radically different viewpoint. Stefana Broadbent thinks that with the instant communication technology, we are actually returning to a more natural pattern of human communication!

It is a fascinating idea, and a completely new way to look at the subject, but I have to admit that she makes some excellent points. When the industrial revolution occurred, people suddenly were shut into factories away from their families for most of the day, completely changing communication patterns. Then we began institutionalizing our children, teaching them gradually to handle separation from family and interaction with larger groups, which readied them for factory/office environments. And until very recently, people at work were expected to be pretty much cut off from outside communication so that they could focus on their work. (Which I confess, doesn't seem all bad to me... )

But listen for yourself. It's fascinating. I'm still not sure whether I agree with her, but I appreciate the new perspective.

A hat tip to Sherri for pointing me to the TED site. Lots of interesting stuff there.

So When Do You Say What You're Thinking?

Fri, 04 Dec 2009 13:14:09 GMT

If you see a man shut up in a closed room, idolizing a set of lamps and rejoicing in their light,
and you wish to make him truly happy, you would begin by blowing out all his lamps;
and then throw open the shutters to let in the light of heaven.
~Samuel Rutherford, Scottish Presbyterian theologian (1600-1661)...

I got that quote in a newsletter, and it really hit me. How many times have you realized that a friend or relative was doing something wrong, but were afraid to talk to them openly about it? Maybe you were afraid of their anger...or their scorn...or just having them laugh at you. Or maybe you were afraid of losing their friendship or simply hurting their feelings. All those things are very hard to face, and it's easier to simply bypass the issue and pretend that you see nothing wrong.

I've heard people say, "Well, whatever makes her happy." or, "If he's okay with it, what business is it of mine?" And that's true. At least to a point. It's not our job to tell others how to live. But isn't there a point where you can see that this behavior is leading them away from God? And if so, should we be saying so?

If you have a friend who habitually watches trashy movies, should you gently point out that God has said to set no vile thing before our eyes?

If you have a co-worker who freely uses office supplies, do you mention that it is actually stealing?

If you know that a family member has begun to elevate wealth above ethics, do you confront them?

If someone you know lives in a way that is an affront to God, is there any reason for you to talk to them about it?

I wonder how many of these things God will hold us accountable for? Is it our responsibility to attempt to "open the shutters?" Or, rather than calling it a responsibility, is it just something that we will do, if we truly care? Sometimes I wonder if I truly have a heart for the lost, when I am so apt to ignore their insults toward God.

As for all the fears I mentioned earlier--that the person might laugh or be hurt or angry...Is this not a case where perfect love should cast out fear? Isn't it true that our love for them should be stronger than any fear of their reaction?

Why would we avoid the issue if we love them?

ouch.