No, I'm not homesick for the old house. I'm literally home and still sick (see below). We did move in to the new house and have been here a week and a half. We are loving it! This week, we've had several workers out to finish up and correct a few things, but all in all, the house is wonderful! I've almost unpacked everything and it's slowly feeling more like "home". I'll post some new pics soon.
The reason I'm posting is to ask you all to pray for us. Nothing major - it's just that we cannot shake the sickness in our house. I've continued to run fever and have been told that it's most likely a virus that's just lingering. Over the weekend, I developed another sore throat that sure felt like strep again. It is better today and I will mention it at my follow-up appt. on Friday. Ella has had a bit of a cold/cough for the past week and though she seems to have recovered from that, something new has popped up. She had been a little sluggish late this afternoon and had complained of her tummy hurting. I didn't think anything of it because at this age, it seems like she's always talking about her tummy. Well, we went to her favorite place to eat dinner before heading to church and she didn't feel like eating. She didn't even want us to order something for her, which is very unusual. I kept asking if she felt like going to church and she said it was fine. We parked the car at church and I went to get her out of her car seat when she began vomiting. A lot. So, we promptly went home. She's thrown up a few more times since then (twice in her sleep), but she seems to finally be settled down for the night. I hope and pray that it's not the dreadful stomach virus that's been going around. Maybe she has what I've had and this is just the beginning - remember that I threw up when my illness started back up again at the end of last month. As much as I hate being sick, there is nothing worse than watching your child get pale and pasty and scared. Anyway, I know there are much worse things that we could be handling, but it is very stressful to try to get settled in a new house while not being able to rid of these "bugs". I'm sure the stress is not helping the recovery either. It appears to be a vicious cycle.
Thanks to all of you who are such faithful prayer partners. Though I may not get to say it very often lately, I keep all of you in my prayers as well.
April 30, 2008
April 16, 2008
Ready or not, here we come!
We have made the call. We are officially moving this weekend. Ready or not. I don't think everything will be done by Friday, but I'm hopeful. We had our "walk-through" last Friday. I made a LONG list of things that needed to be fixed (the majority of issues had to do with paint & drywall). As of today, not a whole lot of that had been done. I really just give up. If those spots don't get painted, I'll just do it myself. I'm tired of people who don't care about their work.
Let me just tell you about what I found at the house today. I went over to check some fabric samples for the window seat cushion I'm making. As I drove up to the intersection of my street, the painters were about to turn the corner past me. They saw me, so they backed all the way down the cul-de-sac and back down into my driveway. I watched one of them go into the house for a minute then return to the truck to leave. I went in to find that they had left everything wide open - the garage door and the back door into the house. They left all the lights on in the house and they had taken off with the key to the lock box. [They later explained that since they saw me, they thought they could leave the house open. My point was they saw me AFTER they left the house that way!] I was upset about that, then I saw something that really sent me over the edge. A pair of my pajama shorts was on the kitchen counter covered in drywall debris. As if someone had used it as a rag. WITHOUT MY PERMISSION!! I went out to the garage to see how they had gotten to it since there are several of our boxes in the garage. I had packed one of those extra-large zip-lock bags full of my pajamas and it was stored on a table in the garage, UNDER some sheets we'd thrown over the boxes. One of the workers had moved the sheets around, looking for something, then ripped a hole in the bag and pulled out this pair of shorts!! What an invasion of privacy! What a lack of respect for my property! I just cannot even fathom someone thinking it OK to do something like this, especially when these guys carry tons of rags around in their truck. I called Paul right away and asked him to call the builder - I was just too upset to talk to him. The site manager met me over there and I went over the whole ordeal with him. The builder was livid and he is going to be having a *chat* with the drywall workers tomorrow. I now feel like I need to move in there to protect my things. This incident is just the icing on the cake of several other things that have gone on around the house recently.
Earlier this week, someone stole the copper wiring out of the A/C units at Paul's office. My grandmother has been in town this week and she found out that someone keyed her car on both sides while it was in my aunt's driveway (where she was storing it until she returns home). A woman who's been going through a ministry program at our church was released back into "real life" this past week and she wound up back in jail. I had gotten to know her through a Bible Study and just love her to death. I don't know the situation that landed her in jail, but it just makes me really sad. I am feeling so disappointed in the human race in general right now. Satan has such a grip on so many people and it's very hard to see the good anymore. Don't get me wrong, I do see the good. God's Hand is more and more evident every day that goes by. Just the fact that the American Idols were allowed to sing a praise song to Jesus that was broadcast to millions of people is proof that He is Alive! The older I get, the more I find that the only One I can fully trust and rely on is Jesus. People will continually fail and fall short of our expectations but Jesus never fails.
