A Half Hour a Day

Lenten Goals

February 27, 2012February 27, 2012kanniduba7 Comments

So this year, I had a hard time bringing myself to give something up for Lent. After having to give up wine and wheat earlier in the year, and now having to cut way back on caffeine more recently, I felt like enough was enough with giving up my vice foods. Even though I am finding I can eat wheat in limited amounts, I still have to be careful. I gave up ice cream with my daughter, but since I rarely eat it anyway, it wasn’t much of a sacrifice.

So instead of giving something up, I decided to take something on. I am going through my house, one problem area at a time, and ORGANIZING it!!! And trust me when I say, there are MANY problem areas. Yesterday we tackled the closet under the stairs where we store our games…now it will also hold our coats (which were cluttering up the hooks in the front hall) and all our DVD’s (which were squeezed into a shelf in the bookcase, taking up much needed book space.)

We also tackled the Lego problem…before they were stacked on top of the toy cubbies in plastic shoeboxes. It always looked so cluttered. But now:

I’ve said before, I am good at organizing, not so good at STAYING organized. But thanks to a little newly discovered and very addictive website called Pinterest, I have been inspired to rethink how I organize. (If you haven’t yet discovered it, go check it out!) Usually I do one space at a time…for example, one cabinet. But what I see over and over is that you should take out EVERYTHING and rethink your space. My cupboards have not been rearranged since I moved in 15 years ago…they’ve been cleaned out and organized, but never rethought. Baking goods went on one shelf, and there they have stayed…I know for a fact that I am not using my abundant space efficiently. That’s probably why….my cupboard space is incredibly abundant, so I haven’t been forced to conserve space. Well, that’s about to change!

And my fridge??? ALWAYS a problem, with things shoved in willynilly. Every time I shop, I clean it out and tidy it up, but then within days, everything is crowded in and crazy once again. I saw this blog, and was inspired to redo my fridge. Off to Walmart I went yesterday to stock up on containers, and this morning I tackle the fridge first. It is fairly low on stock right now since I will need to shop early this week, so that should make my task a bit easier.

Here’s the “before” shot….later I will share the “after.”

Room 12

February 19, 2012February 19, 2012kanniduba5 Comments

I am sick. My stomach is gnawing, and I am aching from head to toe. I am tired, but cannot sleep because of the aches that make me shift my body incessantly in an attempt to find a position of relief.

I am upstairs in my bed while the family hangs out downstairs.

I wanted a drink of water. Unsure of whether or not I felt well enough to venture down to get it myself, I opted to wait for someone to check in on my poor pathetic self. And I waited. And I waited. No checkers…no water for wretched and parched me. I wanted to yell, “HELLLOOOO? Is anyone going to check on me? I need a drink! Helllloooo?!”

It brought to mind my visit to the nursing home last week to visit my Memiere. There is a woman across the hall from her…99 years old. Can you believe that?! 99!! There she sits in her chair day after day. Alone. No one comes to check on her outside of normal round times. No one keeps her company. No one. And she waits. And she waits until she can wait no longer. Then she begins calling from her room…

“HELLOOOOO??? Can anybody hear me? Hello? Can someone please help me to the bathroom? Room 12…please. I don’t know how to use the button!! HELLOOOOO??! Can somebody please help me?”

And she waits. Sometimes she waits for so long, and calls for so long that I am tempted to go help her myself. I have gone to let a nurse know that Mrs. H. requires assistance. And I am met with rolling eyes and a “she ALWAYS needs assistance.” I want to shake those disrespectful nurses who have that reaction until their teeth rattle and their eyeballs roll.

99 years…a lifetime. A long lifetime. I can’t help but think…this woman was once spry, active, ran a household, raised children, laughed, danced, celebrated….likely mourned over and over again. And now here she sits, waiting for someone to come along and spend a few precious moments with her…this is her fate? And you dare roll your eyes because this woman asks for bathroom assistance??

I can’t help but wonder if I might have missed a calling. I walk down those halls, and I peer into the rooms and see lifetimes, youths lived, wisdom gained…lessons ripe for the taking. Perhaps there’s a job for me there…”Geriatric Companion.” I’ll sit, I’ll chat, I’ll listen…I’ll smuggle in chocolate and good tea and a pack of chew now and then…and simply be there. I’ll shake the impatient nurses with my words until their teeth rattle and they understand the gift they have been given– to be a force of good in these people’s lives in their most vulnerable days.

