We were back on the homeowner repair
bandwagon yesterday. This time we were
at Kel and Christina’s new house. They
somehow managed to get everything unloaded off of both U-Haul’s without our
assistance. Gee. Sorry I missed that one. I had to officiate a wedding during the
download time (Thank you, Steve and Sheri.
Oh, and congrats). Actually, I
was also on an anti-dehydration regimen at the time, so Chris wasn’t letting me
out of the house so she could effectively monitor my fluid intake.
We had several projects to attend to. Of course just getting the kids all packed up
and moved from our house was where we started.
Oddly enough, they seemed very motivated, though. One would think they were ready to get away
from Nana and DadDad’s house. Surely
that was not the case. But with their
clothes and video games and board games, and all the stuff from their refrigerator,
and the last-second stuff that just wouldn’t fit anywhere else, step one took a
while. Micah and Noa were up and ready
to leave early on. Jachin, the
almost-teenager slept in, as did Josiah, the asthma-attack-throughout-the-night-finally-sleeping. They came with us later in the morning.
After locating all the pieces in the pile
of everything that is now their garage, we started out by setting up the bunk
beds in what will be Micah and Josiah’s room.
Micah helped out by loaning us a tool from his new tool kit. That happened several times during the day,
in fact. Jachin did some of the lifting,
and Josiah tested the strength of the new structure at various stages of the
construction efforts. The bunks finally
made their appearance, as did Jachin’s new perch – a mattress in the floor of
that same room.
Which brings up the second project. That began after lunch – some of the best
never-ending sandwiches I have ever had - provided and put together by Chef
Art, Christina’s Dad. The room that will
be Jachin’s had a problem. The previous occupants
of the house had allowed a very distinctive, clearly urine-based odor to attach
itself to the carpet. The contract-ordered
steam cleaning caused the smell to mingle with the chemicals cleaning agents to
produce a unique aroma all its own. The
decision was made early on that the carpet must go. In fact all of the carpet is slated for the
dumpster eventually, but for Jachin to stay in that room, we had project number
two – get it out. That’s where old
DadDad disappeared to after lunch. Kel
and Art had return the U-Haul duty.
Chris tackled a deep cleaning of the refrigerator, and she worked with
Christina on organizing the pantry. That
carpet was nasty. When I pulled it up,
there was a horrific stain on the underside, and that original smell was
released in full force. Yep. The carpet must go. And the padding. And there was even a stain on the decking
beneath. Kel and I tossed the offending
the carpet out the second story window.
Meanwhile back in the kitchen, the girls discovered
that the sink leaked. One of the seals
was obviously broken, moving this to the top of the project list. It meant a quick trip to Home Depot,
though. That wasn’t so bad. Kel and I headed out. Sure seemed like a long drive to me. We had to get on the freeway to get
there. Kel assured me it wasn’t really
any longer time-wise than a trip to … anywhere on the Island. I think he’s been a mainlander too long. We made it, though, and picked up the
necessary parts for the sink project. And
the dryer project – he had to install a different plug so it would fit the
house’s connection. And some new keys –
his house has some kind of magic key system.
And a can of Kilz paint, a roller and a stick extender – he plans to
paint the floor in Jachin’s room to cover over the stain and he didn’t want to
have to bend over to do it. Efficient
use of technology. We were also supposed
to get some kind of threshold for the back door, but we forgot. Sorry, Christina, I guess our project sensor
was just on overload. But I’m sure it
will be no problem for Kel to get back on the freeway again and make that long
journey back to Home Depot.
We got the sink project completed with just
one glitch, and the dryer replacement took a quick YouTube view to get our
bearings, but it, too, proved conquerable.
Kel handled the re-keying, and I decided to leave the floor painting in
his hands as well. After a quick slice
of pizza, Chris and I headed home. Well,
almost home. When we were at Home Depot
Nathan called to ask a question about repairing his hot water heater. Way beyond my meager homeowner field of
expertise. I did manage to price new
ones for him. I think that served to
fuel his determination for repair, however.
We went by his house to see how that was coming. He had the new part already installed and was
in the testing phase when we arrived.
Everything seemed to be a go, so we left and came back home. After a quick shower, we settled down on the
couch and realized something that seemed odd.
It was … that’s it … it sure was quiet.
Philippians 4:6-7 says, “Do not be anxious about anything, but in
everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to
God. And the peace of God, which
transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”
Father, thank you for moments like the
quiet after the grandkids leave. Thank
you more for the chaos while the grandkids are here. Way more fun.
Amen.
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