Last Day!

It's the last day - - not just of 2011 but also of my vacation.  It has flown by so quickly but it has been wonderful to have little or no schedule and get eight hours sleep every night.  Bill and I know we are definitely looking forward to retirement within the next few years.

But until then, 'regular' life goes on.  Here was the activity at our house the beginning of Christmas week.  We woke up to the backhoe in the yard about three days in a row.  Praise God!  They came to put these blocks in front of our two basement walls that get the most stress from the ground.

Each block weighs 4,000 pounds.

 

It was fascinating to watch them but it made me nervous for them, too.  Even though the backhoe lowered them, the guys had to guide them in place while making sure none hit the house or injured a worker.

Nothing can get to that wall now!  I don't have all the pictures of the process since I was at work.  However, I was told that stone was put in the area to the right and left of these blocks.  Long drains are between the house and blocks.  Heavy stucco/masonry metal is attached to the blocks and the basement wall.  It is covered with heavy, heavy black liner.  Then dirt is added to all of it.

These are the backhoe operators who worked some very long days.

 

However they have taken us from this yard . . . . 

 

to this!

This year is about to be finished and so is our outside construction.  They have done a fantastic job.  We made new friends in this old year but they will rejoin us once again in the new year to smooth us out just a bit more.

 

Even though you see LOTS of rain outside - - - - our basement is DRY, DRY, DRY!!!!!  Praise God!!!

 See ya next year when we will all share new adventures together.

 Unless the Lord builds the house, They labor in vain who build it . . . Psalm 127:1a

Merry Christmas!

Our "kids" came over yesterday for lunch and a time of gift exchange.  We had a wonderful time!  A couple of new recipes were eaten.  These culinary delights were discovered online.  Perhaps I can get them posted soon.

With all that has been going on in our lives, I did not go crazy decorating but focused on one room.  It was still simple - - but more than I have done in some other years.  Having time and energy to enjoy being together seemed more important than wearing myself out so we had the aesthetics.

 

The book in the owl's hand has some of the words of "The Night Before Christmas".     It says, "And I heard him exclaim as he drove out of sight - - - Merry Christmas to Owl and to Owl a good night!" 

We have had the cat in the balloon basket a LONG time - - since the girls were little - - reminds us of the story, Hot Air Henry, a Reading Rainbow Book - - - - - Meow - - Meow!

 

The football player is fairly recent - - - orange & white jingle bell - - - Tennessee's UTK VOLS.

 My sister gave me the Nativity Set.  It's like stained glass and looks really pretty in a window with the sun shining through it.

 Baby's first Christmas gift (even though Baby isn't due till July 28).  It's from sister to sister.

 I "made" my husband stop by the House of Lights the other night.  Their decorations are computer coordinated to flash with the beat of Christmas songs on a certain radio station.

My husband showed our son-in-law how to play our new favorite game.  Match six of the same shape (different colors) or six of the same color but different shapes.  It either frustrates you to no end or keeps your mind sharp!

Today we went to worship at church . . . also had the library open for those who wanted an item.  Then we went to Joshua's Mamaw's house for an excellent feast.  We are still full over five hours later!

I pray you all have had a wonderful time with family and friends this weekend, too as we celebrate the only ONE in life who matters most, our precious, precious Jesus!

  And she brought forth her firstborn Son, and wrapped Him in swaddling cloths, and laid Him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn.  Luke 2:7

Christmas at FBC

The Nativity Set is on the left as you enter the front doors.

 The Welcome Center Desk - - what you see when you enter the doors above.  (I was on the staircase to take this one.)

 Here is the back of that desk - - looking toward the front.  I love our ceiling.

The PowerPoint announcements also include our new library books.

And here are the stairs.

How about a few Christmas trees?

 

There have been year-end celebrations almost every day this month.  The diverse gatherings have included groups from our church and also outside organizations who utilize our facilities.  Some events are catered by our wonderful food ministry staff.  Others are pot-luck.  The tables below were the beginning decorations for a women's Sunday School Class.  (I think they had a total of eight tables but I left before all had finished.)  They had volunteers decorate each table with their china from home.  All coordinated beautifully but were each unique.

 

She will give birth to a son and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins." Matthew 1:21       (Thank you, Friend, Cindy, for letting me use one of your favorite verses!)

A Love Story

(Pictures are copied from AMANDA's BLOG.)

Twenty-eight years ago, we fell in love with our newborn baby for the second time - - - because she was our second child.   We loved her dearly and still do - - - - but then she fell in love with Joshua and married him three years ago.

 

 Now ALL of us are about to fall in love again with another newborn baby - - - at the end of July if all goes well - - - - because they are about to make us GRANDparents for the first time in our lives!!!!!  We are soooooo very excited - - and of course, praying for good health for Amanda and OUR GRANDchild!  Isn't that news one of the best Christmas presents we can receive?!!

Children are a gift from the Lord; they are a real blessing. Psalm 127:3 GNT

 

 

Orange You Thankful?

About a week before Thanksgiving, the Florida oranges from the Cleveland High Band Boosters are delivered.  They are DELICIOUS!!!   All forty pounds of them - - that we fit into the refrigerator along with Thanksgiving dishes!  No other oranges we eat all year are as good as these.

And speaking of good - - - our Thanksgiving dinner at our daughter's house was delicious, too.  If you go to her blog, you can see our son-in-law with the deep-fried turkey  and just a few of the fifteen people who also celebrated a first birthday after our feast.

I also want to refer you to the blog of one of my very favorite authors, Robert J. Morgan, who is also a pastor in Nashville.  He suggests we start a new habit - - - if we don't have it already - - - of thanking God all day (every day) for everything!  Read some of his personal blog listed on the side bar for some interesting adventures in his daily life. 

