UP

Our house feels a bit like this - - or I imagine it does.  The basement repair involves two walls being clear of "stuff" so we have been tossing and also sending our daughters' storage to their houses.  With so much weight leaving the basement, the house has to be rising up a bit?!!!

The good news is after listening to a lot of ideas about how to best fix the basement, we chose a contractor today who will do a traditional fix with proper drainage around the outside of the house as well as a retaining wall of interlocking blocks outside the drainage area.  There will be pictures for your viewing in the future.

This week, our contractor will build the temporary inside wall that will support our home while blocks are being replaced and excavation done for drainage.  The majority of the repair work will not be done for at least a couple of weeks.

And I have pics from my siblings' visit to show you if there is ever a minute.

He blesses the home of the just.  Proverbs 3:33b

 

Let me first say I am behind in reading everyone's blog - - but only by about a week.  My plans are to try and catch up at some point.  And I won't tell you everything in this post about what we've been doing.  Eventually I'll cover all the high spots.

About a week and a half ago, we celebrated the birthdays of the two favorite men in my life - - - my husband, Bill and our son-in-law, Joshua.

 Josh's Mamaw made a delicious Sunday dinner for us almost two weeks ago.  The birthday boys had their favorite desserts.  Josh had a DQ Reese's peanut butter/chocolate cake.  Bill had homemade banana pudding.

I believe I have told you before that when our Amanda married Joshua, his family adopted us.  That meant we got to be a 'Bandy for a Day' in August.  It was a reunion of Josh's maternal grandmother's family.  The food was mighty fine as was the fellowship.

 

 

Of course there were plenty of other dishes but I wanted to show some summer foods one more time.  Their colors are so vibrant. 

In between those events, Bill got to once again be at the Honors Course as a volunteer.  That weekend, he assisted the PGA official scorekeeper at the Amateur Senior Women's Golf tournament.    This weekend, he is at Black Creek as a walking scorekeeper for this tournament.  He likes it when he can walk the course and see the golfers in action.   It is definitely a beautiful weekend to be outside.

Update on the house - - - have talked to quite a few people about the best fix.  Bill and I are still discussing what is the best option for the foundation repair.  Next week we will make a final decision.  We are moving forward  - - on our own - - - since the insurance has rejected our claim.  We are not the only ones in Cleveland who have submitted the same claim to the same insurance company  - - with the same rejection results.  We will appeal - - and definitely will write a letter to express our disappointment.  I will not say more about our insurance 'provider' until repairs are done.  Life happens. 

Rejoice in the Lord always. Again I will say, rejoice!  Philippians 4:4

Library Conference

Here are some pictures taken at the library training conference on Sept 10.

And on the home front - - - the insurance's structural engineer assessor will be here this Friday to look at our home's cracked foundation in the basement.

Lifeway Bookstore had an abundant set-up.  This is only part of the fiction section.  There were about four more tables in other categories.

 

As is usually the case, we had plenty of food!

 

The slogans on the traffic signs were fun to read.

Our conference was on September 10, 2011.  Their library did a great job recognizing this important date in our country's history.

Children's books are too much fun!

Till next time - - - I am about to go back to our church library for the evening shift!

Busy Week

I probably won't have time for a lengthy post until later in the week.  A church library conference has my time scheduled this weekend.

Last weekend's weather moved our house's foundation quite a bit.  But we are still waiting on an insurance person to evaluate it so I won't elaborate on that at this point.

But life is good cuz God is good!   Couldn't do life without HIM!

35 years

That's how long we have been married.  Today is our anniversary.  Here we are at the AFLAC Christmas Party in 1977 - - married a year and a quarter.

 

I think I was a size 3 at that point in life.  Fast forward - - and it has flown by fast - - to last year.

Did you recognize us as the same people?  Maybe if I took off my glasses and he put on a suit, would we look similar?

I knew I struck pure gold when Bill and I met.  And the years have only proven it more and more.  Today we didn't travel out of town but stayed close to home because we just wanted to relax and not be on the road.  The furthest we journeyed was down Memory Lane while dining at Aubrey's.

When discussing the highlights and challenging parts of all the years, I told Bill if I had it to do over again, I would have treated him nicer more often.  Rather than 'fussing' at him over 'stuff', I would have tried to be sweeter in conversation.

However, some things I think have strengthened our marriage and kept us really happy together are:

1.   Focusing and being thankful for the positive things about your spouse.  Bill's good points are numerous! 

We all have faults but why dwell on them?  It just gives you the wrong mindset.  Have an attitude of gratitude.

2.  Treat each other with respect - - especially in public.  Don't do or say anything that would be derogatory or embarrassing to your spouse.

3.  Enjoy each day and every minute you have with each other.  Time flies by way too fast.  I really wished we had realized that sooner, too.

Any other suggestions you might want to add?  Thanks for recognizing our milestone with us.

And this provides a good picture of how each husband is to treat his wife, loving himself in loving her, and how each wife is to honor her husband.  Ephesians 5:33

It Rained!

Praise God!  Praise God!  It was a wonderful shower.  Thanks for praying.

Popcorn

I love air popped popcorn with a bit of butter.

But the popcorn on the ceilings has to go!  In many of the rooms, pieces were starting to fall - - - - so in our recently vacated bedroom, we are scraping the ceiling.  It will become the guestroom.  After blogging, I will go back in there.  The scraping should be complete within the hour.  Then we have to wash walls, spackle, etc etc.  Painting may not begin for two weeks because we both have plans next weekend.

We are looking forward to the predicted rain tomorrow.  I do not ever remember it being this dry in the 15 years we have lived in Cleveland.  Trees are dropping their leaves due to the drought conditions.

On the flip side, the area  where I grew up known as Schoharie County in New York State had huge devastation last weekend due to flash flooding from Hurricane Irene.  Their crops drowned.

Parched ground that soaks up the rain and then produces an abundance of carrots and corn for its gardener gets God's "Well done!"  Hebrews 6:7