This evening I had the pleasure of going to the Ladies Fellowship at my church. I honestly hadn't expected to be able to go because my work schedule is so all over the place so it was nice to have this evening. This is a chance for me to get out and connect with women and just be myself and truthful with a group of people who are there for each other and love to lift each other up. It's an amazing experience to hear only women talk together, laugh together and worship together. Now here is some truth for you - I had "girl" friends in public school. I was a bit of a Tom Boy, but I had girly girl in me too. I loved to paint my nails and get my hair done, but I was happier in jeans and a t-shirt climbing trees. Then in high school I got so tired of the cattiness that I gave up on having female friends (I had maybe 2). My best friend was always a guy and even when I had boyfriends, I got along better with the guys. This continued through university right up until, basically, I got married. All of a sudden going out with a guy friend was suspicious. So there I was, pretty lonely with by best girl friend... 3 provinces away. Humph! Tonight was a reminder of how women can be such a inspiration to each other. Instead of judging it was an atmosphere of "Oh, I've been there!" or "I know what you mean, here's my story". It was a chance to talk and be honest about where we are in our lives. So many times we ask people "How are you?" and we respond with "fine". But really we're not, we have a lot going on. Do we say "fine" because we don't want to bore them or because we know they don't really care? I love nights like tonight because when someone asked me how I've been, I responded honestly - I told them about my day yesterday and the uncertainty that I feel right now regarding our house. As we worshipped and sang the song Cornerstone (My Hope is Built on Nothing Less) a verse jumped out at me - Right now, it's dark. This year has definitely been overcast for us. In January we had planned to go on a vacation to Cuba only to have the brakes go on the van and then the furnace cut out on the coldest day in winter. There was darkness. It sucked. I constantly kept saying: I know this is hard, but God is with me, He is seeing me through this. I rested in His grace and we pulled through. Granted we're still paying off the furnace and that sucks, but we're getting there. Now, with everything that has happened I find myself resting in His grace again. I know that He is here seeing me through this storm and that it will pass and brighter days will come again. It's just that in the storm you get wet, and knocked around and even beat up a bit. But at the end of the day, the bruises will heal and the sun will refresh. I look forward to the sunshine while I rest in the grace of God during this storm. What have you done through the storms in your life? How has judgement and cattiness effected your relationships? Has that changed?
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Sarcasm alert! When I say goodness, I don't mean it. What an incredibly trying day. Aaron went downstairs to our bedroom to empty the dehumidifier. See my previous post as to why we even have a dehumidifier in our room. The next thing I know he comes running up the stairs with a panicked look asking me for help. Our room had flooded, again. We grabbed some towels, got the floor cleaned up and he pried the cover off the drain pipe in our closet that leads to the septic bed. We noticed that a small hole where the water was coming out of. It looked like sealant was covering it (we later discovered it was likely a wad of toilet paper *barf*). Aaron gets some paper towel and barely touches this "stuff". Now folks, I was a good three feet away from said pipe. When he touched that gunk, it came off and water shot out of that hole. It cleared my husband and went all down my jeans. EEWWW! IIICCCKKK!! SHUDDER! It was warm and soapy - dishes and laundry wash water. *Brilliant Idea* While Aaron plugs the hole I run upstairs for a bucket. *Not so brilliant idea* It had water in it so I dumped it out down the sink. Don't laugh!! You don't know what was going through my mind. Come to think of it, neither do I. By the time I get back, Aaron's plug is soaked and he has water running down his arm and across his back. Anyway, we have 2 buckets, while one fills I run upstairs and throw the other outside. I made four trips up and down those stairs. I'm not a huge girl, but I'm superbly out of shape. It was not a pretty sight. Thankfully there was a very helpful plumber from our church who came out to our rescue. Well, as much of a rescue as you can in these situations. While the guys were talking about things the floor was crumbling beneath them. Aaron has cut away some of the laminate but the subfloor underneath was saturated.
