May 19 – “Color on the walls”

Today I spent my first five hours in front of the computer.  I had no intention of sitting there that long, but Chris is the one who usually yells at me to get up and walk around.  She was with her Mom at the latest round of chemo.  My Mom is spending the next few days with her friends in Galveston, so it was just me.  Sure enough, when I got up to answer the phone around 11:30, my back was killing me.  I hate it when Chris is right.  At least she's not here to gloat.   Mom's phone call was an invitation to take her and her friend to lunch at Luby's.  What else would I do on a Tuesday?  After I dropped them off back at the friend's house, I went by the house.  The painters are still at work.  The tan walls are really making a difference.  I especially like the different shades of green in my office and our bedroom.  The yellow room is still – well, yellow.  They hadn't started the blue room yet.  We have to go back after Chris gets home tonight so she can approve the stain on the doors.   I tried to do some fishing this afternoon.  It was still windy.  Also, the owner of the Omega Bay house came by and we ended up talking for a long time.  He has a bunch of books to donate to Seaside's library, and maybe some bookcases and an entertainment center for our house or the school.  He's an amazing guy.   Tonight I'm heading over to Kel and Christina's to babysit with the boys for awhile.  They have a meeting with one of the local pastors.  I think Chris will be back in time to go as well.  If not, she'll meet me there.  In fact, I have to leave now.  I'll enter the Scripture when I get home.   Psalms 33:12-19 says, "12 Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord, the people he chose for his inheritance.  13 From heaven the Lord looks down and sees all mankind; 14 from his dwelling place he watches all who live on earth — 15 he who forms the hearts of all, who considers everything they do.  16 No king is saved by the size of his army; no warrior escapes by his great strength.  17 A horse is a vain hope for deliverance; despite all its great strength it cannot save.  18 But the eyes of the Lord are on those who fear him, on those whose hope is in his unfailing love,  19 to deliver them from death and keep them alive in famine."   Father, bless our nation, even when we don't deserve it.  Amen.

May 18 – “Powder Blue, Burma Jade, and Peace Yellow”

I started out early today.  Right after reading the papers I sat back at the computer and began working on the handbook for Seaside Christian Academy.  Most of the culling was done, so the rest was mainly redoing fonts and spacing and a little bit of rewording here and there.  I wrote a letter from the pastor to go in the front, and copied the logo to go on the cover.  Now I guess I'll hand it over to the school board so they can peruse it and find all the stuff they want to change.    We left about mid-morning to take Mom to her friend's house.  A classmate from her high school days was visiting from Arkansas.  The three of them plan to have a big slumber party for a few nights.  Mom is staying there until after a luncheon on Wednesday.  They'll have a blast, too.  The Arkansas friend is hilarious.  She calls herself Grandma Texas.  She even has that moniker emblazoned on her car – front and back.   We went by the house several times to check on the painting progress.  They had the yellow bedroom done (first coat), but that seemed to be all.  The head guy said he was waiting for colors from the contractor.  But we gave the contractor the colors two weeks ago.  The plumber was there the second time we went by.  He was installing the shower bed that goes under the tile.  That means we're that much closer to getting the tile in.  That one wall still needs to dry some more and be sanded and textured and painted, though.    Mom and her pals came over to look around, and as they were leaving, Nathan and April and Cailyn showed up.  We ended up going to McAllister's with Nathan and April.  While we were eating the contractor called.  He wanted us to go by the house around 5:30 to check out one of the doors they were going to stain.  If we approved they would carry on.  Chris is heading to Bay City to take her Mom to her next chemo treatment, so that means I get to approve something that is kind of like a color choice.  As long as it's a little darker than the floors are going to be, I think Chris will be fine with it.  She's focused on a color for the outside of the house right now, anyway.  Can't decide between Powder Blue, Burma Jade (I think that's another way of saying green), and Peace Yellow.  I picked the blue, but we'll see how much weight that carries.   Psalms 46:10 says, "Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth."   Father, teach me how to be still.  Amen.

