Sunday Sabbath December 27 2015  IT COULD BE WORSE

If you haven’t read yesterday’s blog of December 26^th this blog probably will not make much sense.  I will write as if everyone has read yesterday’s blog.

Well, it could be worse!  I had an accident in the house that appears to be one that will cost several thousand dollars.  We are just hoping that it will be covered by our homeowner’s insurance policy.  So I continue as to where I left off.

The men from the remediation department came by today, the Sunday following Christmas.  This event happened on Christmas.  The damage is much more extensive than we first thought.  I had my suspicions but there was no way to confirm it until we had them come in and do some moisture testing.  When Dave found the pool of water in the light fixture downstairs, we knew all was not as it should be.  We called them last night, they were here today and spent several hours opening up an area to aid in the drying.  They will be back at 8:00 a.m. in the morning with the big tools.  The walls and floor must be opened up to allow for venting and drying. Four rooms are affected as well as the hallway downstairs.

Hey, I know what you might be thinking, this doesn’t sound like “blog material”, but just so you know, this blog is about life, the everyday life of an aging couple.  And, this is what is happening right now.  And I stand by the old saying that it is not what happens to you that counts, but how you take it.  Well, it happened.  Now we must do the best to protect the investment of our home and make certain that no moisture remains anywhere that can cause future problems.  It makes no sense to get upset, grieve, or complain.  It happened.  It must be taken care of.  Do I like it? No!  Is it going to rob me of joy and peace? ABSOLUTELY NOT!  In the scheme of life this is barely a blip.  This is an accident that happened where no one was hurt.  For that I am thankful!  No one got whiplash or a smashed in face or died.  So you see, it could have been worse.  It just hurt my pride a bit but I’m already over that.  I just may need to put off getting the new Mac Computer for a while, but I can live with that.  I am just thankful for God’s provision for what we do have.  We have plenty to eat and a warm place to live that we rent from the government.  So who am I to complain?  Until I call the insurance company tomorrow I won’t know for certain if it will be covered.  That will hurt a little deeper in the pocket book but we’ll get over that too! 

Now Dave and I have some decisions to make of how to go about the clean up.  Which rooms do we debilitate to allow the air flow?  Four locations from which to choose.  One is our main bathroom area which would probably be the greatest interruption to our life.  The second is the downstairs bathroom and that would mean taking down wall and ceiling.  The third is the hallway and we were told we could open up an airway to the interior from the room backing the hallway.  That would be less of an eyesore and easier to repair.  The fourth choice of entrance is from our dressing room which would mean removing a built in vanity and sink and accessing the wet interior through the floor.  The area around the vanity is carpeted, but the vanity sits on sub-flooring.  If we do that, which we are leaning toward, it will be less destructive to the other rooms.  Then we have the option to have the vanity replaced or the choice to have it permanently removed which would result in carpeting the room at our expense.  We just haven’t decided if we will have it reinstalled with the sink, as it is now, or just have it reinstalled with a new marble top and use it as a dressing room counter.  It can then be removed later when we need to have new carpeting.  Our carpet in that room is lovely and plush and does not need to be replaced at this time.  

I do hope I haven’t lost all my readers by this point.  It is always interesting to receive email comments and know that some of what I write seems to give others insights and helps them in various ways.  I promise not to dwell on this subject but I did want everyone to know what the follow-up investigation showed regarding yesterday’s blog.

 

A POEM IN JEST WITH LOTS OF TRUTH

By Kathleen Martens

December 27, 2015

 

So I’ve been told I must focus

Don’t put chance to hocus pocus.

Don’t get distracted is the demand,

So my brain I must command.

 

Oh so easy to become sidetracked

And then it happens, oh so fast.

Disaster looms when you least expect it,

And it won’t help by throwing a fit.

 

The first and best thing to do

Is intentionally think to get you through.

Plan ahead, so calamity won’t strike,

Just stay focused with all your might.

 

Don’t answer the phone to talk to a friend,

Finish what you are doing to the end.

Don’t leave the kitchen when you cook

And for goodness sakes don’t read a book.

 

Keep your mind sharp thinking as you go,

Read the instructions so you will know.

And when the pot bubbles do not fail

By going out to retrieve the mail.

 

Because a friend you might see

Forgetting that now you are not free.

In a conversation do not become mired

Or your kitchen may catch on fire.

 

Keep the stairs cleared to go up and down

Or an ambulance might take you to town.

Take up those rugs in the hall

So that you will not fall.

 

Chew your food into mush

Eat slowly and do not rush

You don’t want to choke, or just die

By climbing a ladder that’s too high.

 

Oh so many disasters await each day,

Now that you’re retired and want to play.

But listen carefully to what you hear,

So into long life you will veer.

 

And then you can sit in a rocking chair

And gently comb your thinning hair.

And use your walker to go to bed,

But at least, you won’t be dead.

 

I chuckled as I wrote the above poem but there is a lot of truth said in jest.  I will definitely take to heart some of the comments that have been sent my way.  Thank you for sending them.

I was going to end here but I want to say one more thing.  I’m reading a book called “YOU STAYING YOUNG” by Michael F. Roizen, M.D. and Mehmet C. OZ. M.D.  I’m at the part about keeping the brain as healthy as possible to ward off Alzheimer’s.  Here is a quote from the book (which is probably illegal to do so please don’t turn me in):

“ONE OF THE KEYS TO HAVING A HEALTHY MIND IS TO LIVE AS MUCH AS YOU CAN IN THE MOMENT; THAT IS, THINKING ABOUT WHAT YOU ARE DOING RIGHT NOW, NOT WORRYING ABOUT THE MISTAKES YOU MADE YESTERDAY OR THE HEADACHES THAT AWAIT YOU TOMORROW.”

I think that is very sound advice and I definitely want to put it into practice during this latest escapade!

MY PRAYER:

“Oh God, I will exalt You for You are my God and King.  I praise Your name forever and ever.  Every day I will praise you and extol Your name forever and ever.  Lord I praise You for You are great and most worthy of praise.  I cannot even fathom Lord how great You are.

Lord I will tell of Your glorious splendor and Your majesty and I will meditate and think on Your wondrous works of creation and tell others of all the great things You do.  I will join with others to celebrate how abundantly good You are and I will sing songs to You of how righteous You are.

I worship You because You are so gracious and so compassionate.  Thank You for being slow to anger.  I give You thanks for being so rich in love and for loving me.  You are so good to me.  You are so compassionate to me, for I am one that You have created.  And all You have created will praise you.  I will sing songs to you about your glory and how mighty you are.”

 

The above prayer is an example of me praying the scriptures.  This prayer is my rephrasing of Psalm 145 and selected verses from 1-11.  I use words as if I am speaking to God.  I often pray the scriptures.  God has so many promises in His word and I pray those promises back to Him.  The scripture has a prayer for every occasion and every need.  In no way do I want anyone to think that I am re-writing the scripture.  I am only using the scripture to pray back to God in the way I would speak.  God loves to hear His scriptures being read back to Him by those who love Him.  Try it.  You might like it.  The above is just my example of how I pray the scriptures.

 

GOOD NIGHT AND GOD BLESS YOU!