Another Crazy Hump Day

I know that everyone already knows this due to facebook. But since I want my blog to be my diary, I need to include this for the record.

It was Wednesday morning. I took a shower and as I was leaving the bathroom, I heard water dripping. It sounded like it was on the stairwell but surely that couldn't be. Must be an echo. I went back into the bathroom to see if I had turned off all the faucets. Yep, no problem. Exited the bathroom again and was sure I heard it in the stairwell. Went downstairs and discovered water dripping from the dining room ceiling. It had run all the way over to the main beam dividing the dining room and living room and was traveling over to the stairwell.

It would take too long to describe all the details of the hours that followed. In a nutshell:

• a really nice plumber I'd highly recommend; he arrived in an hour
  
• a burst supply line to the toilet
• significant water damage in the dining room and basement
• insurance company
• water damage restoration company
• torn out drywall
• pulled up carpet
• 10 dehumidifiers and fans here through Monday
  
• obnoxiously loud noise from equipment
• hot house
• nails left behind to step on

The rest of Wednesday was surreal. By about 8pm I was over the shock and trying to keep my head up. Today I was able to escape to work but faced a different kind of stress. Before this life-interruption, I was already so behind at work and now I lost another day. Add to that a mild headache all day. Tomorrow I meet the Insurance Adjuster to find out where we go from here.

My house is hot, muggy and noisy. I don't want to be here. To escape I made plans for Friday night and Saturday I'm going to go to work to make up for a lost day.

I am thankful for...

• running water
• a roof over my head on a 21 degree winter night
• health, life and safety
• insurance companies
• people who care about me
• being home when it happened
• Psalm 139

Psalm 139

Committing in front of 1600 people that you are going to read Psalm 139 daily for the next week provides some pretty amazing accountability. However, my closest friends know that I pretty much stick my nose up at accountability. It doesn't affect me at all to have to admit "nope...didn't do it." Maybe I'm so accepting of failure that success isn't a motivator. Don't try to analyze me.

HOWEVER...

...a friend said he was going to commit to reading it also, to which I replied, "I'll check in with you next Sunday to see how you did." And then the shoe dropped..."And I'll ask you," he said. Suddenly things changed.

So far so good. And the really cool thing is I'm not doing it to just check it off the list. Or to impress some friend who's going to find out if I'm a success or a failure in a few days. I really WANT to do it and look forward to it. AND it is really affecting my day. I have it in my email inbox so that I see it everyday.

Hope you are joining the challenge!

What's Up?

My wonderfully relaxing Christmas break seems a lifetime ago. I thought 2010 would be different. Funny how life decides otherwise, huh? Three weeks in and here's what I've been up to...

• WiiFit...love it! Was diligent for 2 weeks but was swamped this past week. Can't wait to get back to it.
• Helping at NESAP food pantry. Can't get enough.
• Haiti Relief: got to help a friend who coordinated an effort through World Vision. Packed supplies going on a cargo plane. Overwhelming. Hard work. Fulfilling. Sad. Amazing, miraculous provisions.
  
• Meetings, meetings, meetings: and again this coming week...Mon, Tues, Wed, Thur nights.
• Got to go home to PA yesterday and today for my parents' birthdays. Cuddled with Maks, watch Casie's hockey game, hung out with Melanie and had lunch with a great friend today.
  
• ServePoint: very busy getting ready and now processing all the participants and getting them plugged into ministry teams. LOVE that!
• Reading: done better than I thought but not as good as I'd like.
• So this is minor but huge: things have been financially tight and I've been looking for ways to cut corners. And to top it off, this week I discovered a mistake in my checking account that I couldn't figure out. So I spent time tonight with a fine tooth comb raking through every detail and resolved it. Feel so much better! Finances are so stressful. It's gonna be another tight month but I love trusting in God.
  
• Haven't been feeling too well. Trying to sort out which Dr to see next to get to the bottom of everything. Nothing new. Just the same old same old.
• Miss my bike, miss my deck, miss the trail. But still want more snow.
  

Confession

I have been blog delinquent. I have been overwhelmingly busy with work and outside commitments these past two weeks. Hope to catch up on personal stuff this weekend (even though I'll be working all day Saturday...ugh!). It's been fun catching up on all your blogs though! I've never been this behind...keep writing, friends!

Please NO!

I have slept 14 of the last 24 hours and am just starting a headache. I can't get sick! I have SO much to do in the next two days!

In Desperate Need of Advice

2007:
I subscribed to the Carroll Co Times for the coupon benefits. It ended up not being worth the cost since most of the coupons were for pet food, baby items and medicine. Not my lifestyle. SO I "CANCELLED" the subscription (sense the frustration yet?).

2008:
Exactly a year later, I started receiving telemarketing calls from CCTimes. "Would you like to renew?" NO. Repeated calls, repeated "NOs!" and finally in the middle of leading my ALG girls I forcefully told them to stop calling me and remove me from the list. They "did." You know where this is going don't you?

2009:
Exactly one year from the anniversary of the anniversary of the cancellation, I started receiving calls again. Every Tues and Wed night for the past SIX weeks I have received the same call. I have asked FOUR reps to not only stop calling but to REMOVE ME so they can never possibly call me again. The last person apologetically promised it would not happen again and if it did to ask for a manager. Exactly a week later, "It" did. I didn't answer the phone...believe me, I recognize the number by now.