May 17 – “As long as it’s interim”

Today was dinner on the grounds after church.  Always good food.  Especially Chris' bean soup.  We even had fudgesickles today.  Is that how you spell fudgsickles?  Neither one of those ways passed the spell check test, so I'll try again … fudgesikles. Fudge … OK.  I cheated.  I went to dictionary.com.  And to thesaurus.com.  And then I ran it through my Goodsearch search engine.  Nobody knows how to spell it.  The closest thing I found was some brand of men's dress shoes.  No way they taste as good as what I had at lunch today.   We did swing by the house after we ate.  Some girls from church followed us over there to take a look.  No change.  The trim looks great.  The one wall looks unfinished.  The whole house still smells strongly of … well, paint.    After the Astros beat the Cubs (WooHoo!), I started reading through the student/parent/teacher handbook for Seaside Christian Academy.  It's still a work in progress.  I knew that before I picked it up.  But I was sucked in anyway.  The rest of the afternoon and most of the night I spent reading and scratching out and moving words around and typing.  Why?  All this is going to get me is another invitation to be the interim headmaster.  I guess I could do that, but there's another guy who really needs a job right now.  I think he should get first shot at it.  Maybe if he doesn't pan out.  As long as it's interim.  We'll see.  I don't know if what I did will even help any.  But it sure ate up my day.    I guess in a way that's good.  We were supposed to babysit Cailyn while Nathan and April went out for their anniversary.  Turns out her other grandmother got the call this time.  That leaves me turning to Psalms for a good Scripture passage.  Plenty in there.  Let's see …   Psalms 28:6-7 says, "Praise be to the Lord, for he has heard my cry for mercy.  7 The Lord is my strength and my shield; my heart trusts in him, and I am helped.  My heart leaps for joy and I will give thanks to him in song."   Father, give me some guidance about the SCA thing.  Give US some guidance.  We want the kids to have your best.  Amen.

May 16 – “Horses die too easily”

This morning began really early.  Well, I got up around my usual time, but the alarm went off about a minute later – around 6:30.  And then Chris had to get up, too.  Not her favorite thing to do at any time, but especially when it's still dark outside.  I enjoyed the sunrise when I went out to get the paper.  It was gorgeous.    But on to the reason for such an early rising.  Chris promised Christina she would help her with a garage sale.  And those things start way too early for a Saturday.  She had a lot of stuff, but most of it she had already priced, so the hard part was done.  All we had to do was help carry it outside.    After awhile we went out to clean the church.  I enjoyed talking to the guy who was working on the roof.  Slow and steady.  It's almost done.    After lunch we watched the Astros game.  Well, I woke up in plenty of time to see the ninth inning.  Exciting.  Down 4-0.  Berkman hits a towering home run.  Lee hits a towering home run.  Before the smoke clears the score is tied.  Of course, the Astros lost in the bottom of the ninth, but it was fun for a few minutes.    We went to a reception honoring a girl who just graduated as a vet.  Her Dad is a good friend of mine.  I was her brother's basketball coach for several years.  They both went to youth camp with Seaside.  Good for her.  She wants to specialize in pigs and cows.  She likes horses, but she says horses die too easily.    We also went by the house.  The painters have finished priming everything.  They painted the ceilings.  They also painted all the trim with the bright white that Chris selected.  The one wavy wall they are redoing to give it a smoother look appears to have been done as well.  But it still needs to be re-textured before they can paint it.  I wonder if they are planning to work tomorrow as well.  I don't see how the floor guys can start Monday.  I don't see how the dishwasher can be hooked up to the same outlet as the garbage disposal if the disposal is to be regulated by a switch.  How is it going to be live without turning on the switch?  Another question for the contractor.   Psalms 25:4-7 says, "Show me your ways, O Lord, teach me your paths; 5 guide me in your truth and teach me, for you are God my Savior, and my hope is in you all day long.  6 Remember, O Lord, your great mercy and love, for they are from of old. 7 Remember not the sins of my youth and my rebellious ways; according to your love remember me, for you are good, O Lord."   Father, your ways are way beyond me.  I trust you.  Amen.

