July 28, 2008

My Wish I Could Do "To Do" List

My "To Do" list is longer than my arm. It can be very discouraging when roaming through my house, garage or yard looking for a place to start. The whole needy thing is a work in progress!! Where to begin is the real question here. Which project should get top priority? I don't know. I just don't know. Some of my projects will require muscle of which mine are unfortunately, lacking in the strength department. So, those activities have to be done at a time when my husband is home. That is, home and available. My husband is often at home, but not often available as he is normally completing his own projects. Therefore, timing is everything when enlisting his assistance with a home project.

To refer to my list as "home projects", is to give the false impression that I am actually being creative in my home. No, I just didn't want to write about my home organization, repair, throw away and clean up activity for what it really is, "housework". Not only is it really housework, I am a shamed to say it is housework I should have done long ago. No, my "To Do List" is not so much of a project as it is maintenance. Only problem being that I have to complete the clean up before I can maintain.

So, here is the list for any of you that may be interested. The items are in no particular order, although some will need to be completed before I can begin another. I hope my list will inspire and promote any "home projects" that you have on your own personal list.

  1. Clean out the 3rd garage of all the old boxes. Unpack stuff we want to use again. Throw away stuff we won't ever use again.
  2. Plan and organize a garage sale.
  3. Organize the "office" room. Get rid of so much paper.
  4. Take old books to Half Price Books or sell in planned G.S.
  5. Paint walls in living room and dining rooms.
  6. Replace window treatments in LR, DR, frt BR
  7. Rearrange den so TV is on another wall away from fireplace
  8. Get roman shades for patio doors.
  9. Fix weather stripping on patio doors.
  10. Paint bookshelf in den.
  11. Sell dining room table/chairs to purchase a new one.
  12. Replace chandelier in dining room.
  13. Remodel kitchen, new appliances, paint, and redo cabinet finish and cabinet/drawer pulls.
  14. Reorganize the things in all kitchen cabinets.
  15. Take out the range top and wall oven. Replace with one stove/oven all together.
  16. Build a pantry closet where refrigerator is and relocate fridge to another place.
  17. Remove or move wall between breakfast room and laundry room.
  18. Change out old small pipes of washing machine and kitchen sink.
  19. Weed the back yard plants. Clean out the beds and take out some plants. Plant some of the pots of plants. Remove or cut back large leaf plant behind the house.
  20. Fix or buy another weed eater.
  21. Redo the beds around the house. Take out the poky plants with stickers.
  22. Trim back the hedges. Take out the weeds in the side plant bed.
  23. Enlarge patio area to extend into the back yard for more seating.
  24. Buy a new backyard grill.
  25. Clean den floors and replace the rug.
  26. Get rid of the sectional and purchase new den furniture. May need to sell sectional before buying the new furniture.
  27. Relocate master bedroom to middle bedroom.
  28. Cut a door from middle bedroom to bathroom.
  29. Train bedroom furniture and office furniture from front room to present master bedroom.
  30. plant flowers around the house outside.
  31. Clean out every closet in the house and relocate some of the items either to other closets or to garage sale items or give away items.
See, that's a lot and it could keep going. I wish I could do all the items on my "To Do" list. Some of those things are easy, others are hard and costly. Of course, the number 1 thing on the list should be get up off my bottom and start!

What's on your "Wish You Could Do-To Do List"?

July 21, 2008

What To Write About?







Knowing its about time that I posted again, I've been trying to decide on a subject. We just returned from a week at the lake and that was very relaxing. We spent some time with our sister and brother in law at my in-law's lake cabin. It was a good place to get away and change our scenery. As you see from the pictures, the scenery is really nice. The days were hot, fun, relaxing, and a good place for an evening game after dinner. The cabin is on a part of the lake that is not highly populated with vacationers or people. We went to a sandy beach part of the lake to swim and it was so nice. We were the only four people with our sister and brother in law's dog within miles.

I've been teaching a little Wednesday night class at church which I'll be finished with in another week. I took on this class as a favor to a friend. Now that friend is not involved as much at church as in the past and I don't really want to teach. It's one of those church jobs that as a weekly thing, locks you into that position each week. Unlike the adult classes, the teachers for the younger kids don't rotate and it becomes a burden because you're stuck until you beg for a replacement.

Church is going through a lot of changes right now. We're adding more elders and that is a whole 'nother issue. That's all I can say on that subject. There is a lot on my mind in regard to all of that, but I'm not at liberty to put in on my blog. Suffice it to say that we can use your prayers for our church right now.

