October 31 - “It never ends …”

OK, Winter. I’m done already. We walked out two miles, but the temp was 56. Wind chill of 46. It may or may not have felt worse if you were wearing shorts. It was cold. 

We had a little bit of construction-generated excitement yesterday. The carpentry/handyman crew came and began the daunting task of locating the leak in our deck that drips right over our back door. They had to remove another section of the railing to get to where the suspected holes were. 

Fortunately, it appears they were successful in their mining expedition. They called me up to see for myself. They also outlined their plan of action to get it taken care of once and for all (well, at least until a different issue rears its ugly heat). They did all the prep work they could. After letting it dry overnight, they will return today to patch it up and reinstall the railing. 

The painters haven’t returned yet to finish all the touch ups on that part of the job, but the contractor assured me that they will. He also told me that he’d get his electrician to check out the plug that blew.  It never ends …

Romans‬ ‭5‬:‭1‬ says, Therefore, since we have been declared righteous by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.

Father, please protect the little guys who will be out roaming the neighborhood tonight. Amen. 

October 30 - “Nope. I don’t like winter”

It was plenty cold for Galveston when I woke up yesterday. How about 58 with a wind chill of 46?  Nope. I don’t like winter. 

And on top of that raw data, we were under a severe weather alert for high winds. No joke there. The door to the Pot-O-Gold (that’s still parked in our front yard) kept swinging open. I shut it a few times, but I eventually gave up. Come and rescue your pot, guys! (Update: The contractor took care of the rescue when he came by later. Still parked, but the door stays shut).  Nope. I don’t like winter. 

Our faithful carpenters arrived shortly after 8. I had to turn off the doorbell notifications on my phone.  Since they were working in the front porch, the notice alarms were going crazy. The contractor came by and directed them in some of the things we still need done from their perspective. Then they all took off to do the same at another job, so they could then smoothly transition between the two. They were back at it by about 2, though. 

Meanwhile, on the inside front, Chris had me working hard. We put a mattress cover and sheets on the bunk beds. Then we took the new mattress cover we just bought off, because Chris found another one in our stash closet. That meant another Walmart run to return that new one. Woohoo!

We had a surprise guest for lunch. Actually it was four guests for lunch, one of whom stuck around with us for an hour or so. Christina brought Josiah and Noa down for a voice lesson. Ezra was the one who stayed with us while the other two tra-la-la’ed. He did some homework, but we still had time to watch Ryan Trahan’s adventures on a cruise ship and a collection of clips of the NFL’s weirdest stuff. Amazing the fun things you discover when your youngest grandkids are eight years old. 

Philippians‬ ‭4‬:‭8‬ says, Finally brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable — if there is any moral excellence and if there is any praise — dwell on these things.

Father, be with our contractor, John, as he recovers from his medical stuff. Thank you for his  Amen. 

October 29 - “The Carpenters”

We made it for two miles. I for one was whooped. I stayed up for 15 of the 18 innings of the World Series game. Chris had some soreness from her weight class that was keeping her awake. Speaking of soreness, my “Sally up, Sally downs” when I was hauling branches to the street worked their way into some spare legs. So, two miles? I’ll take it. 

Chris spent the afternoon with her physical therapy buddy. The original guy apparently got a kick out of doing deep tissue massage - on her foot. The girl she had this time wasn’t as rough on her, but nevertheless … that massage. Chris is just not a big fan. 

I stuck around the house. Paid a bill. Watched some Hallmark. The most recent puzzle is already finished, so no work available there. It was a fun one. State of Texas with key places illustrated. And very colorful. That makes it much easier. 

The carpenters came by. Not the old singing family. The actual carpenters who have been doing work on the house. They checked a ventilation grate and sure enough, they will be back sometime today to replace it. Here we go again. 

‭‭2 Corinthians‬ ‭4‬:‭18‬ says, So we do not focus on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.

Father, be with these workers today. Bless them. Amen. 

October 28 - “Trimmin’

Well, this was an unusual morning. At least the start of it was. I slept until 6:17. Very strange. Guess I was really tired. Even stranger? It was still dark outside. I thought something was wrong with all the clocks in the house. But Daylight Savings Time doesn’t end until Saturday night, right?

We got in a few miles walk before Chris had to get ready for her weight training class. I had to psych myself up to do some tree trimming. Trash pickup is today, so we had to get it on the curb. Oleanders and sycamores were on the docket this time. That filled up my morning. I was just heading for the backyard when Chris got home. 

She filled me in on the torture she endured at her weight training class. But sadly, they didn’t even do any “Sally up, Sally down.” But good ol’ Sensei Krissy came through with some heavy duty core training instead. Needless to say, Chris was beat, and she was pretty sure she’d be sore today. We’ll see. 