May 15 – “Hazmat suits”

We rushed to the house this morning to try and get some yardwork done (Chris) and clean some more tools (Me).  The yardwork looks great.  Chris cleared another patch of flower bed on the side of the house.  That means we'll have to get some more plants to bury (er, I mean plant) there.  I didn't get near as much done.  The tools I did get to look good, though.  They were Craftsman, so they lived up to the famous Craftsman lifetime warranty boast.  I just had to keep answering the phone.    The contractor called to touch base.  He wanted to make sure he got Chris' choice of color for the last bedroom.  He also said he had talked to the floor guy, and everything should be fine with our tile choice.  He said he'd be at the house around noon.  Not long after talking to him, the phone rang again.  It was the floor guy.  He wanted to meet with us face to face to make sure we got what we wanted.  He left his office right then.    About that time Kel and Christina brought the boys over on their way to go swimming at Aunt April's.  They stayed for awhile, and as soon as they left we got back to work.  Until the floor guy got there and we had to stop to talk to him.  We got everything straightened out there.  He said they were supposed to start Monday.  Pretty soon after he left the contractor called back.  He wanted me to measure the shower floor for the plumber.  He had talked to the floor guy and wanted to get the shower ready for the tile on Monday, so I guess they are starting then.   While all this drama was going on outside, the painters were busy fogging the house on the inside.  Actually they were spraying the primer on … everything.  They were wearing their hazmat suits, or at least a sheik-looking wrap around their head.  The times I went in it was hard to breathe even when they weren't spraying.  I don't see how they do it.  They usually work until eight at night, so they get a lot done in a day.  I noticed that they were working on the one wall that still seemed to have some waves in it.  They are trying to smooth it out by re-applying that mud stuff.  I sure hope that dries quickly.    This afternoon we did something we haven't done in a long time.  We took Mom to see a movie.  We saw the new Star Trek flick.  I really liked it, and I think Mom did, too.  She remembered watching the original TV series, so she recognized Spock right away.  The other cast members were harder to pick up.  I must say, though, that the "relationship" between Spock and Uhura was … unexpected.  Watch it.   Psalms 20:1-5 says, "May the Lord answer you when you are in distress; may the name of the God of Jacob protect you. 2 May he send you help from the sanctuary and grant you support from Zion.  3 May he remember all your sacrifices and accept your burnt offerings.  4 May he give you the desire of your heart and make all your plans succeed.  5 We will shout for joy when you are victorious and will lift up our banners in the name of our God.  May the Lord grant all your requests."   Father, the last few months the desire of our hearts has been getting back into our house.  It's getting close now.  Help us as we wait on you.  Amen.

May 14 – “More details”

Thursday is teaching day at Seaside Christian Academy for me.  I worked on the lesson for about an hour and a half before we left for Galveston.  We went to the house to check in there and see what was going on.  The cabinet guys were supposed to be there by 9:30 or 10:00.  I finally left at 10:35 and they weren't there yet.  The painters were there, though.  They were taping end covering everything they could find that wasn't on the paint hit list – windows, back door, inside doors (in fact, all the inside doors had been removed and put in the garage.  They are to be stained), and eventually the brand new cabinets in the kitchen.  The cabinet guys did finally get there, so the painters waited patiently for them to finish installing the trim work – crown molding and kick bars and side molding.  That, by the way looks really good.  They didn't quite finish, though.  They ran out of the side molding, and some of the kick bars were the wrong size.  They will fix all that when they return in about two weeks to deliver the drawer they forgot to order.  It was supposed to have some kind of built-in utensil holder.  Details.   Chris and our contractor think they need to remove the cabinets in the family room, move them over about an inch, and stick them back up.  Then they would put an equal amount of filler on each side.  Right now there is about two inches of filler on the outer wall side, and none on the inside.  They were installed that way because they now are centered over the cabinets below.  Problem is, that optical illusion wall they are mounted on.  Depending on where in the room you stand, the cabinets look perfectly level, or one side or the other looks off.  The lines in the bead board combine with the angle ceiling to make for a very confusing vista.  I love it.  It will probably get changed.  Details.   The kids at school were great today.  They really got into the story about Jacob and his wives and all their kids and jealousy and competition.  I have two more Thursdays before school is out.  Wonder how far we'll get in the story?  The funny thing about them is that the thing they get the biggest kick out of every week is … details.   Matthew 10:42 says, "And if anyone gives even a cup of cold water to one of these little ones because he is my disciple, I tell you the truth, he will certainly not lose his reward."   Father, thank you for caring about the little things – the details.  Amen.

