Windows!

I was awakened at 10:30 pm last night by my cell phone. Don had called to tell me, "I found it!" I was quite confused until he explained further, "I found the last nail for getting the roof shingled!" It is/was a relief to him to have that project completely buttoned up! He had only the ridge vent to install last night and with the help of our friend Michael, he got it done!

Today Don took 1/2 the day off, and he and my brother Marc tackled the windows on the main level.

This is the view outside our bedroom on the NW corner of the house.

This is the inside!

It has been our experience that each phase of this building project takes longer than anticipated. Both Don and I were pleasantly surprised to find the windows going in VERY well. They may even get all the main level windows in by the end of the evening. If possible they will install the patio doors as well, but we'll see how it goes. I guess Michael was going to show up again tonight, so there will be plenty of man power there!

In order to get the patio doors in they need to tear down the scaffolding, move it to the back of the house and set it up again. Marc let me know, in so many words, he didn't care for my choice in patio doors. They are VERY heavy!!! I don't know that another door would have been lighter, but we sure are thankful for all those willing to lend their muscles to accomplish this feat!

It may be hard to see, but it is beautiful!!!

When I took supper to Marc and Don, at 6pm, they had installed 9 of the 15 windows. (This # excludes the 2 patio doors) At this point the biggest challenge seems to be finding a firm footing for the ladder 15 feet down from where the window is being installed! Marc was working on the outside, Don on the inside. When I saw how Marc had to push the ladder away from the outside of the house and hang from the roof while Don was maneuvering the window unit thru the hole I decided to leave. Thankfully they only had 4 more windows to do so far off the ground, and 3 of them are all in one spot!

Once all the windows on the main floor are in place we will be able to keep the upstairs dry. We are waiting to install the lower level windows until the floor has been poured down there. Don needs to install plumbing and the in floor heat before we can have the concrete poured.

This is the NE corner of the house.

(Don started removing the roof jacks tonight)

This is the window in the "office".
The wood for the windows was all finished before they were put together. I wasn't 100% happy with how my choice of color for the pole barn turned out, and it made me a little gun shy about making other choices pertaining to the house. I am ABSOLUTELY THRILLED with the divided lights,wood grain, stain, and hardware on the windows! (All decisions I made over 2 months ago)

Tornado Warnings, Comfort Food, and the River.....In Our Basement

This is how one spends the afternoon when 3 out of 4 of the past nights have been spent under tornado warnings 2 weeks after an EF5 ripped thru 2 neighboring towns.

This is how the river FLOWS (from 2directions) thru the basement of old farmhouses when the thunderstorms producing the tornado warnings ALSO produce heavy, driving rains 4 nights in a row, and all morning.

This is the PERFECT comfort food for just such occasions.

(pancakes, strawberries, cool whip and chocolate syrup)

This is the look of a meal enjoyed by all and rejected by none! Thank you God! I couldn't handle a "meal battle" right now!

These are also 3 of the 5 precious ones I fear letting down by not realizing danger in time to get them to safety.

I am not sure whether to delve any deeper into any of this or not! I am afraid I may exceed blog post guidelines!

We are SO tired! I am glad I have not seen first hand the devastation caused by the tornado that tore thru exactly 2 weeks ago!

I am beginning to wonder if I should have watched the video clips from 2 bank cameras! One was outside and caught the destruction of a home across the street and also visible is the affect of the tornado on the surrounding trees. The second clip was from a camera inside the bank and it shows the results inside a building.

These images are rather disturbing at 0 dark 30, on the 2nd floor of a farmhouse, during a thunderstorm with the likely hood of producing tornadoes!

After repeating this 3 out of 4 nights I am reduced to a whimpering pile of nerves!

I am not one to borrow trouble, but I also hold a GREATLY EXPANDED respect for tornadoes.

Some may not know it, but I spent the better half of my growing-up-years as a resident of Corn Country. Thru the years there have been many tornado warning, but 2 weeks ago was the first time I remember one ever setting down anywhere other than a field.

I was actually glad to find a house to rent outside of town because we wouldn't be bothered by those pesky warning sirens. Now I just wish I could go to sleep knowing I would hear one if needed. Even the people living in the nearest town don't all hear the siren if it goes off! We don't stand a chance 1 1/2 miles away, especially with 70MPH winds!

So, we have a weather radio. This is better than nothing, but it went off 6 times Tuesday night, 2-3 times Wednesday night, and another 4 times last night. Most of the alarms were for flash flood warnings!

