MORE TiLE/HOUSEWORK

Julie and I finished putting the tile in that bedroom on Thursday and she grouted the entire thing on Friday.  It looks really nice.  We’ve moved the boys beds into there and put down a rug for them.

Today we started tiling their room.  It is slightly larger than the one we already finished, but not by much.  I think we can finish getting the tile down on Monday, and grout it on Tuesday.   I’m not sure about starting the third room up there because it is stuffed full of food that I brought back from the house in Missouri.

I’m afraid that those 22 tiles are all I have in me to do today.   That is a lot of work for me unfortunately.   There are 19 uncut tiles left to put down in the room.  I think Julie might do them all later with Caitlin since she (Cat) really wants to do some tiling and Julie really wants to get this done.

Also, I got the washer and dryer put in place upstairs too.  So now the laundry doesn’t have to be hauled down to be washed, and then carried right back up.  I’m hoping that makes things nicer and easier on Julie.  She needs a few things to get easier around here.

 

Sorry about the grainy photos… my photographer today, Joshua, isn’t exactly a professional.

 

We have started making some major moves on the house work front again!  Last week we got the washer/dryer pan installed in the laundry room.  And now Julie and I have started laying tile in one bedroom.

Tile

I (we) move slow since the pain it causes me is incredible.  This took about 45 minutes.   The kneeling and bending kills me though, so we did this then took a 2 hour break to let my back relax.    A friend from church (Jason Fawcett) came over in the after noon and we put in another 45 minutes or so.  With him doing most of the work we were able to get all of the uncut pieces of tile in.

Yesterday we worked on the cut pieces around the edges.   Julie actually laid most of these.  She would measure them out and I’d cut them.  This let me just stay seated at the tile saw while she did most of the rest.  Between stints of being “mommy” to the boys, we got them all laid out before dinner.

This was this morning actually as she was cleaning up getting ready to grout the floor.   Unfortunately this is another activity that I can’t really accomplish well, but doing just this one small bedroom shouldn’t be hard on Julie.  It’s less than 150 sq. feet.

When we finish 2 bedrooms we’ll get the closets in and move the girls over into the new area of the house.   They boys have been there for a while now.

After this we’ll move onto the bathroom then kitchen/living room area.   Things are coming along slowly (and are slowly killing me), but we are making steady progress toward completion on the house work.

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Anyone willing to volunteer some time to come help with small projects like these is more than welcome!  We happy accept any and all offered service.

 

 

 

I feel bad about it, but I let Iris walk away with another person today.

She is a wonderful dog and I was sad to see her go.  She had connected well with the family, but I’m afraid I hadn’t quite connected with her.  I can’t even give a good explanation as to why.  We have volunteered to foster her until she is permanently adopted by someone.

I only had her on a two week trial basis which has ended,  and today the Canines With A Cause rep came and took her to introduce her to another veteran.   If for some reason things don’t work out with him either than she will come back here for fostering.   He has met her at the weekly group classes before, so I don’t expect she’ll be back.

I was sad to see her go though.  I’m second guessing my decision already.  I’ll not be disappointed if she comes back for fostering again.  It’ll give me time to change my mind and keep her if I’d like.   The rep will keep looking for a suitable dog for me either way until I tell her otherwise.

So for now I am without a service dog, again.

It’s been a hard day.

 

 

Every evening we have family scripture reading (we’re currently making our way through the Old Testament book of Jeremiah) which if followed by family prayer.  This is a nightly occurrence, and the family knows the routine.

For our prayer we ask everyone to kneel down, fold their arms, close their eyes, and try to have an attitude of respect for the deity we are talking with.   This is kind of the traditional thing for our church and family.  It is something that is taught and expected, even from little kids, and more often than not it is achieved.

In our family we go around the room, youngest to oldest, and offer everyone the chance to add something to the prayer.  But after that, everyone is quiet during the prayer except for the person offering it.  There aren’t any “amens” during the prayer, or other forms of talking or outburst.  The atmosphere is meant to be one of quiet respect.  That is the ideal.

Prayer Time

We did that,  and I’m ready to say the prayer, because it happens to be my turn tonight.

I start out telling Father in Heaven about our day, some of the highlight events, offer gratitude for some blessings, and ask for a few more.   I think I’m near the end of what I’m going to say and for some reason I open my eyes, which isn’t rare for me, just to see if all the kids are behaving themselves.   And what do I find?

Andrew ( age 5) just staring at me!

We kind of just look at each other.

“Please bless that we can all stay warm and safe tonight as we sleep.”

He knows my eyes should be closed, and I know his should be too.

“Help us all be able to follow thy teachings.”

But we just keep staring at each other, because what else are we going to do?

“We are grateful for the meeting we had tonight at the church.”

Do I just keep going, or say something to him?  But now I’ve forgotten what everyone has asked me to add.  I’m stammering.

“Um.  Uh.   Thankful for Thy Son.”

Well, I sound like an idiot and can’t think of anything else to say, so here goes…

“Please bless that Andrew can learn to keep his eyes closed during prayers instead of staring at me.” 

Followed immediately by Andrew’s loudly saying, “What the heck?”

“In the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.”

And the rest of the family bursts into laughter.

What else was I supposed to do?

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I’d love to hear that we aren’t the only family that has these moments of levity during otherwise “sacred” times.   Tell me what you’ve got!

 

#MeToo