vacation

So, I'm on vacation this week. So far, so good. I have a long list of not very fun things to do--write a budget for next year, pay bills, do home repairs, etc. I also have a list of very fun things to do.

One of those things is spend time with my sisters, one who's local & one who came down from Missouri. The Missouri girl brought our 18 year old niece with her, along with 4 of her own kids, ranging in age from 5 to 12. I had forgotten, until today, how noisy a house can be with the following ages in only two rooms:
2 moms
1 @ 18
2 @ 12
2 @ 10
2 @ 8
1 @ 5
and one aunt who is aging gracefully.

Pray for us all, that we would enjoy our time together, and treasure this rare visit. Pray particularly that I would bear well with the noise and not get frustrated by it. Thanks!

Footnote

I've been in an ongoing discussion with a friend who doesn't quite believe what I do about church, society, and humanity. I have been struggling with the right way to talk to this friend without offense, and just today found this footnote to 2 Corinthians 12:21

"...We must live differently from unbelievers, not letting secular society dictate how we are to treat others. Don't let culture invade your practices at church."

Plus, I got a good reminder from Julie, something along the lines of "A Christian makes man small, and God big, not the other way around."

Interesting...

anyone?

I am changing my mind about my house. I still want to keep it, but I am drastically changing my plan with the floors. My new plan is to rid the house of all existing floor covering (yucky laminate tiles, old carpet, and padding-ick) then either do a concrete/acid stain or just paint the floors.

Problem is, I don't know anything about any of that (I can probably figure out removing the old stuff). Does anyone have any best bets on how to get all this done on a budget? If you do, I'd appreciate any help.

No comment

I've been trying to figure out something fascinating to post here, but alas, no luck. Life is just humming along normally. I am praying that we won't need to build an ark to get up I-35. I visited Chicago for a weekend (very cool city). Some of my friends & family came over to watch the highly-anticipated fireworks provided by the city of Temple. Still working out about 5 days a week. A mockingbird has decided to pick on my dog. I eliminated about half the jungle of my backyard today by mowing the knee-high grass while it was actually raining. I don't recommend it.

If I were creative, each of those could be a story, but that is for another day. I'm outta here (gotta be up for work in about 5 hours). Peace