what i did today

I’ve never

been so happy

 
to see

 
concrete.

Brick foundation should go in tomorrow assuming the brick shows up like it’s supposed to!

We really had no plans to do anything on the house this weekend.  The inspector never showed up Friday to inspect the footings so we couldn’t pour any concrete Saturday.  That is now planned for 10am tomorrow.  But nevertheless, it turned into a FULL weekend of deconstructing the closets to make way for the hallway. 

Without warning Friday night, Scott started taking the wire racks in the closet that I had emptied last weekend.  I snapped this before picture on my cell because I knew, HERE WE GO.  When Scott starts a project, WATCH OUT.

Not too long thereafter and there went the carpet.

And then the wall in between the two closets Saturday morning.

All gone!

But he couldn’t stop there…  He decided to go ahead and close in the wall.

So he did.  The girls officially have NO closet.

So we took a break then and ran some errands, went to dinner.  But oh, the fun couldn’t stop.  He started tearing down OUR wall.  And even though you have to take a double-take, the TV is no longer hanging on the wall, but on its stand on the dresser, pulled away from the wall.  Just wanted to clear up that it’s safe and sound.

And then it was the wall into the bedroom.  Please don’t be concerned that THERE ARE ELECTRICAL WIRES in the wall.

We about had our fill last night but oh, I just couldn’t keep my hands off the hammer today after church.  “I’ll just finish the small wall.”  I can’t tell you what kinds of good it does for PMS.

See?  I did some of the work.  I think Scott was quite amused.

And after this next picture, you’ll see why.  Check that face out.  But look closer.  Check out the hammer that went THROUGH THE WALL and the dry wall is mid-air.  POWER, PEOPLE.  I GOTZ IT.

But not really, I left the real work to Scott where he took out the studs.  I’ll refrain from any stud jokes.  I’m sure my sister will appreciate it.

And…we couldn’t stop there.  So the rest of the wall came down.

And TA-DA!  All the old is gone and our hallway is taking shape!

Next step is building the new wall 8” inside the room so we meet code on the width of the hallway.

Also, it will be nice to have a home for the light switches.

Well, everything was put into perspective this morning with awful news out of Japan.  The alarm woke us with the news and while watching so much devastation on TV it was difficult to get excited knowing today was the day they would finally start on the house.  But I’m considering it good news in the midst of bad.  Life in one place where death reigns in another.  The first step to rescuing another person in tragedy.  It’s good.  It’s ok to celebrate. 

I may not be able to help in Japan, but we’re helping here.

The crew doesn’t even know it but they are on a rescue mission. 

Digging for God.  But really, for him.  Wherever he is.  Whoever he is.

We’re building this for you, son.  A firm foundation.

I think too much.  I do.  Sometimes I become somber and stare into space and Scott, well-versed in my thinking stance, stops me and says, “What are you thinking about?”  I think he would really like the conversation to go down like in Slingblade:

Vaughan Cunningham: You seem like a thinker. You seem to always be deep in thought. So what are you thinking right now?

Karl Childers: I’m thinking I could use some more o’ that potted meat, if you have any extry.

But alas, it’s usually not potted meat although Scott insists on quoting that conversation ad nauseum and laughing at himself. 

Sometimes I recall something someone said to me and rehash or something someone did to us and rehash and sometimes it’s some verse, blog post or book I just read, or really any combination.  And a lot of times, I feel like if I don’t get let them leak on to paper, they are forever swirling.  It’s like the drain is through my fingers and it’s the only release I get from the endless chatter in my brain.  So here is what has been swirling, some about as important as potted meat but others not as much.

