January 3 – “Pink Tile and Hidden Treasures”

We had a visitor today.  No, it wasn't Centerpoint coming to hook up our electricity.  That still hasn't happened.  It was Sam.  She said she's been reading the blog and wanted to come by and see for herself the site of all this madness.  Thanks for coming, Sam.   My task today was to get rid of some tile.  I had three options.  The family room red tile, the master bathroom white tile, or the hall bathroom – the dreaded pink tile.  It was an easy choice.  I've been living with that pink tile for thirteen years.  It was way past time for it to go.  Armed with a hammer, a chisel, and … a bigger hammer, I attacked that floor with a vengeance.  I started out being careful, chiseling, knocking away one tile at a time.  See, back when the house was built, the pink tile was placed on top of two inches of grout.  It was their way of making the bathroom floor the same height as the wood floors in the rest of the house.  The problem was, though, that the grout is not really all that strong.  I had already stepped close to the edge and had a hunk of it fall apart.  So I was all set to be careful.  That lasted about ten minutes.  It sure went faster with that big old hammer.  And now … the pink tile is gone.  No more pink.  At least until Cailyn is born and comes over for a visit.  That might be different.  But then, there are other colors that look good on baby girls.   Have you ever fancied yourself a treasure hunter?  You know, like Nicholas Cage in that movie, National Treasure.  I sure have.  At one of the houses we lived in, I was putting something in the attic one time.  Imagine my surprise when I discovered a money pouch stuffed with bills.  I remember my hands shaking as I opened it up, only to discover that the money was printed in Hebrew.  Oh, it was real money.  Just from Israel.  Not to be deterred, I made some phone calls to find out how to cash it in.  Come to find out, it was old currency that was worth, well, whatever a collector of old Hebrew currency might want to pay.  (Read here - "nothing").  Well ever since then I have always been on the lookout.  And I have to admit that from the time we started demo, part of me was looking behind every wall for that hidden treasure someone had hidden there.  Well, today I found the hidden treasure of 7005 Sycamore.  Stuck in between a water pipe and a stud in that master bathroom was a remnant of the previous owners – a family with three girls, by the way (hence the pink tile).  I don't even know what the "treasure" would be called.  It was one of those brush things that girls use to put makeup on.  Woo Hoo.  I'm rich.   Isaiah 33:5-6 talks about treasure – real treasure: "The Lord is exalted, for he dwells on high; he will fill Zion with justice and righteousness. He will be the sure foundation for your times, a rich store of salvation and wisdom and knowledge; the fear of the Lord is the key to this treasure."   Father, thanks for your treasure.  Amen.