What would you do if you knew you were going to receive marketing calls twice a week for the rest of your life because IT IS IMPOSSIBLE TO BE REMOVED FROM THE CALL LIST??!!

Can one get sued for causing the hearing loss of someone they've never met before? I own a bright shiny whistle.

A Few of My Least Favorite Things

(1) My Dyson: I know! Everyone else LOVES theirs! To me it's just another vacuum that has average suction and has a roller brush that gets tightly wrapped with hair. It may be pink but it's still a lemon. Grrrrr!




(2) Shower Caddy: I searched high and wide to find the perfect shower caddy that would fit in my shower. Finally found one that I LOVED (but that wasn't cheap!) and a friend installed it for me. It was perfect! Until a few weeks later when it was covered in rust! Are you kidding me!? It's going in the SHOWER! it's gonna get WET! and it wasn't cheap! Good grief! (oh and it's still installed).



(3) Garden Hoses: I love their use but I hate everything else about them. The tangling, the rolling up, the draining, the cracking, the space they take up, their weight, etc. Uh...yes, both of mine are still outside covered in snow at the moment. Didn't have the energy to fight with them and get them winterized this year. I'm sure they'll be cracked in the spring.



(4) Purex Laundry Sheets: some time ago I was raving about these. Time to recant. They stained my clothes! They left dark marks on fabric. I returned them. Sorry to anyone I recommended them to!



(5) Being Ms. Fix-it: although for the most part I don't mind doing home repairs, there are times I'm very resentful that there isn't a man around the house to deal with the necessary evils. Like last week (ie: see post below containing to-do list). I attacked both of my ceiling fans thinking that if I just oiled them they would stop sounding like jet engines. First one went fine. Second one was just as easy until I went to put the cover back on. Didn't matter how hard I tried I couldn't get it back on. The frustration level sky-rocketed so high that I ended up bursting into tears. Yes, like a spoiled little girl. I found myself lying on the floor next to my vacuum and noticed the brush was full of hair (reread #1 above). I proceeded to clean out the brush which resulted in the vacuum being taken apart. And yes, you know where this is going...couldn't get that cover back on either. Okay, I'll stop now before I get to the swearing part.

Please don't buy this for me.



For the record, both bathroom fans sound like jet engines again. And a lightbulb shattered to pieces and blew a fuse when I hit the switch this weekend. Okay, I'll really stop now.

Working Vacation

RE-POSTED on January 2nd. Almost there!

I'm on vacation but have no plans to go anywhere. I decided to make this a "catch-up" vacation and am planning to stay home and get lots of things checked off my to-do list. I've been creating the list for weeks. Anything from chores to fun things. I was probably a bit over-ambitious on the list but at least I have documented the things I need to get done at some point. Even if it's not completed by January 4th.

So I started accomplishing the list on Saturday thanks to a GREAT friend who spent 4 hrs attacking it with me. And today was meant to be work day #2. At 11am this morning I was ready to begin the list but here it is 2pm and I've only done ONE thing on the list! UGH! So I decided to create this post to motivate me. Here is my TO-DO list which I'm going to cross out as I get tasks accomplished. And I'll probably keep adding to it as the week progresses.

I AM NOW ACCOUNTABLE TO MY BLOGWORLD (all 3 of you!). Let's see if this works.

BOLD = to do
NORMAL = done!

1. Clean bathrooms
2. Take down and store indoor Christmas decor
   
3. Mop kitchen floor
4. Iron
5. Clean car
   
6. Get guest room back in order
7. Redecorate house with everyday decor
8. Organize linen closet
9. Clean out purse
10. Write final 66books post
    
11. Wash new pots and pans (my Christmas gift)
12. Organize bookshelf
13. Clean fridge
14. Make shopping lists and run errands
15. Organize disastrous laundry room
16. Clean freezer
17. Replace furnace filter
18. Set mouse traps
19. Check mouse traps: WHEW!
    
20. Oil bathroom fans that are obnoxiously loud (WORKED! for about five minutes)
    
21. Put away deck decor from the summer
22. Block door drafts
23. Laundry
24. See movie
25. Organize recipes
26. Help friend organize her kitchen
27. Put bike and bike rack away
28. LOTR: Fellowship, Two Towers, Return of the King
    
29. Submit rebates (missed deadline)
30. Hand sewing
31. Help at NESAP food pantry
32. Call about missing contact lens from contact order
33. Shop for everyday supplies
34. Balance 2009 budget
    
35. Organize 2009 receipts to prepare for taxes
36. Bills, balance checking account, etc (#35-37 took 5 hrs today!)
37. Scrapbook (that will take an entire day)
    
38. Clean out vacuum (sooooo glad that's done)
    
39. Shopping trip to Columbia and Hunt Valley
    
40. Help a friend decorate a Polar Express cake CANCELLED
    
41. Spend a day at the MVA to renew driver's license
42. Do a puzzle
43. Prepare Bible study
44. Create table centerpiece
45. Refill bathroom wallflowers
46. Cover deck furniture
47. Take down outdoor decor
48. Secure wireless (I'm sooo bad!)
49. Set up Wii!!! Wheeeee!
    
50. Read, Read, Read
51. Freezer meals: 2 lasagnas, 2 chicken pot pies, taco soup, winter barley, chicken caruso, egg salad (not for freezer). All in a day's work...