Don got so used to turning it off, he did it in his sleep and didn't even look to see what the alarm was for. I wasn't asleep, trust me, so I woke him up and he checked.

We did end up going down to the basement for 45"early Thursday AM. The kids were THRILLED by this, NOT!

Our kids are hard sleepers like their dad. This is a blessing in that every one, except me, sleeps thru even the worst of thunderstorms. This is a problem when I need to get them moving in the middle of the night!

I woke Marlene up first, she sleeps the hardest. We had the other four headed to the basement, before she was even functioning. Oh, she was on her feet, but not cognizant.

I think the cold water on everyones bare feet helped wake them up, but it also made us all miserable! "Mom, I have to pee REALLY bad." "Mom, I'm cold!" "Mom, my blanket dropped in the water and is wet." "Mom, where am I supposed to sit?" "Mom, we're not supposed to be close to windows." "Dear, do you have any AA and AAA batteries?" "Mom, I don't want to get under the desk if a tornado comes, the floor is wet." "Mom, I have to pee too!"

All this while listening to the weather radio drone on about "strong winds capable of producing tornadoes" not only in our area, but also 35 miles where my parents, 5 younger siblings, and 1grown brother and his family live.

I tell you! my mind was going 100 miles a minute! "Should I call my brother, and parents?" "Marc lives in a trailer, they need to seek shelter!" "Do grandpa and grandma know?" "Wish I had all our digital pictures in one place so I could grab them!" "No one has shoes." "At least the other tornado came during the day, so people could see it! All I can see is trees moving like they were made of rubber, kind of like the video....." "Oh! I hate this basement!" "Being down here is going to do wonders for my allergies!" "God, PLEASE PROTECT MY BABIES!"

Last night again found us in the middle of a "Severe thunderstorm capable of producing tornadoes". "Seek shelter on the lowest level of your dwelling away from windows...."

As I put the kids to bed,I prayed God would calm the storm. He did, temporarily, but 20" later I was moving all the kids to the ground level of our house.

The boys were assigned to the couches, and the girls got the bed in the extra room. Don and I settled in upstairs, but ended up hauling our bedding and the weather radios to the living room floor.

Our weather radio got dropped at the end of our stint in the basement Thursday AM. It still makes all kinds of crazy noise when there is a warning, but the radio part no longer works. Thankfully our dear brother Joe bought us walkie talkies awhile back that pick up the weather station!

We were able to move back to our bed after the warning expired at 2:30 this morning. We got every one around for church in record time, less than an hour. Yes, we looked a little worse the wear, but so did every one else in the congregation!

The rain has stopped, but the wind is still rather stiff. The flooding is not expected to recede until Thursday. I am glad God is in control! I pray for a reprieve tonight!

P.S. Yes, I know I spell through wrong. My appologies to those who care.

Footprints Poem Visual

The following was sent to me by a friend. I was encouraged as I thought of God the Father and the enabling He does on my behalf every day.


"A son asked his father, 'Dad, will you take part in a marathon with me?'The father who, despite having a heart condition, says 'Yes'. They went on to complete the marathon together.
Father and son went on to joinother marathons, the father always saying 'Yes' to his son's request of going through the race together.
One day, the son asked his father,'Dad, let's join the Ironman together.' To which, his father said 'Yes'.
For those who don't know, Ironman is the toughest triathlon ever. The race encompasses three endurance events of a 2.4 mile (3.86 kilometer)ocean swim, followed by a 112 mile (180 .2 kilometer) bike ride, andending with a 26.2 mile (42.195 kilometer) marathon along the coast ofthe Big Island. Father and son went on to complete the race together."
(The son works at B.U. in the technology department.)

School's Out!!!

Finally! We are done with school for the 07-08 school year!!!

I tried to find the picture I took the kids first day of school, but I was unsuccessful. I saw a copy of it recently and was amazed at the difference in 10 months!

Here are the pictures I took today.

Special thanks to:

Mr. Danielson - Bus driver

Mrs. Boike - Homer's 3rd grade teacher

Mrs. Albaugh- Marlene's 2nd grade teacher

(she will have Jon next year. Boy is she in for a surprise!)

Mrs. Kjormoe -Student teacher last fall and substitute teacher this past month

Mrs. Grandon - 1st grade teacher

Mrs. Decker - Teacher's helper

(there were 23 in the class!)

I've been kinda worried about the end of school coinciding with my "cycle", but I cannot describe the feeling of relief I experienced as we exited the school! My family and my schedule are once again mine only!!!