After some lunch we adjourned to the backyard. This time I attacked the wisteria bush and that thorn-infested boogervilla. The wisteria really didn’t need much. And Chris really didn’t want much of that boogervilla messed with (it’s blooming, and even I have to admit, it is pretty when it blooms). Instead, I leveled out some of the brick walkway by the back door. Some errant root from a phantom tree was pushing some of the bricks up. 

After getting cleaned up, we finished out our walking for the day … at Walmart. Just needed a pretty full grocery run. And yes, we got bananas. All set for the next week. 

‭‭James‬ ‭5‬:‭13‬ says, Is anyone among you suffering? He should pray. Is anyone cheerful? He should sing praises.

Father, thank you for the somewhat cooler weather yesterday. Sure made it easier to work outside. Amen. 

October 27 - “Just”

We joined about 70 others for a great day at church yesterday morning. Several visitors families, including a couple from Waco. Come to find out, his brother is a member at Columbus Avenue. Small world.

We came right home after worship. Not that we had something crucial to get to our get done. It was just Sunday afternoon at home. Just us. Just nice. Just. 

I worked on the puzzle and watched football. Chris did some quilting and then some reading out on the back porch swing. We also watched an episode of our new Hallmark favorite series, Mistletoe Murders. Pretty good mysteries. 

Psalms‬ ‭31‬:‭24‬ says, Be strong and courageous, all you who put your hope in the Lord.

Father, be with those folks who visited Seaside. Give them a blessed experience in Galveston. Amen. 

October 26 - “Boom”

I was awakened yesterday by a combination of factors. First was Freddy jumping onto our bed. I know. Not that unusual. But I was already stirring. It was a little before five a.m.  

The next event sealed the deal on my wake-age. The thunder started. Pretty severe thunderstorms rolled through town. Freddy was simply announcing them when she joined us a few minutes earlier than they actually arrived. 

The storms were pretty strong, but they didn’t last all that long. I did have the privilege of traipsing into the rain to get the morning paper. A little chilly. A lot wet. The wet stuff didn’t last more than an hour or so, but it was loud enough to keep Freddy really on edge. We were happy to have it, though. 

Our indoor activities for the day were puzzle-working for me and quilting for Chris. And we watched some TV. Nice, boring afternoon. We needed it. 

Ephesians‬ ‭6‬:‭11‬ says, Put on the full armor of God so that you can stand against the tactics of the Devil.

Father, thanks for the rain and for our day at home. Amen. 

October 25 - “Waco chat”

We got our walk in. Two miles this time. That includes two separate stops to chat with neighbors (and Moe the pup. Remember him?). I’ll take it. 

As we were thinking through what project to undertake next, Josh called. Always enjoy chatting with him. And we even got to hear from Zak and Lindsay as well. Oh, and MaddieBelle. Her presence was definitely evident. 

All sounded well on the Waco front. Zak and Lindsay were practicing football passes in the living room. Luke, AnnaGrace and Caleb (and Christi) were at their homeschool co-op. Caleb’s football team won by forfeit last week. Today they play a tough team from Houston at a neutral site in College Station. At this point things are looking good for a long run in the post season. Luke is all set to play up as a sixth grader on the seventh grade basketball team. He could probably start on the eighth grade team, too, but he’d have a tough time with their physicality. AnnaGrace is practicing for her coveted role in the Nutcracker. Lots of news there. 

Last night we went into Texas to watch the final night of karate jam sessions. Better known as Sparring Season. Gotta keep up with the LaMarque clan, too. Fortunately Ezra, Noa, and Josiah were on the same team. And the final results? Undefeated champs of the season. Woohoo! They were quite proud of their trophies. And we were quite proud of them. 

And of course I spent some time praying for Cailyn and her Mom and Dad. To borrow a syntax from Yoda, Special folks, they are. 

‭‭John‬ ‭14‬:‭6‬ says, Jesus told him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.”

Father, thanks for watching over all of our Vaughan clans. And a special request to keep Cailyn in your hands in a special way. Amen. 

October 24 - “Swirling the waters”

Chris had an appointment at 9:15 with her eye doc. However, there was a part serious pileup on the freeway. Her doc, though not involved in the actual wreck, was caught in the resulting traffic jam. Patients ahead of us were getting antsy. One even tried to reschedule, but the next available was not until January.  So … back to the wait. The 9:15 appointment slowly morphed into 9:30. Then 9:45. Then 10:00. Finally got called back at 10:08. Whew! They made it just under an hour. 

Of course after the tech did the eye exams and dilation, it wasn’t until 10:50 that the doc actually got into the room. But we were out by 11. She moved quickly. Before we left the building we had to go order some more glasses. Add that to our growing expenditures list. 