As much as I have whined about the house (etc.!), I do know how truly blessed I am. I do know that while I complain about the little paint problems in my beautiful new house, there are many people who do not have a home to complain about. While I groan about having to wear the same shirt over and over because I don't like the 20 other shirts in my closet, there are many children who have only one shirt to wear. As I fuss over the higher prices at the grocery store, I realize that there are many parents who cannot afford to buy any food for their family. When I gripe about the family members that grate on my nerves for their over-involvement in my life, I am reminded that many people do not have a family to love and support them. I do not deserve the blessings that come my way and I cannot explain why some go without. What I don't want to do is take these provisions for granted. I do not want to get so involved in my own "problems" that I forget about the world around me. Oh God, continue to bring me to my knees in humility and break my selfish heart. Turn my eyes away from myself and help me to view the world through your eyes.
I didn't intend to turn this into a dissertation. Just thoughts going through my weary head tonight. We will move this weekend and it will all be just fine. God is so very good.
Let me just tell you about what I found at the house today. I went over to check some fabric samples for the window seat cushion I'm making. As I drove up to the intersection of my street, the painters were about to turn the corner past me. They saw me, so they backed all the way down the cul-de-sac and back down into my driveway. I watched one of them go into the house for a minute then return to the truck to leave. I went in to find that they had left everything wide open - the garage door and the back door into the house. They left all the lights on in the house and they had taken off with the key to the lock box. [They later explained that since they saw me, they thought they could leave the house open. My point was they saw me AFTER they left the house that way!] I was upset about that, then I saw something that really sent me over the edge. A pair of my pajama shorts was on the kitchen counter covered in drywall debris. As if someone had used it as a rag. WITHOUT MY PERMISSION!! I went out to the garage to see how they had gotten to it since there are several of our boxes in the garage. I had packed one of those extra-large zip-lock bags full of my pajamas and it was stored on a table in the garage, UNDER some sheets we'd thrown over the boxes. One of the workers had moved the sheets around, looking for something, then ripped a hole in the bag and pulled out this pair of shorts!! What an invasion of privacy! What a lack of respect for my property! I just cannot even fathom someone thinking it OK to do something like this, especially when these guys carry tons of rags around in their truck. I called Paul right away and asked him to call the builder - I was just too upset to talk to him. The site manager met me over there and I went over the whole ordeal with him. The builder was livid and he is going to be having a *chat* with the drywall workers tomorrow. I now feel like I need to move in there to protect my things. This incident is just the icing on the cake of several other things that have gone on around the house recently.
Earlier this week, someone stole the copper wiring out of the A/C units at Paul's office. My grandmother has been in town this week and she found out that someone keyed her car on both sides while it was in my aunt's driveway (where she was storing it until she returns home). A woman who's been going through a ministry program at our church was released back into "real life" this past week and she wound up back in jail. I had gotten to know her through a Bible Study and just love her to death. I don't know the situation that landed her in jail, but it just makes me really sad. I am feeling so disappointed in the human race in general right now. Satan has such a grip on so many people and it's very hard to see the good anymore. Don't get me wrong, I do see the good. God's Hand is more and more evident every day that goes by. Just the fact that the American Idols were allowed to sing a praise song to Jesus that was broadcast to millions of people is proof that He is Alive! The older I get, the more I find that the only One I can fully trust and rely on is Jesus. People will continually fail and fall short of our expectations but Jesus never fails.
As much as I have whined about the house (etc.!), I do know how truly blessed I am. I do know that while I complain about the little paint problems in my beautiful new house, there are many people who do not have a home to complain about. While I groan about having to wear the same shirt over and over because I don't like the 20 other shirts in my closet, there are many children who have only one shirt to wear. As I fuss over the higher prices at the grocery store, I realize that there are many parents who cannot afford to buy any food for their family. When I gripe about the family members that grate on my nerves for their over-involvement in my life, I am reminded that many people do not have a family to love and support them. I do not deserve the blessings that come my way and I cannot explain why some go without. What I don't want to do is take these provisions for granted. I do not want to get so involved in my own "problems" that I forget about the world around me. Oh God, continue to bring me to my knees in humility and break my selfish heart. Turn my eyes away from myself and help me to view the world through your eyes.
I didn't intend to turn this into a dissertation. Just thoughts going through my weary head tonight. We will move this weekend and it will all be just fine. God is so very good.
April 3, 2008
FrustraSHON, AggravaSHON, and IrritaSHON!
Cajun Man came by to give me the title for this blog. Ok, I'm a dork.