Hell

Yep, I’ve been thinking a lot, a whole lot, about hell.  And I’m not scared to go there, it doesn’t threaten me, but Rob Bell has started an absolute whirlwind of debate on the Internet about his new book Love Wins: A Book About Heaven, Hell and Every Person Who Ever Lived. I’ve read a few reviews but what I gather is he believes no one goes to hell, better known as universalism.  A Deeper Story featured an article about hell where the reader believes that there is a fire but people are annihilated in it and not tortured forever.  Be sure to read her follow-up article on her site.  And I’ve thought and thought and read verses and the only thing I come away with is the fact there IS a hell and there IS a fire and the point of it all is that I believe we WILL be separated from God for eternity if we don’t believe. 

Now, even that has come into question as I read the Bible.  I’ve always been taught, people have to “accept Jesus in their hearts” to go to Heaven.  But check out Romans 2 where it basically says people inherently know about the law even if they’ve never heard about the law or Jesus and they are a law unto themselves.  The question it seems is what do they do with the information they know?  As Rachel Held Evans talks about in her book Evolving in Monkey Town, exactly how much if any of Jesus does one need to know to go to heaven?  Yes, they are saved through Jesus but do they need to know his name?  I know it’s a can of worms.  But all of that has been swirling in my brain.  I want to reiterate I am confident in whom I believe and where I will be but I think about who might or might not be with me.

Work

A week from this very second I will be at the office for my second full day of my new job.  I know I said it was already my job and I’m just making it more permanent but this whole going to full-time hours (32 to 40) and part-time office thing really has me down.  I’ve been SO BLESSED to have been at home the past 8 years. Even though it’s so much work making that balance at home, it has become the standard here. 

Starting next week so much time will be spent away from home and especially on a long commute every day (1-1.5 hrs/day).  I’m really, really going to miss it.  I’m such a homebody!  The great news is I will only be gone the days that Scott is home so we are able to share in getting them from school.  No after-school care required (read: cheap).  I know really it’s only less than 10 hours per week I’ll be away from the kids more but 10 is 10.  And there is so much debate on the Internet about whether a mom should work or not.  We are to be “busy at home” they say.  Well, let me just through out there that I WILL be busy at home.  In fact, I foresee many later nights and earlier mornings keeping our house together.  Is it ideal?  Honestly, probably not.  I feel like I’ve had the ideal for 8 years.  But the alternative is find another job full time in the office or be a stay at home mom and honestly, neither of those sound inviting. I do enjoy the work that I do and the financial benefits are something serious to consider.  I’m actually pretty excited what we might do with the extra income if I’m honest.

But yeah, as excited as I am that I got the job, there is definitely some trepidation there.  Don’t even get me started thinking about this in combination with a possible adoption!

Decorating

Whew, something less controversial.  I’ve been scouring the Internet for ideas on how to decorate our new bedroom.  The bummer part is this whole coastal look is so popular right now and if you know me, I could never be happy in a white and blue bedroom.  Please put me in a cave to hibernate every night any day.  So, it’s making it harder but I still push forth.

The House

And of course, I can not quit thinking about every detail about the addition.  When is it starting? At what point do we do what?  Should we move this wall 2 feet? Have we picked out the brick?  Will it ever quit raining??

And so my brain swirls, yet I hope a little of my thoughts have permanently made their way through my fingers, caught in a world wide web, saved for you to find.

OK bad news.  We’ve had so many layoffs at our permit office that it’s taking until Wednesday to get it.

More bad news.  It’s supposed to rain Wednesday night.  So that means no digging footings until Thursday.  Bummer since I was kind of hoping we’d be pouring concrete today but, that’s the way these things go I hear.

In good news, our builder came over with the brick guy and it looks like we’ll be able to do the cheaper crawl space instead of a slab.  No breaking up concrete if something ever goes wrong!  Woot!

In FUN news, our money cleared today so Scott and I went on a spending spree at Lowe’s for my lunch break today.  It’s so much fun just strolling the store and throwing stuff in the buggy, even if it is electrical wire and a toilet!  Of course thinking about the fact we’d be paying for all that stuff over the next 30 years brought us back to earth in a hurry.  The best part is we had a 10% coupon and got several things on sale so yay!

