The Rohms, the Wallaces, the Barlows, & the Andersons – our lives are richly blessed by great people in our lives. With my picture-a-day project, i have tried to capture more of the day-to-day happenings & people. It’s funny that with all the pictures I take, I still miss so many.
OK, today’s imponderable. Why do all of my cameras eventually lose their ability to take sharp, crisp, and focused photos???
We helped Scott celebrate his birthday on Saturday & Sunday. He wanted to hang the Christmas tree in the garage so he spent a good portion of the afternoon putting a bicycle hanging rack on the roof of the garage & then hanging the 10-foot Christmas tree from the rack. We went out to dinner at Lieu’s & tried two new items – Mandarin rib eye steak and seared scallops – both very good but not very Chinese-y. After dinner we went to downtown G’ville & walked around. It was very crowded because of the US bike racing tournament that was happening this weekend.
Scott is a great guy for a million reasons – let me give you the first ten or so that pop into my head.
How does a bad day earn its unique classification? Let’s see. I think that Thursday/Friday meets the criteria.
The kids & I were loading the dishwasher & tidying the kitchen late Thursday evening when I noticed that there was a puddle of water on the floor & the dishwasher hadn’t fully drained. I was a little bit excited to think that we might possibly be able to replace the loudest dishwasher in the world with something a bit quieter & much more efficient at washing dishes. On a hunch, I went downstairs to see if the water was leaking through the floor & into the guest bedroom. It was pouring through the moldings around the window!!! And the biggest problem of all? Scott was in Wichita & it was almost 10 p.m.
I called the Barlows (again!!!) and blubbered something about the pipes & the water. He told me that I needed to check underneath the sink to see where the water was coming from. Under the sink? Nothing there… oh… water & lots of spinach under there. And did I mention that in the seven years and five days that we have lived in this house, I have never even given a second thought to the piles of stuff under the kitchen sink. Once we quit running the faucet and pouring things down the drain, the water problem went away. I used our handy dandy $20 2.5-gallon shop vac & sucked away the water and spinach and then went to bed. Don’t you love Ryan’s sign to help remind us to not use the sink?
The next morning I had an appointment with Honda because my check engine light had been coming on for a few weeks. I dropped off the car & the shuttle driver took me to the airport where I picked up Scott’s car from long-term parking. My service guy called & said, “Do you have a pen & a piece of paper???” Bad news and none of it covered by the extended warranty. Luckily, we went 93000 miles before having to pour some money back into the van. Pretty reliable. And the service guy told us that once we complete X, Y, & Z, we should be good for another 90k miles!
This picture was taken by Crystal from the backseat when we were lost in D.C. in March. I love that you can see both of us & the car – a rare view.
I realized while I was out driving around that I did not want to have Scott fixing the sink when he got back from his trip to Wichitia. I called our contractor friend & asked if he could come & fix the problem. He was there within two hours and fixed it and then didn’t charge me for the repair.
Scott’s flight from Wichita to Atlanta was delayed – causing him to miss the connecting flight. The next two flights were booked so he was able to rent a car ($200 for a 3-hour rental:!@) to drive home. We were so glad to have him home!!! And I was really glad the contractor came so Scott wasn’t up at midnight trying to repair the sink.
Update: I forgot the rest of the day (and probably the worst thing of all). While the boys and I were scurrying around to pick things up for Scott, I moved Jared’s bed against a different wall. The A/C had leaked through his mattress a few times & I wanted to make sure that everything had dried out. It had not – I think that there is mold under the carpet. It was still wet in a small area & has been wet for weeks and weeks. :( We pulled the moisture-preserving plastic folder off the spot & turned the fan on. One day when we are really, really brave we will peel back the carpet & see if there’s any further action needed. [Realistically folks, it’s been at least two weeks. It can wait until we have a free half day.]
Funny thing. While the day was happening, I felt like it was the end of the world. Writing about it three days later, it doesn’t seem like it was all that bad or insurmountable. I wish that perspective was as easy to gain at the moment I need it rather than just in hindsight.
For the last two weeks, I have been poor in spirit and pretty needy as well. I have longed for something to help me kick this long-lasting bronchitis thing that I have. I am on my second round of antibiotics, eight different allergy/cold/cough remedies, and various ice cream bars & juices. I have not felt this sick since… mono? the flu? walking pneumonia? I honestly can’t remember.
For several days (or probably even a week) my 11-year-old son Ryan helped me do everything necessary throughout the day. He brought me drinks & Tylenol & made me lunch & took care of his younger brother. I was too sick to get off the couch to make (or even think about) dinner. After working from 4 a.m.-6 p.m. Scott was hungry & not thinking about dinner either. We ate some good fast food & I was a regular at Bruesters for their Italian ice. I should have had some meals in the freezer that were easy to pull out & prepare in the crock pot but I didn’t. (Good preparedness thought though.) Honestly, I didn’t ever say to anyone, “Could you please bring me dinner?” because if I would have, they would have. I just couldn’t even think straight. (And a few people even asked and I said no.)
Today, my long-time friend Mimi called to tell me about a mutual friend that she had met & enjoyed talking with. She told me that I sounded awful & then said, “I’m bringing you some of Dr. Morse’s garlic chicken noodle soup!” She showed up this afternoon with chicken noodle soup, rolls, orange juice, a bouquet of roses, and a heart full of love. She immediately sat me down & made me eat soup & then said, “I think I’ll just clean up your kitchen for you.” (We had a YSA party here tonight… and the house hadn’t been picked up in two weeks… and we were on a deadline …and I was in no condition to do it myself.) She totally cleaned my kitchen (better than I could ever do). She tenderly ministered to my long-sick-and-sad heart. She blessed me beyond measure. I just kept hugging her & sobbing. I could not find the right words to express just how thankful I was.
I call this the Julie Jacobsen principle. When we lived in Washington state, we moved from Renton to Maple Valley (20” away). The house that we bought had a few issues – divorced single guy who had dogs & berber carpet & loved the colors blue & grey. Julie & her husband Mike invited us to come & live at their house for 3-4 days. She fed us breakfast & dinner. She kept Christopher (4-1/2) all day for days. She let her husband Mike work late into the night helping Scott to rip out the carpet & paint the entire house before the carpet installers arrived. Julie once said to another friend that when she served, instead of thinking, “Is this enough?” She said that she tried to think, “Have I done everything that I could?”
I am so blessed to be surrounded by good people…
Thank you. I am inspired.
I am feeling better & hope to continue to do so. I hope that I can have a more giving heart. I hope that I can be more prayerful, more faithful, more able to give Heavenly Father the opportunity to bless me. I hope that I can be an instrument in ministering to others.
I hesitate to post this because it was such a lame day. However, I have been taking photos for 15 months now & don’t want to blow the streak. Luckily, most days are better than this one. I have LOVED doing the 12-on-the-12th project for all of the months except this one. I was feeling so horrible yesterday that I couldn’t even bring myself to take pictures. I took nine but had to do make-ups on the 13th.
Some days are just better than others for posting. The day before we had a birthday/pizza party for Jared at our neighborhood pool. Luckily, the prednisone should help my sunburn too.
Travis & Lisa were sealed in the Columbia Temple on Saturday. They were beautiful & glowing. Almost all of their family members were there. We knew that we were witnessing a sacred event & felt privileged to see it. We love them both. Here are a few of my favorite pictures -