So, yes, I'm very "frusterated" (as Ella would say). I went by the house today, expecting to find most of the paint done and carpet put in. As you can guess, the paint isn't anywhere near being finished and the carpet was just being put in at 2pm when I was there. I'm mostly aggravated by the fact that the painters told me yesterday that they were going to get most of their work done because they KNEW the carpet was coming today. It would just make sense, wouldn't it, that they would want to paint the rooms before the carpet went in, right???? The living room has not been given a 2nd coat, so now they have to be extremely careful when painting in there. I was irritated that there was one cable/phone outlet that had not been cut out a while back (all the wiring is there), so it had been drywalled and painted over. I told the builder about it and he said the cable company would catch that when they came to install cable. They won't be coming out til right before we move in, so since there was no face plate or cut out there, the drywall guys put more drywall over it yesterday!!! WHAT?! I guess they thought it was just another crack in the wall. Another irritation is that some of the workers messed up our windows and I don't know how they are going to be fixed. The windows had "stoppers" (don't really know what to call them, but they prevent the window from being pushed all the way up) on each side of the casing. When the workers got hot, I guess they opened the windows and didn't realize there were stoppers. They basically jammed the windows up as far as they would go and the stoppers broke through the casing at the top of the window. I'm not sure if my little description makes sense, but it all boils down to a very difficult problem to fix. I don't think they can just replace this part of the casing because I think the casing of a window is all one piece, but I'm not sure. Blah! Oh, and the electrician went on vacation this week, so he won't be back to fix the little glitches til Monday I think. Sorry to rant and rave, but I really am sick of this. Many people have told me it's par for the course, but I just don't think we should be ok with people not doing the jobs we've paid them to do!! Or doing sub-par work. As I said in my last post, I've got friends and family who have basically put their weekends on hold for us for the last month, so they'd be ready to help us move. It's not fair to them and it's certainly not fair to us for the builder to keep telling us it will be ready when it's not. Trying not to pull my hair out...
There are a couple of positive things to report. TOday, I went to pick up our blinds from Home Depot (Ella's new favorite place because of the cool "cars" to ride in). I still have to figure out what to put on the doors going out to the porch, but it feels good to have the majority of the window coverings ready to go (once the windows are fixed, ARGH!). I also found cute tier curtains for the kitchen and laundry room. I have new bedspreads for all three beds. It's going to be do much fun having a fresh start, whenever that may be. ;)
Ella asked my mom if she could spend the night with her and, of course, she said yes. She took Ella at 3, so I've been free this afternoon. It's been nice and quiet. Paul and I might actually get to go to dinner alone tonight - what's that like? Hopefully stress-free!
So, yes, I'm very "frusterated" (as Ella would say). I went by the house today, expecting to find most of the paint done and carpet put in. As you can guess, the paint isn't anywhere near being finished and the carpet was just being put in at 2pm when I was there. I'm mostly aggravated by the fact that the painters told me yesterday that they were going to get most of their work done because they KNEW the carpet was coming today. It would just make sense, wouldn't it, that they would want to paint the rooms before the carpet went in, right???? The living room has not been given a 2nd coat, so now they have to be extremely careful when painting in there. I was irritated that there was one cable/phone outlet that had not been cut out a while back (all the wiring is there), so it had been drywalled and painted over. I told the builder about it and he said the cable company would catch that when they came to install cable. They won't be coming out til right before we move in, so since there was no face plate or cut out there, the drywall guys put more drywall over it yesterday!!! WHAT?! I guess they thought it was just another crack in the wall. Another irritation is that some of the workers messed up our windows and I don't know how they are going to be fixed. The windows had "stoppers" (don't really know what to call them, but they prevent the window from being pushed all the way up) on each side of the casing. When the workers got hot, I guess they opened the windows and didn't realize there were stoppers. They basically jammed the windows up as far as they would go and the stoppers broke through the casing at the top of the window. I'm not sure if my little description makes sense, but it all boils down to a very difficult problem to fix. I don't think they can just replace this part of the casing because I think the casing of a window is all one piece, but I'm not sure. Blah! Oh, and the electrician went on vacation this week, so he won't be back to fix the little glitches til Monday I think. Sorry to rant and rave, but I really am sick of this. Many people have told me it's par for the course, but I just don't think we should be ok with people not doing the jobs we've paid them to do!! Or doing sub-par work. As I said in my last post, I've got friends and family who have basically put their weekends on hold for us for the last month, so they'd be ready to help us move. It's not fair to them and it's certainly not fair to us for the builder to keep telling us it will be ready when it's not. Trying not to pull my hair out...
There are a couple of positive things to report. TOday, I went to pick up our blinds from Home Depot (Ella's new favorite place because of the cool "cars" to ride in). I still have to figure out what to put on the doors going out to the porch, but it feels good to have the majority of the window coverings ready to go (once the windows are fixed, ARGH!). I also found cute tier curtains for the kitchen and laundry room. I have new bedspreads for all three beds. It's going to be do much fun having a fresh start, whenever that may be. ;)
Ella asked my mom if she could spend the night with her and, of course, she said yes. She took Ella at 3, so I've been free this afternoon. It's been nice and quiet. Paul and I might actually get to go to dinner alone tonight - what's that like? Hopefully stress-free!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)