To all the wonderful caretakers out there, who do their job with good nature, skill, and grace, protecting the dignity of the beautiful Old Ones, may you be eternally blessed.

Big Doings

February 17, 2012February 17, 2012kanniduba3 Comments

So, you will recall that about a year ago, I mentioned a little roof problem? Okay, so maybe it wasn’t so “little.” Back then, we met with a builder who gave us some round about figures and professional opinions on what could be done. After some thought, we then had Tom Builder (as he will be known henceforth) come back in August, take measurements, and come up with a detailed price and contract. The cost to replace the slate with slate was prohibitive, so he priced the job with quality asphalt roof shingles, and also priced it with synthetic slate. A $20,000 difference between the two had our hearts in our throats, and we opted not to sign the contract, instead limping our roof through one more winter giving us the time to save more money, and to think a bit more about needs versus wants. We have been incredibly fortunate this winter….VERY little snow, warm temperatures, and not a single icicle. We have also had the ability to save a bit more toward the job, and are very excited to get started. Tom Builder will return next Friday, new contract in hand, and at that time we expect to be able to officially hire him on to start the job…exciting and scary all at once.

We will be adding on with a second floor extension, adding a new bathroom, a new bedroom, a closet, and renovating the existing bathroom…topping it all will be a brand new roof. Not synthetic slate, but I have made peace with the decision. I will share “before” photos of the interior rooms that will be changed ~~when they are cleaner~~ when I get a chance. In the meantime, here are photos of the present exterior. The back of the house is my kitchen…this is where we will be raising the roof to a full second story. It will also get spiffed up with repair of trim and a fresh coat of paint on the wood surfaces.

Wish us luck! We’re going to need it! 🙂 Words of advice are welcome as we enter into the world of hired out home renovations.

P.S. Forgot to mention THE best thing! My washer and dryer will move up from the basement, to the new second floor bathroom!!! Whoohoo! My back is very excited. 🙂

Five

February 14, 2012February 14, 2012kanniduba8 Comments

Our boy turned five years old on Sunday and we brought him home five years ago today during that Valentine’s Day blizzard…some of you will remember it. The doctor who was to discharge us couldn’t get out of her driveway to come to the hospital for rounds. We waited patiently at first, but with a growing concern as the snow piled higher and higher and hour after hour passed. We should have been discharged and on our way by 7:30…by 10:30, the nurses became as concerned for our drive home as we were. We wound up being discharged without benefit of a doctor’s final checkup…the nursing staff knew we had been through this twice before, and were confident in our judgement. We were finally on our way around 11:30am, van plowing through several inches of snow on a ride that took us nearly 35 minutes (typically ten minutes door to door) with our brand new sweet baby boy wearing his little knit blue cap with red hearts on it…a gift from the nursing staff.
I have always called him our Missing Piece. Before he came along I used to have this overwhelming feeling that someone was missing. I wondered if I would always feel that way, having miscarried our first baby. I thought that perhaps I was destined to always have a little hole there, a nagging feeling that someone was missing. But then along came Mister, filling the hole in our family that I always knew was there, and have never felt again. He was the missing piece in our family puzzle…not only does he fit, but he makes us complete.

Just a few months old:

And of course, now:

What Love Looks Like

February 1, 2012February 1, 2012kanniduba4 Comments

Wisdom comes with years they say. How true that is. When I was younger, in answer to the question, “What does love look like?” I would have answered something like: a kiss….an old couple holding hands…a bouquet of red roses…candles, and diamonds, and wedding veils.

Now here I am in my ~~forties~~ early forties, and my answers to the question, “What does love look like?” have changed. Now, I would answer: a Daddy changing his newborn’s diaper…a band-aid….a chaotic family dinner…a Bible on the nightstand…brown eyes….a sleeping child no matter how big they grow…a clean kitchen that you didn’t clean…a shoveled path to your car…

And this…This, my friends, is what love looks like:

My dear husband, appalled at seeing me kneel on the basement floor to put laundry in and out of the washer and dryer, built me this platform so I can stand up straight while dealing with the clothes. He even made it big enough so the basket sits on the platform…no more bending!!! My life just got a whole lot easier, and I am so very grateful. 🙂