May 13 – “The diplomatic engineer”

It's already 10:30 and I'm just getting started, so this will probably be a short one.  My first task today was to write a wedding ceremony.  I had a meeting with the bride and groom tonight, and they wanted to get an idea of what to expect.  Weddings usually don't take long to write.  I have a base that I follow, then just add in some specific things that I find out about the couple.  This one is a little different, though.  They each are bringing kids into the family, so we'll include them in several parts of the ceremony.  They will also give them each a token of joining as a family at the time Mom and Dad give each other rings.  The wedding will be out on the beach right down the street from the church.  I think it's going to be a good one.   This afternoon I loaded up the truck with a bunch of stuff we had stored for Christina's garage sale.  It's this Saturday.  Chris was already there babysitting, so she and Jachin and I unloaded everything.  The truck bed was full of stuff, so I hope she sells it all.    I went to the house for another round of cleaning tools.  I forgot to wear gloves again, so my fingernails are once again mechanic quality dirty.  I guess I need to get some of that super orange hand cleaner.    Our contractor drove up as I was "cleaning up" from cleaning up.  We needed to talk to him about the tile floor order.  We made a change awhile back to the color of tile for the bathrooms.  The new bid reflected that change.  The cost of the new tile wasn't the same as the old one we had begun with.  It was twice as much.  Well, the old tile was $1.25 each.  The new stuff was $2.75 each.  Ouch.  With our insurance money getting tight, we wanted to go back to the old stuff.  Our contractor will check it out for us and let us know tomorrow.    The painters were there all day.  They were doing the prep work.  That means they were putting caulk over every single nail head in the house and along every seam on the doors and trim.  Their plan was to stay until about eight tonight.  Then tomorrow they will fix up some of the places where the sheetrock was damaged, and maybe begin staining.  Friday will be priming day, and Saturday or Monday the painting will be completed.  The engineer on our project came while we were there.  Chris asked if he was the guy who made us put the support post in when we knocked out the wall.  He said, "That depends."  Quite the diplomat.  He did his inspection of our doors, windows, and roof.  That means we'll be getting the certificate for the Texas Windstorm Agency that they require for us to maintain our insurance.  He made the comment that the shingle part of the roof looked great.  Thank you to our great volunteers who put it on.   Psalms 29:3-9 says, "The voice of the Lord is over the waters; the God of glory thunders, the Lord thunders over the mighty waters.  4 The voice of the Lord is powerful; the voice of the Lord is majestic.  5 The voice of the Lord breaks the cedars; the Lord breaks in pieces the cedars of Lebanon.  6 He makes Lebanon skip like a calf, Sirion like a young wild ox.  7 The voice of the Lord strikes with flashes of lightning.  8 The voice of the Lord shakes the desert; the Lord shakes the Desert of Kadesh.  9 The voice of the Lord twists the oaks and strips the forests bare.  And in his temple all cry, 'Glory!'"   Father, I'm not sure what all those references mean without looking them up, but it sure is clear that your voice is amazing.  Amen.