On the way home we peered out over the Gulf waters. And what to our wondering eyes should appear … but a full-blown waterspout reaching from the clouds all the way down to swirl the water. It was a really beautiful sight. So much so that we pulled over (along with quite a few other drivers) and took some pictures. Always an awesome experience. 

Matthew‬ ‭9‬:‭37‬-‭38‬ says, Then He said to His disciples, “The harvest is abundant, but the workers are few. Therefore, pray to the Lord of the harvest to send out workers into His harvest.”

Father, thanks for the chance to see that waterspout. Your power is awesome, and comes in so many “flavors.” Amen.  

October 23 - “Back in 2008”

Walked a mile. Only a mile because we stopped and talked to our neighbor and friend (and firefighter) Jonathan. We haven’t seen him in a long time, so we had a lot of catching up to do. Great guy. 

The other reason we cut the walk short was so we could get back home and start working again. This time the main goal was to get the windows washed while the screens were still down. We worked the rest of the morning on that, and we only finished the front. 

After some lunch we went ahead and bit the bullet and ordered a new dishwasher. Won’t be delivered until November 1, though. But that cost has officially been added to our ever-growing housing expenditures. Feels like we’re back in 2008, rebuilding after Hurricane Ike. 

Then it was back at the window thing again. We washed ‘em and windexed ‘em and got the screens all hung back up. Well, except for the two that are riddled with holes. Chris has just about talked herself into not even putting screens back in those two windows. I’m all for the savings. Of time, I mean. Of course. We did some sweeping up of errant nails and a multitude of paint chips, too. So, windows … check. 

Psalms‬ ‭34‬:‭18‬ says, The Lord is near the brokenhearted; He saves those crushed in spirit.

Father, thank you for our neighbors Jonathan and Brandy and Hunter and their newest addition, the puppy named Moe. Bless them. Amen. 

October 22 - “Of course”

After being rudely awakened around 5:30 by one of those hamstring cramps that you can do pretty much nothing about, I got up to start my day. To my surprise, Chris joined me. Come to find out, there was supposed to be a meteor shower just before dawn. We decided to I give it a look and headed on up to the deck. I didn’t see any meteors, but I’m pretty sure I saw an alien space vessel cruising high above. 

I got an early start on some of these remaining projects. My first task was to install the new doorbell. We bought the same model as the one we used to have, but, oh, how times have changed. The old one required batteries. This one either has to be charged like a cell phone or is automatically charged through the wiring. We’ll see if that happens. 

Chris took off just as I finished. She had a doctor appointment. Pediatric, to be exact.  Huh. Spell check just changed “podiatrist” to “pediatric.” Guess he doesn’t like feet. 

The AC guy came shortly after Chris left. He brought a new condensate pump. Of course there was a problem. Usually these types of AC units have a place for the pump to just plug in.  

Not here. He had to cut off the plug and wire it directly to the unit. Then he had to cut the pvc drain pipe to allow it to fit into the new box. He mumbled such words as “Yep,” “ugh,” and “gross” over and over. Just not what you want to hear. And then … he mumbled, “Where did that go?”  I asked him to clarify and found that he needed to be know where the drain sent the condensation. Finally! I knew the answer. It connects to the drain under our bathroom sink. We made our way in there and were greeted with the aftermath of some horrendous spewage caused by the compressed air he sent through the lines to clean them out. “Yep,” “ugh,” and “gross.”  All were appropriate. The sink was … nasty. He started working to clean it up. And then … he pulled the stopper bar right off. Had to pry the drain open with a screwdriver. AC is ready to go, but now we have a plumbing issue? Of course. 

After all that (and getting the bill) we headed to the post office to mail AnnaGrace’s Halloween costume that Chris made. Get ready, Waco. Sacagawea is on her way. 

Next we made our way to Home Depot. The plan there was to return what we didn’t use on the water heater, get some street numbers for the house, get a flag pole holder, and try to order a dishwasher. Well, three out of four ain’t bad, I guess. The appliance department actually sent us home to look online for the  one we want, then come back and tell them. Customer service?

Judges‬ ‭6‬:‭12‬ says, Then the Angel of the Lord appeared to him and said: “The Lord is with you, mighty warrior.”

Father, still praying for Cailyn. Sure do love that one. I know you do, too.  Amen. 

October 21 - “When it rains …”

We had an interesting task facing us yesterday. Aside from waiting for the painters, we repackaged our shelf of games and puzzles. That would be the one we had to frantically unpackage when the hot water heater crashed on Saturday. It took us all morning, but that wasn’t necessarily a bad thing. Chris had a chance to go through all the games and puzzles and find a new way to stack them so more would fit (hopefully). It’s still stuffed, but the room is back together, and the shelf-full-o-stuff is, for the time being, peacefully coexisting with the new hot water heater. 

Construction update: We now have white brick in front of the house instead of that hideous pink that we have lived with for 27 years. Looks pretty nice. But then, for me, anything would look nice that wasn’t pink. There are still touch-ups that need to happen, but I think we are almost finished with painting. 

