June 30-July 6, 2019
G&G Visiting, Fixing Things, Painting, Floors, Pizza Shop Work
Hello, Friends!
What a good visit with Giz and Grampy, Dh's parents from southern Indiana. Giz's health has actually improved and her outlook was very positive. I had really been looking forward to G&G visiting so we could have serious talks about our church problem with them. They are wise older Christians that only want what is best for us. We spent time each day discussing our church problem and slowly processed different aspects. They confirmed the key point moving forward was to NOT stir the pot. This is a family trait that they always remain firm on. We don't want to act in a way that doesn't show love first and foremost and sometimes that means quietly walking away and praying for those involved so the Lord can handle it Himself.
We also had quite a few things break over the past few weeks and Grampy is a master repairman. They were coming to help us pull up the old hardwood floor in the dining room, but all the other things breaking put that on the back burner their first few days.
A.B. Church:
I went to the new church, for the third time, by myself this week. Dd's Sunday School class were finally working together to fix up their classroom and Dd wanted to be part of the effort, so she stayed home from church so she could go to Sunday School at our old church. She said ost of the people looked at her weird like someone had died or had cancer, all but her teacher, Jim! He was just clearly happy to see her. She really thinks her teacher is great. Three weeks ago, at a "Worship Meeting," our relationship with our church changed and we are still processing that and figuring how to move forward. The ironic part, for me, is that we've spent SO many hours discussing and not-sleeping in the middle of the night when I know all the people involved in our upheaval are unaffected. How can one event cause such different reactions between people?! The sermon at Ada was, once again, very good. I did okay being by myself and relished that I felt totally okay with it. When I was younger I would have felt more uncomfortable being alone, but I really did okay. Dh is going to need more time before he is able to try new churches and that's okay.
Women's Bible Study:
Dd needed the car so I couldn't go to my class this week, but I did my homework. I'm really enjoying:
"In His Image" by Jen Wilkin.
Chickens:
All the girls are doing 'okay.' I'm not excited about only getting 3-6 eggs each day! I have 25 hens! It's not like I'm not feeding them all the time and all sorts of goodies! Charlotte continued to be 'broody' all this week. I'd bring her up and put her in a chicken tractor, to force her outside because she only wants to obsessively sit in the nest box. When they are broody the hens won't eat or drink and wither away. Somewhere in this time frame Ms. Lemon (my Bantam hen) finally stopped being broody! I am SO glad! It takes so much effort doing all the extra work needed to stop a hen from being broody that when they recover I truly want to rejoice!
Garden:
Before G&G arrived I spent hours weeding! Giz has a severe issue with people not weeding their gardens, so I always try to make sure my garden looks as good as I can. Even though she has macular degeneration she has an eagle eye for weeds. She noticed how good my garden looked and said so.
Wednesday: Arrival
Giz and Grampy arrived on Wednesday and all our fun began! Dh actually got off work early! Luckily, this visit I remembered to pick up Grampy's sugar-free vanilla ice cream ahead of time, but that didn't stop us from going to not one, but TWO different ice cream shops. G&G are major ice cream fans---major.
Dishwasher:
Grampy and Dh worked together and fixed the broken dishwasher!
Truck:
With Grampy's truck beside Dh's the two were able to compare and figure out what was broken with the truck---something about a grounding wire. They fixed the truck!
Electric in Chicken Coop:
I have no idea why but the electricity in the chicken coop just stopped. The poor girls were without their ceiling fan!!! Grampy and Dh were able to change out an old timer switch for a new one and fix the problem. The girls are back to having a nice breeze throughout the night! Happy Hens!
Flooring:
One of the main goals G&G had coming up for a visit was to help Dh and I pull up our old wood flooring in the dining room and prep the floor for the new flooring we've ordered. We had to move a lot of the furniture out of the dining room to pull it up. The most 'fun' was pulling 3-10 nails out of every single piece of flooring we pulled up. I moved all the pieces to the sunroom; eventually, we'll get the wood out to the outbuilding so it won't be in the way. Giz had a special pair of plyers that helped her leverage out each nail. Her strength isn't what it used to be, but she stuck to it and they didn't stop until we had removed every last nail.
Videos:
Dh showed Grampy a lot of his video's he took featuring the new machines from his work. They both love machinery and enjoy watching how the machines run. It is hard to say who had more fun watching the endless videos!