Our community theater is busier than ever. Our summer musical is in rehearsals now. Chicago will open on August 1. Kim and I will house manage for two of the performances, and we'll work in the box office also. Our son, Kyle, is the director and we will of course go to see it. Our daughter in law, Amy, has one of the lead roles and our son, Ryan is also in the play. Our oldest son, Jason, and his wife Kari and son, Aidan all are performing in Music Man at a church in Friendswood. So we went to see their play and it was just wonderful! It gave me several opportunities to baby sit with Regan while they were at rehearsal or the shows. I liked that very much. Lots of plays on the horizon. Kim is directing Mame in December not to mention his student productions at school. Kyle will also have student productions at his school, so we'll be trekking over to his school to see them. And who knows at this point if I may perform in a play myself?

Well as you can tell, there really wasn't a lot to this post. I hope you all are enjoying the summer. I love the summer time. I know a lot of people complain about the heat, but I'm okay with it. Of course, I have a/c and can stay cool. Okay, well...maybe next time I'll have something to say.

July 5, 2008

Relationships

Relationships, from my perspective, are wonderful at its best and challenging at its worst. They can be easy and at the same time very exasperating. Relationships: man and woman, girlfriend to girlfriend, male pal to male pal, partner to partner, church to elders, young to old, kids to peers, adults to peers, employ to boss, and in Jesus' day it was even master to slave. Many more relationships remain that could be compared and contrasted. But the fact remains that any and all relationships take a lot of work patience and tolerance in order to be healthy, honest and alive.

My husband and I have known each other for 36 years and married for 33 of those years. One might think that after all that time we'd never have a misunderstanding or conflicting word for each other. However, whether a couple is married for 33 years or 73 years, that relationship requires work. It might get easier as you grow older together and develop tolerance for the each other's idiosyncrasies. However, our marriage is important enough to both of us to continue to strive for the understanding and love we promised to each other in our marriage vows 33 1/2 years ago. Some friends of mine are celebrating 70 years of marriage this year. The following are some words of advice in regard to marriage, by the wife.

Marriage is not a game, not a contest. You are both on the same team. Always work together. Don’t let anyone come between you, no matter how convincing, how attractive the temptation.

We'd all do well to follow that advice not only for our marriages, but for any relationship. Just substitute the word "marriage" for any relational situation in which you participate. For example: "Church relationships" are not a game or contest. You are both on the same team. Always work together. Don't let "the devil" come between you, no matter how convincing, how attractive the temptation. Give the words of my friend some thought in your dealings with other people.

Most relationships encountered on a day to day basis, don't have vows attached. We don't normally recite vows of loyalty and acceptance to our friends, bosses, or leaders with whom we are involved. The rights of "number one" seem to prevail in many relationships with no evidence of love or respect. Some bosses want, even demand, respect from their employees to the extent that the employees may only respect his authority because of his ability to terminate their jobs. A friend, while loyal to a point, can also be demanding of her friendship. He or she gets their feelings hurt when their friend does not agree with them on a point of personal importance. However, true friends will usually talk out their differences for the sake of the friendship. I have found that my closest, truest girlfriends allow me to bare my soul. They listen and give me feedback with gentleness. I trust their advice and they'll agree and support me all the way. However, not all friendships are as amiable. People should take Peter's instruction to live in harmony with one another.

In the cast of our Christian brothers and sisters, that harmony should definitely be in place. We are taught by Jesus to love one another. There seem to be more disagreements and intolerance within church relationships than most others I've known. Some intolerance appears to come from people thinking their way is the only way. We take offense too easily, not giving consideration to the other person's feelings and not taking time to talk about our different opinions. God's children should never behave so rudely to each other. Church relations deserve as much effort as marriages, and considering the growing number of divorces, they deserve much more.

God knew he had created a flawed species when he cast Adam and Eve from the Garden. He knew that we would need a Savior in order to enter heaven and the divine presence of our Lord at the end of our life. As a flawed creature, however, He gave us the ability to make choices. We don't always make good choices in our relationships. We botch up our lives when we selfishly attempt to laud our power over another human being.

By the grace of God, we can achieve a loving understanding and tolerance for each other in this world. Value your relationships. Work on them. Our opinions are just that...our opinions. Passing them off as facts are just wrong. God can not tolerate wrong. (Habakkuk 1:13)
We recall with humility the words of Rodney King when in 1992 he made an appeal to the rioting crowds, "...can't we all just get along."

Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called sons of God. (Matthew 5:9)
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