Home...sick

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.

Greens and Things

We have a yard! From the outside, the house looks ready for us. The inside is a different story. We do finally have electricity, but the drywall spots have not all been repaired, so the painters haven't been able to come back yet, and of coure, the carpet can't be put down yet. Ugh. The waiting is killing me. What's worse is that we keep lining people up to help us move each upcoming weekend, then we have to tell them that it will be another week...then another...then another. I hope we still have help by the time the house is ready. We asked the builder if we should be able to move in this coming weekend and he assured us we will. Well, by the looks of things today, that ain't happening. No one had been there to work since Friday. When I got there at 3 pm, the plumbers had just arrived to work on the kitchen appliances. It annoys me that the builder doesn't seem to be using every available moment to finish up the house. I guess I'd rather have him do it right than do it in a hurry, but still. It's frustrating. In the meantime, I've nearly finished packing. Next up will be the deep cleaning. I'm definitely not in a hurry to get to that point!!

I'm still having some little health issues. The fever went away for about 2 weeks, but it has returned. I'm beginning to think that my body temperature has just gone up a bit with age. I don't know if that happens. The fever did accompany some other yuckiness this time, though. Yesterday morning, as I was getting ready for church, I had a bit of an upset stomach (which isn't out of the ordinary for me, thanks to IBS). Warning - TMI! I headed for the bathroom, when a rush of nausea came over me out of nowhere and I threw up twice. Mind you, I have not thrown up since high school, I think. I usually do everything I can not to, but I had no time. The worst part about it was that I was singing a solo in church yesterday morning. What a wonderful thing to happen before you have to get up in front of lots of people to sing your heart out to the Lord! It actually turned out to be a good thing because it totally took my focus off of my nerves and I had to completely rely on the Spirit to get me through. I had to sing it in 2 services and was just overwhelmed by how God worked through me, in spite of how I felt. He never ceases to amaze me with His goodness and grace. By the end of it all, I was thoroughly exhausted and still had to go back last night to direct children's choir. I was queasy on and off for the rest of the day and have felt better today, though still tired. I just don't know what's going on with me lately. Maybe stress is having a hayday with my health.

Here are a few pictures from Easter Sunday. It was such a good day. Ella really seems to be mulling around the ideas of who Jesus is, what happened to Him on the cross, and how He comes to live in our hearts. It may still be a while before she truly understands, but I love to see how He is working in her little life. We used the Resurrection Eggs with her and she remembered every detail when she retold the story to my family. Oh, how I pray that God will continue to draw her to Himself.

Running on empty?

I'm still running a low-grade fever. I may call the doctor in the morning, just to see what I should do. I guess it may just be some little virus that has to run it's course, but I've had the fever for 6 days now with fatigue and some very minor sinus symptoms. I just want to be healthy (which is a relative term for me) once more.

The house is getting nearer to completion. I'm sure this is par for the course when building, but it seems like these last "little" details are taking forever! The trim took over a week, but there was only one guy on the job. I think he's almost finished, but he's holding up the painters and carpet-layers. Those are the last few things to be done inside the house (oh yeah, and closets & mirrors - duh!). Outside, the sprinkler system is in, which means the sod and driveway (+ gutters & screens) should be in soon. I'm sorry if any of this sounds repetitive!! :) Anyway, here is an overabundance of pictures for you! Enjoy and have a good night.

The Kitchen
The Kitchen Desk Wall
Light Fixture Above Dining TableLaundry Room
Laundry Room 2Living Room FanGuest Room Fan
Ella's Room FanMaster Bedroom Fan
PorchView of Porch from Deck
Front of House

Little Red

Or "Rojosita" as we like to call her (not sure if that's correct Spanish, Su!). But, look at all that red! Her hair has really changed over the last few months. She still has some blonde highlights, but the red seems to be taking over. :)

These were taken on our trek to the beach this past Sunday. We had so much fun as a family, even if it was still a bit chilly. We had a little picnic lunch, including her favorite..."peanut butter n' crackers". DH & I surprised her afterward by treating her to ice cream. It was a nice little break from our hectic lives of late.

Sorry to cut this short but I have a temperature once again. It's on the low side, so that's good. Who knows what's going on this time. I have no other symptoms, so it's just wait and see. I have new pictures of the house, but will post them later in the week. Must go to bed to hopefully ward off some new illness. Please pray for a showing we have tomorrow. It would be perfect timing for this person to buy it, since the house should be done by the end of next week!!

P.S. I'm still getting used to my laptop and I think this monitor makes my pictures look different than on my desktop. Can you let me know if the pics look odd to you and if so, how? Thanks! And, thank you for all your comments on my last post. I love you guys!

Fluff and stuff

Countertops are in! Doors & trim are in! Light fixtures are in! It's just about time for us to be in! Just a few more details (second coat of paint on all walls, carpet, mirrors, closet shelving, driveway, landscaping) to go and we'll be set. I'll be back over there later this week and will take some new pictures to post.