We hung the front and side porch lights and the mailbox and the front porch camera. That had necessitated a trip to Walmart. We still have to get some new street numbers and a flag holder and hang them (Walmart didn’t have any). We have to install the new doorbell that Walmart did have, after putting in new batteries. Also needing batteries: the weather station sensor. Sometime in there we need to return the water heater parts we didn’t use, get a new breaker to replace the old one and see if that is the problem with the outdoor plugs (which will necessitate either a YouTube video search or a wait until Nathan gets off work again in two weeks), replace the screens on the front windows, wash and hang the other screens back up, mount the weather station Chris got for her birthday, but a new storm door for the side of the house (which will need a dog door cut and installed, and of course find and order a dishwasher. Oh, and the air conditioning guy is supposed to come at some point in time to replace the condensate pump. What’s the appropriate saying here? “When it rains, it pours.”  Yep. What else do we need around here?

Oh! And we needed bananas. Finally. A relatively easy one … 

Ephesians‬ ‭2‬:‭8‬-‭9‬ says, For you are saved by grace through faith, and this is not from yourselves; it is God’s gift — not from works, so that no one can boast.

Father, we did need some rain around here, but this was not exactly what we had in mind. Also, would you please bring your hand upon Cailyn again. She’s having quite the rainstorm herself. Amen. 

October 20 - “Blast from the past”

I met a lady at church today who had a long-time connection with Galveston. After chatting a bit we established some names we knew in common. One family was the Novelli’s. But the other name same mentioned immediately brought to my mind a first name. Bolton. Dane Bolton. Probably the only reason that name was floating around in my head was I think there was a particular connection. Baseball when we were kids, maybe.  That would explain it. But still … quite the blast from the past. 

Kel and his family came over after dinner on the grounds. The purpose of their presence (well, other than to bask in the glory of the grandparents) was to deliver and set up a set of bunk beds. Now we’re all set for our next infusion of family. Bring em on. 

Psalms‬ ‭51‬:‭10‬ says, God, create a clean heart for me and renew a steadfast spirit within me.

Father, thanks for the new friend we met at church and for the baseball memory. Amen. 

October 19 - “Ain’t home repairs grand?”

No walking yesterday. Just a day off. I’m getting used to a new medication. We also had some around the house stuff to do. Like water the grass. Right up to and through the little rain shower we had. 

First on the list was electrical. When the guys were working yesterday, the outlet they were using for their saw went out. Problem was, that outlet is also the GFCI for all five of the outdoor ones. So none of them worked. As a stopgap measure, we ran an extension cord to an inside outlet. That one worked fine. 

So … today I took out that old outlet and replaced it. When I turned the breaker back on, the little light was green, so all looked good. But no. Nothing was different. Plugs didn’t work. Reset button didn’t work. Test button didn’t work. Just … nothing.  And that officially moved beyond my meager electrician-type skills. Not sure what we’ll do next there.  

Next we put together the new light fixtures for the front porch and the side of the house door light. We’ll wait until the painters are completely done to hang them. 

Final project was to do a mid-task punch list. The painters said that they were done with the main part of the house (coming back Monday to do the trim). Nope. There are several places they need to complete or fix.  And it appears the guys either got tired or were anxious for their weekend to start. The last wall has numerous drips and splotches. Oh! And Chris discovered an unusual approach to caulking. One of the pipes was still wrapped for cold weather, so instead of pulling off the tape,  they caulked around it, and painted around the caulk. Of course, maybe we could have removed the tape ourselves (which we have now done), but it seems just lazy to me. 

AND THEN …. 

Chris was talking a shower, when suddenly … the water was cold. Actually, it never got hot. When she shiveringly told me about it, I immediately checked out the hot water heater. Yep. Leaking everywhere. Pilot light out and auto-shutoff engaged, fortunately. 

I called the plumber. Chris called Nathan. Guess who won? Nathan talked us through all the shutoffs and water hose connections. And then, Nathan and April met us at Home Depot to get a new one purchased.

New one in hand, we proceeded to head to our house to hook it up. Come to find out, he has done this before. Why am I surprised?  And who should meet us at the house to offer his assistance, but our good friend from the fire department, John. Thank you for the help, guys. 

Well, that’s one more 17+ year old major appliance that we had to replace, right in the middle of having the house painted. Guess the dishwasher search will have to be put on hold. Back to the saving up mode. 

Ain’t home repairs grand?

Philippians‬ ‭1‬:‭3‬-‭5‬ says, I give thanks to my God for every remembrance of you, always praying with joy for all of you in my every prayer, because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now.

‭‭

Father, help us to be patient with all this house stuff going on.  And bless Nathan and April and John for their help.  Amen.