Basically we learned that there is a blockage going out to our septic bed and that's why water is coming into our room. We need to dig it up and replace or flush out the pipes, put down some new gravel and hope that that fixes the problem. The problem is... what will we find when we dig it up? Hopefully not another headache. This week has definitely come with it's challenges- in my home life as well as my work life. For some really dumb reason I thought it would be a good idea to volunteer as a union steward at my store. I know, right? Talk about glutton for punishment. I mean, let's face it. Depression is a part of my life. That means that I am constantly battling what I think people think of me. Mostly because I don't think very highly of myself. Sound confusing? Try living it. So while I'm discussing with the union rep the situation at work, I have this perceived idea that other people I work with hate me. Is it true? I have no idea, but to me it's very real. Let's also factor in the anxiety that I can sometimes go through over confrontation. And I volunteered for this?! Sure did, I used to thrive on this type of stuff. Now, I'm not so sure, but it's an interesting learning experience. All the stuff at work aside, I haven't had a great night's sleep since we've moved our bed upstairs after the weekend. My husband's CPAP machine went smashing to the ground the other night which means it may not be working properly. That causes him to have a horrible night's sleep which means... you guessed it, I don't have a good night either. Then there's just the fact that the kids like to wake me up. This morning I woke up to my son standing over me. Terrifying! He's not terrifying, but what he did was. I almost wet myself! Honestly, don't scare someone first thing in the morning who has a full bladder, you never know what will happen. A couple good notes. Things seemed to work out at work. This makes me very happy because I genuinely do love my job, sometimes politics just get in the way. I love my coworkers and my customers. I especially love that in the pharmacy you are always learning and that that makes it challenging. A second good note. My husband texted me last night at the end of my shift that our cat came home. It took her almost a week, but she came through the door. I had honestly believed that she wouldn't be back and I was very upset. It was great to see her again. It just means things will get a little more interesting with Baby Bear but we're up to the challenge. We did it! We adopted Baby Bear into the family. Sadly I haven't seen my cat since the day before yesterday, which honestly worries me. Especially since I heard a "commotion" outside last night. One I would rather not think about because it involved a distressed cat. Obviously I haven't said anything to my kids, or even my husband. Although I have to admit, I doubt he'd be overly concerned. I love animals, Aaron likes them but tolerates them mostly for me. Anyway, last night was Baby Bear's first night in his new home. Our golden retriever, Roland, was more than happy to welcome a new face in the house. Actually, he just enjoys welcoming anything that comes within 8' of him. Honestly, he's just loves love. So here's the low down of the first night. I coaxed Baby Bear out of his carrier with some greens and he seemed vey "chill" about the whole thing. Not what I imagined since you can actually scare a rabbit so bad it dies, but I thought a good start. Here's a picture of him actually stretched out in his crate with his feet way out behind him. Rabbits need a lot of room so we have a very large dog crate for him to hop around in. After the kids went to bed I put a blanket on the floor for him and let him out to adventure around. Roland was so interested in him and he wanted nothing to do with Roland at all! it was actually pretty pathetic. Baby Bear would hop over, sniff around Roland then flip around with his back to him and peek at him over one shoulder. Almost like a dare. We bonded for a bit on the couch where I petted him and he returned my pets with kisses then he hopped down and sat next to Roland on the blanket (pictured above). I continued watching TV, then I heard a "FLUMP!". OMGoodness! The dog just pawed at the rabbit, I thought. But no, I looked down and Baby Bear had done what's called a bunny flop. This is the ultimate show of relaxation on a bunnies part. The bunny actually flops over and kicks their feet out to the side. That was pretty awesome. All in all, a good first night I think. I have to admit that this weekend was a trying one. Not because it was Mother's Day and my kids woke me up early but because when I went down to our bedroom on Saturday after work I noticed water on our bedroom floor. Ugh, *sigh*, eye roll. Are you kidding me? I asked my daughter to go get her father, who promptly had what can almost be referred to as a "man"-trum. "Why does this always happen? When are we going to get ahead? etc" I tried to keep a cool head. So far as we can see it, the septic system either backed up into our bedroom, or there is a leaky pipe to the septic system. Either way you slice it... EWWWW! SO! Instead of having a relaxing Saturday afternoon off, we spent the time relocating our room upstairs between the kids rooms. Joy! I mean really? Why should they have to go all the way downstairs to wake me up when they can just open their door? Once again, UGH! First thing Monday morning I was on the phone with Angie's Pooper Pumping Service. (Awesome name, I know!) Not only were they there within the hour, the whole job was done shortly after 11 and I was still able to run my errands. I'm hopeful that all we needed was the pump the tanks. Cross your fingers for us and say a little prayer! A good friend at church reminded me that "this too shall pass" and that God has us in his hands. |
AndreaYou know the saying, the grass is always greener on the other side? This is my attempt to find greener grass right where I am in my life.
BTW - I'm the one on the right, just in case you didn't already know that. Categories
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