Now we just have to sell this house. Our open house had one visitor. I guess if she's "the one", it was a success - but it still feels like a LOT of work for nothing. We also had a showing today by another realtor. I left while they were here, so I have no idea what they thought. It would be awesome, of course, if we could get an offer before we move, but I'm trying to prepare for the worst. The market is so horrible that we truly have no control over whether or not it sells. It's all in God's hands and sometimes it's hard to just concede it over to Him!

I have a ton of sewing projects I'm dying to start working on, but am trying to wait til we're settled in the new house. I really want to make a new poppet and I may have to give in to help me procrastinate on the packing! At least I got my Jo-Ann fix today - forget drugs...just give me fabric! ;) I found tons of remnants to make doll clothes, wallets, and other cute things. Oh, I'm going to have so much more crafting room over at the new place! Can you tell I'm going crazy with all this waiting??

I wanted to say that as part of the revival at church, I felt a renewed calling to the work I'm doing at church with the kids. It's hard when you're working with children this young to feel like you're making any kind of impact on them. But, as I was reminded during the revival, it is our job to plant the seeds in the lives of others. We may never see the harvest, but God's Word never comes back void, so I should not lose heart even when they stare at me blankly when I ask them questions about the story I just told them! I do wish that I had started this work after the house was built because it's been very challenging to keep it all going. I really enjoy the kids and I just hope that I've been able to convey my love for the Lord to them.

Hubby is FINALLY feeling better! He broke out in hives soon after my last post. We think it was a reaction to the allergy medicines (of all things!) his doctor told him to try. The hives cleared up once he stopped taking them. Whew! We've all really been through it this winter. My brother came down with gout a few weeks ago, so you can imagine the conversations we've had around the Sunday lunch table. We sound like an advertisement for medicare.

Ok, I need to go to bed. Lots of work yet to be done...

So close

I cannot believe how fast things are going with the house. Just a few short weeks and this kitchen will be mine! I know it's not the best pic (that's the island), but I wanted to get something up that would show you the cabinets and tile. Of course, the cabinets are a bit dirty at the moment, but other than that, I think they're beautiful! I've been thrilled so far at how everything is turning out.

In one of my last posts, I told you I was getting sick again and I did get sick...again. I have had strep throat twice in a month and my poor hubby has had some weird virus/allergy thing that just won't go away. He's gone through spurts of fevers, with upper respiratory symptoms. But, the worst part is that he's had a headache for a solid 2 weeks now. Strange. And worrisome. His doc told him to take some allergy med samples to see if they help. I guess if they don't help, he may need to have some tests run. I don't know. These are not even just tension headaches...more on the verge of migraine with sharp, shooting pains. I'm praying it's all just from the stress of everything right now. Oh, and I'm praying the Lord will deliver us from illness! Enough, already!

I wanted to post tonight, even though it's late, because the next few days (er, weeks) are going to be crazy and I wasn't sure when I'd get to post again. We have our first open house this weekend. I pray that someone will fall in love with our worn, but dearly cared for house and that will be the end of it. I don't like all this uncertainty. Will it sell? Should we just rent it out? Are we freaking crazy? :) We also have revival at church each night this weekend, which will be busy, but hopefully refreshing for our stressed out, worn out, sick of sickness souls. After that, it will be pack, pack, pack, prepare for garage sale (which we still haven't had), pack, pack, pack some more. Then move!! Wow! I really should get to bed so I can have the energy for what's ahead.

I'll leave you with a cute pic of Ella from our recent trip to the NAS museum. Good night!

GAH! Sick again!

The whole household's been sick, I'm afraid. DH started it about 2 weeks ago, right before he went out of town for 5 days. Then, as I said, I had strep throat for which I'll finish up antibiotics tomorrow. DH was better when he returned home from his trip last Monday, but yesterday, he came home early with fever, sore throat and headache. At about the same time, Ella started in with a cough and runny nose. Now, my throat's hurting AGAIN. Ugh! I hate this time of year. Bad timing to be sick, too, with all we have to do. I was planning to have a garage sale this Saturday, but we haven't felt up to getting ready for it. We'll have to shoot for next weekend. I think we don't have many weekends left until we'll be moving into the house.

The good news is that I did get most of my list from last Saturday accomplished. I cleaned most of the day, while DH fixed the toilet, spot-painted the master bathroom, and pried open the fireplace doors that had rusted from non-use. Ella was surprisingly good at entertaining herself by pretending we were all in a plane going to Mexico. She "fixed" the tv so that pilot would know where we were going and she served up some wonderful food while singing to the passengers. We did go by the house that day and DH went out to pick up Ella's favorite fast food then we played her favorite game. All in all, it was a pretty good, but exhausting day.

If only I could feel like I was "done". Alas, there is still so much left to do. Time keeps on rolling along, though, and as I mentioned, we will be in the house before we know it. I went by today to find that the spa had been delivered, the walls completely ready for paint, the deck almost finished, and a tub in the guest bathroom! Here are a few camera phone pics that I have not edited, so I'm sorry if they're a bit lousy:








Ok, that's it for now. Good night!