This afternoon has gone well. We sorted thru all the supplies that came home and there are even some to be saved for next year! I am VERY pleased to have the backpacks put away. I didn't enjoy having them as a fixture in the dining room!

The pool is supposed to open tomorrow! I bought our pool pass and set up lessons for the kids yesterday.

We are counting down the days until we go to Michigan (June 13th), Homer goes to Jr. Boys camp for the first time (June 16th), Marlene's birthday (June 23rd), the other 5 summer birthdays (6/30, 7/1, 7/7, 7/14, 7/21), VBS, Etc....

DELPHIA ON THE OTHER HAND, has counted down the days until school starts again, 74! She can't wait to start Kindergarten!

Stuck

EVERY TIME!!!! Every time I enter the title to a blog, I hit "ENTER" to drop down to the "body" of the blog. Many of you may already know what I am trying to pound into my bloggin' brain, hitting enter publishes the post, or more accurately in my case, the lack of a post.
So to all who get e-mail alerts when someone publishes a new post, but find nothing new when you check my blog, sorry!

Before I errantly hit the "Enter" key I was pondering a rather morose train of thought. I feel stuck.

No, I am not about to go off the deep end. My marriage is great and I have NO desire out of that. It's just..... I am tired of doing the same things over and over again, even if they are the right things to do.

We recently listened to a missionary Dr. give a presentation on his ministry. He spoke about all the kid he treats in.... I don't remember where, with worms. The classic symptoms are being listless, CHECK, bloated stomach, CHECK, lack of appetite, not so much. Rats, I guess I can't blame worms, I'll go for PMS!

There are a number of factors adding up to make me feel cagey. (FYI: Cagey is my term for feeling in a cage and wanting out. I am not sure how grammatically correct it is, but it's mine)

Back to my factors. Our house is coming along nicely, but the more we accomplish the more I ache to actually LIVE there!

Any time things are being accomplished at our property, Don is there. When Don is there he is not here. Again, I am thrilled and very willing to sacrifice in order to finish the house, but he remains my best bud, and we don't get to talk much for now.

Yes, I know I can work with him, and I do when I can, but that often falls squarely into the "Doing the right thing" category. My desire is to be with him, but many times I benefit him most by accomplishing other tasks here at home, both his and mine.

Which leads me to where we live now: There is STILL water in the basement. The water has been there since February. Actually, there is wall to wall water today due to the replacement of the water holding tank. There are actually 2 of them in the system. Both had to be drained to replace the one that supposedly had the problem. Result: BUNCHES OF WATER!

Also, I ALWAYS have cleaning and laundry to do. There's always that...

I am trying to ease back into exercise, but I am a far cry from 1/2 hour 5-6 days a week.

I am trying (again)to effect a change on my weight, but after 10 days, my weight is the same. Now I just feel hungry and tired all the time.

My allergies are worse than they have ever been. I am having to take a daily prescription on top of my allergy shot every 3 months.

Due to allergies, I am assuming, my eyes feel terrible and I haven't been able to comfortably wear my contacts for almost a month now. I am "stuck" in glasses.

Forgive my moping. Thanks for lending an "ear". Like I said, I know the right things to do, I am just busy right now fighting caving into out and out selfishness.
I want my way, NOW! You know, stuff like that!

Well, off to prayer meeting! At least I get to sit my my boyfriend!

God bless you all for your patience! I knew you would understand!

Mission Accomplished!

As of 1 AM this morning our roof is fully shingled!! The ridge vent still needs to be done, but the roof no longer leaks!



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FYI

(For Your Information)
I went to my Dr. Wednesday because I had a sinus infection. He put me on antibiotics, and some allergy meds, but this thing kicked in full force Thursday and Friday.

Since then I have pretty much just laid around putting pressure on the right side of my face. It was terrible!

Today for the first time, I am feeling up to doing things, and I am not taking regular doses of pain meds. I have plenty of work piled up from the 4 days on the couch.

The shingles on our roof are closer to being done thanks to Don's long hours, and help from my brothers, and our pastor.

The kids should finally be done with school Thursday! I can't wait for them to be home, but it will take some doing to get them all settled back into how things go around here.

Don's 3 year anniversary for work was Saturday. He now has vacation days again! He and my brother Marc are supposed to work on the roof today. We'll see what the 44% chance of rain does!

We are very excited my other brother Stephen and his family will be moving nearby this summer. It is very hard for them to leave the church they are in, but they know God is leading them to this new church. Please pray for all effected by this transition.

I am off to order exterior doors!