Pool:
The pump wasn't working and the water level is in doubt, but that wasn't really the focus for us this visit. I know G&G always wants to help us get our pool going, they have had a pool open for decades! Perhaps next week we will have time to figure this out?
Pool Flowers:
Over the past few years, I never thought much about all the rocks around my flowers. But, it finally clicked just how hot the air is coming off the concrete pad around the pool. Then I realized all the decorative rocks were acting like little ovens circling the flowers. I decided to pick up all the rocks and place them around the outside perimeter of the fence. I miss all the pretty rocks, but the flowers will be better off.
Painting the Fence:
Giz was so happy to help me paint on our fence. She wanted a seat, so I found a bucket and she and I chatted and painted together. It was so nice to have someone painting and working beside me.
Invite with Elders:
Ironically our church friends, the "A's," invited us out to eat at the very restaurant where Dd is working on Friday, while she was on duty. We were hoping they wanted to discuss our church problem, but they never brought it up and I wasn't sure what the proper thing to do was, so I didn't bring it up either. It was nice having fellowship even if there was a cloud hanging over us all. It was also great seeing Dd at work and her boss and co-workers.
Out-to-Eat:
We don't normally go out to eat, but G&G are big fans. Friday morning they wanted to have breakfast at The Backwater Grill, then dinner at the pizza place for dinner. Saturday we went to Moo-ville (ice cream...my favorite!).
Migraines:
Unfortunately, this was a migraine week for me--three days in a row. I was able to keep moving forward for the most part. I laid down for a while on Thursday; which was my most painful day. G&G doesn't have migraines and I always feel so lazy for not having my usual pep when they are visiting. It seems like people that don't have migraines have a really hard time understanding the whole-body exhaustion and pain that you deal with when your struggling.
Women's Bible Study:
Dd needed the car so I couldn't go to my class this week, but I did my homework. I'm really enjoying:
"In His Image" by Jen Wilkin.
Chickens:
All the girls are doing 'okay.' I'm not excited about only getting 3-6 eggs each day! I have 25 hens! It's not like I'm not feeding them all the time and all sorts of goodies! Charlotte continued to be 'broody' all this week. I'd bring her up and put her in a chicken tractor, to force her outside because she only wants to obsessively sit in the nest box. When they are broody the hens won't eat or drink and wither away. Somewhere in this time frame Ms. Lemon (my Bantam hen) finally stopped being broody! I am SO glad! It takes so much effort doing all the extra work needed to stop a hen from being broody that when they recover I truly want to rejoice!
Garden:
Before G&G arrived I spent hours weeding! Giz has a severe issue with people not weeding their gardens, so I always try to make sure my garden looks as good as I can. Even though she has macular degeneration she has an eagle eye for weeds. She noticed how good my garden looked and said so.
Wednesday: Arrival
Giz and Grampy arrived on Wednesday and all our fun began! Dh actually got off work early! Luckily, this visit I remembered to pick up Grampy's sugar-free vanilla ice cream ahead of time, but that didn't stop us from going to not one, but TWO different ice cream shops. G&G are major ice cream fans---major.
Dishwasher:
Grampy and Dh worked together and fixed the broken dishwasher!
Truck:
With Grampy's truck beside Dh's the two were able to compare and figure out what was broken with the truck---something about a grounding wire. They fixed the truck!
Electric in Chicken Coop:
I have no idea why but the electricity in the chicken coop just stopped. The poor girls were without their ceiling fan!!! Grampy and Dh were able to change out an old timer switch for a new one and fix the problem. The girls are back to having a nice breeze throughout the night! Happy Hens!
Flooring:
One of the main goals G&G had coming up for a visit was to help Dh and I pull up our old wood flooring in the dining room and prep the floor for the new flooring we've ordered. We had to move a lot of the furniture out of the dining room to pull it up. The most 'fun' was pulling 3-10 nails out of every single piece of flooring we pulled up. I moved all the pieces to the sunroom; eventually, we'll get the wood out to the outbuilding so it won't be in the way. Giz had a special pair of plyers that helped her leverage out each nail. Her strength isn't what it used to be, but she stuck to it and they didn't stop until we had removed every last nail.
