March 31: April Showers

 

It's just rained.  All the predictions said we were in for storms, but all we've had is a bit of rumbly thunder and brief, not heavy, showers.  The sky has finally lightened up, not as though it's clearing, but as though the sullen part of the day might be over.  The rain is appreciated as it will dampen the pollen and prevent it floating quite as freely through the air.

And yes, I know it's not yet April, but it seems appropriate that we'd be in for a shower-y sort of beginning to our week when April will appear tomorrow.

I thought I'd just take time to post my April goals today but first, I wanted to share a wee bit about the weekend behind us.

We had no plans for Saturday.  The contractor came out to discuss painting the kitchen (and laundry) as well as doing some work on the front porch (replace deck boards, put up a railing on the steps), and replacing some of the millwork in the living area that has taken a beating over the years.  The quote was reasonable and we're going to pick up the materials that we can get on our own first and then Travis will pick up the rest (since he has a truck). Apparently, we'll be doing this in April.  So, there we are.  The last leg of the kitchen remodel will be getting done.  Now that's something to sing about!  It's a long way from the day we put in new flooring and called that the beginning, nearly 10 years, but here we are at last finishing it off.

The contractor brought his lady friend with him, which was rather nice of him, I think.  She and I sat in the kitchen and talked while the men measured and figured and talked numbers, etc.  She seems nice.  Wounded and recovering like most all of us veterans of life.  I find more and more, that as I tell parts of my life story, it resonates with people, and they quickly open and tell me some of theirs.  At one point she started to cry a little and I waited beside her while she composed herself.  Then I said gently to her, "You know, you really did the best thing at that point.  It was the very best thing you could do at that moment in time, " which made her cry a little more all over again.  

More and more I realize that we're all doing the best we can.  Owning our mistakes and then understanding that we had limited resources within us at times due to circumstances of mental and emotional health, doing that one difficult thing is often the most right and truthful thing we can do. Hard, at times, and shameful to us, but we still were doing all we could to do that one thing right so that we could begin the slow and painful process of beginning again. When we recognize that about ourselves, then we can have compassion and afford kindness to another who has struggled.

On Sunday we had a day just filled with all sorts of pleasant things.  A good sermon.  Lovely people we like a lot greeting us after church service.  An older gentleman that we've been in prayer over for months wanted John to have one of the new church t-shirts.  When John said, "Oh they'll never have my size!" the gentlemen found one in his size and then insisted on buying it for him.

Then we met friends for lunch.  They will be leaving the country soon to minister in Roatan, Honduras.  This is the same couple whose wedding we attended last April...And as we were all leaving the parking lot, Donnylle came to give John a new Cd of worship music they'd been given.  

We came home thinking we'd been pretty blessed for a single day, listening to the CD.  When we came to our drive there was Samuel on his tractor repairing the potholes that had developed in our dirt driveway and then he came up to the house and sat to talk with us for a long while.  All in all, a really lovely day and weekend behind us.

April Goals:

1.  Do some prep work for getting the kitchen and laundry area painted.  I can remove pictures from the walls, remove baskets and odds and ends from the laundry area, etc.  Once Travis is here to do the real work his plans are to focus on one section of the kitchen at a time, so it won't be quite the big mess that it was when we do the cabinetry.

2.  Continue to work on getting planters cleaned up around the house.

3.  Continue work on porches and patio.

4.  Have a family day at Easter.  I don't know if the three from across the field will be home Easter weekend or not at present.  I do know Taylor will be with her dad and family that weekend.  So, it might well just be Caleb and possibly Bella (also an unknown).  I'll keep checking with Katie and Sam and see what they say. I wouldn't mind doing a family day on Easter Sunday.  And if it works out better to just do it at Katie's (if the three aren't going to be here) we'll do it that way.

John and I already know we're not going to church that day.  They will be having four services to handle the crowds, and I'm not interested in joining in the crush.

5.  Go to Sam's Club.  I had thought to skip this month but when I did my freezer inventory in March, I realized that we won't have enough basic meat (hamburger, chicken) to carry us through April.  

6.  Lily's birthday.  I need to do something about her graduation gift as well.  

7.  Sort of plan for summer with the kids.  Hard to believe but before May is done the kids will be out of school.  I'd like to spend some of their summer vacation with them.  I thought I'd see if I couldn't work up an outing for each month they're out.  And of course, I'll sign them up for summer reading programs.

8.  Plan an outing for our anniversary in May.  We have a wedding to attend the day before our anniversary, so we won't do it that weekend, but I've never been a stickler for having to celebrate on the day of any occasion.  It won't be a long nor expensive get away but if we could get a night away from home and do a little something extra that would be nice for us both.  And it should be fairly affordable if we're sticking close to home.

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