The book Jesus Calling reflects the same thought today.  Author, Sarah Young says we will see more of God's glorious riches when we practice continual thankfulness.  Her devotional book is the favorite of the women on our church staff.

. . . . . in everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.  I Thessalonians 5:18

28

How did TWENTY-EIGHT years pass by so quickly?  November 21 was the date I went to the hospital to deliver our second daughter - - - the baby of our family.

At some point, I will find a picture of what I looked like at that time.  My hairstyle didn't look this good if I remember correctly.

This picture was taken today as was the picture of my daughter at her birthday luncheon prepared by her Mamaw (her husband's maternal grandmother).

 We had a great time visiting together with all the families.  Our immediate family is blessed to live in close proximity of each other.    We love being together.  Anyone who knows Amanda can tell you that she is a fun, caring person who enjoys life to the fullest.  She is very creative and is ecstatic to be using that talent in her classroom.  We are very thankful God gave her to us - - - on a Monday - - - - 28 years ago!

13 For You formed my inward parts; You covered me in my mother's womb. 14 I will praise You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made; Marvelous are Your works, And that my soul knows very well. Psalm 139

Thank you!

This week we had our annual appreciation banquet for our First Baptist Library Workers.

In past years, we have had potluck dinners.  At one point, someone said it's not a party if they have to work before they get there - - - - so we started going to local restaurants.

Our church's food ministry has cooked for us before and we chose to let them bless us again this year.

They decorated the tables and served our plates individually.

The menu was steak medallions, baby bakers (potatoes), vegetable medley, tossed salad, dinner rolls, and dessert was a choice of pecan or apple pie.  It was absolutely more than delicious!

We had a man we all admire present an after dinner talk.

 

Our library workers are the greatest people to work with in ministry.  We all enjoy each others company and accomplish a lot of work when we are together.   One meal a year hardly seems enough appreciation.

And a big THANK YOU goes to my sweet husband.  He finished the painting on our new wall.  It has the Dry-loc and a Satin-Finish coat of Sherwin Williams "Snowbound".

As you can see, we are beginning to put "stuff" back where it belongs.  I have missed my basement pantry.   We aren't hoarders.  It's just nice to have ingredients when you are ready to cook.  The reason for so much soup is sales and coupons.  For those of you who cook with Swanson's chicken broth, the cans are fifty cents at Wal-Mart and fifty-nine cents at Target this week.  We stock up for the winter since this sale seems to only occur around Thanksgiving.  About the Chunky Soup - - - Bill likes it if he comes home for lunch.  It's quick and quite tasty.

 The gray wall you see will also be painted.  It is the one that was repaired with the fiberglass screen and concrete.  It seems to be dry but the color is not all consistent yet so we are waiting a few more days to be sure before paint is applied.  It feels sooooooo good to have some things back in place.  There are many more hours to go down there because there is dirt on most everything - - - - but dirt is fine to deal with when you have walls!!!

 We give thanks to God always for you all, making mention of you in our prayers . . .

1 Thessalonians 1:2a

5 Steps Closer

This post may not be that exciting to you but it is to us.  You don't have to read it all but I want to blog about it so I can put it in my scrapbook. 

Earlier this week, "the men" came back to the house.  As you can see in the above picture, our house is now resting on our new wall.  They put the wood beams on top of the block and under the house floor.

The same day, the 12" blocks were capped with masonry mud.  You can see that first a wire mesh was placed on top of the block.  The pictures will not show it well but the cap is at an angle.  It looks a bit like a triangle.

With construction done on the inside wall, Bill started painting with a Dry-lock paint for the primer coat.

As you can see, he has finished the primer coat.  The wall that collapsed is on your left.  The wall on the right side of the picture was also cracked.  You are about to see the repair on it, too.

The wall was pushed back into place with no bulges on October 19.  Today the cracks were repaired with fiberglass net/screen and masonry mud.

 

Fiberglass net below.

Close-up of repair in progress.   The entire wall was then covered with the yellow screen and completely 'mudded'. 

It looks brown in the photos but we were told it would dry to a lighter gray within about three days.  It will be another wall for Bill to paint next weekend.  That is a new electrical outlet for either our (extra) refrigerator or freezer when we plug it back in.  My thought is I am ready for the freezer first.

 

Also, today, the outside wall was waterproofed.  I don't know what you call the below machine but the "cooker" is probably appropriate.  It has a propane-fueled flame that heats blocks of tar to 500 degrees.

The tar is applied to the outside of the basement blocks.  Then a layer of fiberglass felt is stuck onto the tar - - - a second layer of tar - - - a second layer of felt  - - and a third layer of tar.  The felt is applied in the same manner as shingles - - but sideways.  The felt is of course 'hung' vertically.  Each sheet laps over the previous one with the last one being at the beginning of any water flow.  That way any water will always flow over a seam and not under.

Here you can see the steam coming out of the bucket as the first coat of tar is mopped onto the wall.  It's a shame you didn't get to smell it with us!  We are sooooo thankful for persons who enjoy doing this kind of work and doing it well.  They walk in wet mud for part of the job; work in all kinds of weather; and go through one to two sets of clothes a week because the dirt and tar that gets on them cannot be washed out without ruining a washing machine.

 

Both walls are completed.  The masonry cap was waterproofed, too but for some reason, it reflected the light in all my pictures.  The workers said this method using the fiberglass felt is supposed to keep any water out of the basement for seventy-five years!  Guess we will leave someone a note about that since we won't be here!

The ditches around the house will probably be there for another week or two.  It will take that long for a backhoe operator to be available again.  That's okay.  We have the basement back and are able to begin putting it back in order.   It's just wonderful to be at this point.

Unless the Lord builds the house, They labor in vain who build it . . Psalm 127:1