And finally, our bank said they owed us $150 from closing and they’re sending us a check.  Now that is what I call good news!

Wow, so many things happening this week.  I feel like I’m getting bowled over with everything.  Nothing fancy today, just some updates.

#1 – I want to blog more about this since I haven’t mentioned it but I just finished up 10 days of a Daniel Fast this weekend.  I did it for both spiritual and physical reasons. I’ve never done a fast quite like this and let me tell you, it has been amazing in so many ways.

#2 – This week I finish reading the Bible in 90 Days.  I’ve loved it just as much as the first time. I can not recommend it enough.

#3 – I GOT THE JOB.  It took forever to get approvals but I got the offer on my job this morning and pending drug tests, fingerprinting, etc I should be working full time by the end of the month.  There are going to be changes around here.  And no, I’m not sure all for the better.  Definitely some sacrifices.  However, lots of wins too.  Yay!

#4 – We found out this morning we have our closing for our financing on the addition on Thursday.  Hoping to break ground next week!

Wow, those are huge!  All happening in the same week!  Crazy right?  I mean, this job thing has been in the works for 8 months, we’ve been holding out on the house for weeks and now it’s all happening within days of each other!

In other random news, Emma caught a stomach bug so she is home with me today.  We’re a little tired from being up so much and I think that is adding to what feels like the craziness going on today.

Hope you’re having a great Monday!

Sooo…the appraiser turned around the appraisal in a few short hours yesterday.  The bank called last night with some bad news.  Not devastating but bad.  The house appraised about 18K short of what they were expecting and they can only lend us 11K below what we requested.  They will give us what they can and anything over that will have to be covered out of pocket.  Now.  Thank goodness for our emergency fund and savings and we have some cash available but we don’t want to spend that much.  The good news is we know we can get some materials at a lower cost and Scott can do some of the work.  We think we’ll be close but yeah, we’re going to be on a tight budget for the whole ride.  I had hoped to sail through without a worry but thinking about it, I think it’s good that it’s going to force us to be wise with our money.  We all know I like a good deal so I’m going to have to do some serious deal hunting without sacrificing the plans since that’s what got the appraisal even where it is.  Which means…we’re getting the fireplace.  So excited about that!

So next steps are to order the title search and then close, probably next week!  Eek!

Last night I spent some concentrated time with the girls.  We all went to Lexi’s Tae Kwon Do class to see her.  And let me tell you, that girl melts my heart.  Emma kept asking, “Mommy why are you laughing?”  It’s hard to explain that you’re so proud that your joy bubbleth over into laughter!  She got two stripes last night! 

Emma and I left about 15 minutes into her class to do some grocery shopping alone.  As we were going to check out, Emma kept begging to do the self check-out but I could feel my busy-body self saying No, we don’t have time.  And then I remembered that part of Emma’s love language is time so I turned the cart around and we self-checked out $60 of groceries, many of which were vegetables.  It took plain-forever but Emma had a blast.  As we were walking out she held my arm and told me how much she loved it and how we had done it together.  I also took the girls to the mall and Target after dinner just to look for some little things to use their chore money on.  And guess what?  There was no pouting, whining, eye-rolling last night.  And I don’t think it was because they got to spend money (all $1 of it), I think it’s because I heard her plea to do something with me and did it.  Maybe part of my answer from yesterday is just to slow down.  Even though Emma can do most anything by herself, she still wants me to do it with her and sometimes for her.

This morning was a busy morning!  I spent the early morning with school drop-off and then tax returns!  I am ecstatic to say we are getting a refund this year. 

The house is getting cleaned this morning which always makes the day better!  We’re hosting small group tonight so I’m happy to have little to do before they get here.

And finally, our appraisal is got done today!  He said the bank wanted it by Friday so I’m really hoping we can get the financing wrapped up this week and start next week!  With all this great weather we are itching to get started!