Videos:
Dh showed Grampy a lot of his video's he took featuring the new machines from his work. They both love machinery and enjoy watching how the machines run. It is hard to say who had more fun watching the endless videos!
Pool:
The pump wasn't working and the water level is in doubt, but that wasn't really the focus for us this visit. I know G&G always wants to help us get our pool going, they have had a pool open for decades! Perhaps next week we will have time to figure this out?
Pool Flowers:
Over the past few years, I never thought much about all the rocks around my flowers. But, it finally clicked just how hot the air is coming off the concrete pad around the pool. Then I realized all the decorative rocks were acting like little ovens circling the flowers. I decided to pick up all the rocks and place them around the outside perimeter of the fence. I miss all the pretty rocks, but the flowers will be better off.
Painting the Fence:
Giz was so happy to help me paint on our fence. She wanted a seat, so I found a bucket and she and I chatted and painted together. It was so nice to have someone painting and working beside me.
Invite with Elders:
Ironically our church friends, the "A's," invited us out to eat at the very restaurant where Dd is working on Friday, while she was on duty. We were hoping they wanted to discuss our church problem, but they never brought it up and I wasn't sure what the proper thing to do was, so I didn't bring it up either. It was nice having fellowship even if there was a cloud hanging over us all. It was also great seeing Dd at work and her boss and co-workers.
Out-to-Eat:
We don't normally go out to eat, but G&G are big fans. Friday morning they wanted to have breakfast at The Backwater Grill, then dinner at the pizza place for dinner. Saturday we went to Moo-ville (ice cream...my favorite!).
Migraines:
Unfortunately, this was a migraine week for me--three days in a row. I was able to keep moving forward for the most part. I laid down for a while on Thursday; which was my most painful day. G&G doesn't have migraines and I always feel so lazy for not having my usual pep when they are visiting. It seems like people that don't have migraines have a really hard time understanding the whole-body exhaustion and pain that you deal with when your struggling.
Dd's Academic Progress and Activities:
Work: Pizza Shop
Dd had to work a few nights while G&G were here so we didn't get to play cards this visit. Plus, with Giz's macular degeneration problems we thought it might be better not to bring it up.
Work: Pizza Shop
Dd had to work a few nights while G&G were here so we didn't get to play cards this visit. Plus, with Giz's macular degeneration problems we thought it might be better not to bring it up.
Bible/Church:
Dd went back to our old church for Sunday School. Her class was redecorating the room and she wanted to help. After the class, Hailee and Dd came home to borrow our sander so they could keep working on a cabinet.
Science:
Apologia's Biology
*Slow week with G&G here.*
Music:
Giz asked Dd to play her various instruments during the visit:
piano, saxophone, clarinet, and guitar.
Watercolor:
Dd has continued to enjoy doing a lot of watercolor paintings. I'll do a whole post of some of her paintings soon.
Photography:
Dd continues to really enjoy photography. She is really doing well with it. She took out Dh's 35 mm camera, with old fashioned film and has been taking pictures with it. We took the film to Walgreens to be developed and are anxiously awaiting how it turns out.
Cooking/Home Economic's:
Dd made G&G her cauliflower dish. We had a grill out on Saturday--hamburgers and brats and Dd helped out.
Next Week:
G&G will go home next week, on Monday (for me, the week starts on Sunday). The heat has arrived in West Michigan, we had the air conditioning on for G&G, but after they leave we will probably turn it off for a while. I don't understand why, but when we run our air it has to go through our geothermal and that ends up costing us hundreds of dollars extra in our electric bill. It really quickly adds up to a super-bill that is hard to choke down. I think it is something to do with our well pump. So, back to sweating inside and out!
Dd made G&G her cauliflower dish. We had a grill out on Saturday--hamburgers and brats and Dd helped out.
Next Week:
G&G will go home next week, on Monday (for me, the week starts on Sunday). The heat has arrived in West Michigan, we had the air conditioning on for G&G, but after they leave we will probably turn it off for a while. I don't understand why, but when we run our air it has to go through our geothermal and that ends up costing us hundreds of dollars extra in our electric bill. It really quickly adds up to a super-bill that is hard to choke down. I think it is something to do with our well pump. So, back to sweating inside and out!
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| My husband is never happier than when his parents are near him! .................. |
