Lucky

Last week I was sent an invitation to a benefit being held at my friend Tori's home (an adorable century old home sitting in what used to be a dairy farm) for a little boy named Tynan who is fighting a battle with leukemia.  Tynan's sister is in 3rd grade at the elementary school where I worked for 5 years.  While I don't know Tynan, I do remember seeing the sister around the school...and I know that the whole school has been impacted by this family and their situation. 

Saturday evening was "Dinner in a Dairy Field" including bbq, a silent auction, raffle tickets, music and lots and lots of open field.  The best part for me was seeing so many of my friends in one place.  I have to admit, I've been terrible about keeping up with my friends from my "school days" but I'm sure everyone understands.  We are all like rats on a wheel..and time just spins away. 

The most touching moment of the evening was the release of hundreds of butterflies.  A friend got up and spoke about the significance of the butterfly....

According to an American Indian Legend, if anyone desires a wish to come true they must first capture a butterfly and whisper that wish to it.

Since a butterfly can make no sound, the butterfly can not reveal the wish to anyone but the Great Spirit who hears and sees all.

In gratitude for giving the beautiful butterfly its freedom, the Great Spirit always grants the wish.

So, according to legend, by making a wish and giving the butterfly its freedom, the wish will be taken to the heavens and be granted.

Obviously this was a most touching moment.  All of us wishing, praying, begging for this family and for a very sweet, very ill Tynan....

for his sister who never left his side for one moment the whole evening. 

At the end of the evening, they announced the silent auction winners and the raffle ticket winners.  

I never win anything.

Never.

I mean NEVER.

But I won the top prize being given out for the raffle!

A Kindle Fire.

And I haven't felt right about it since Saturday night. 

I can't put my finger on it. 

Why am I feeling so dang guilty about this? 

We paid the money for the raffle tickets. 

A kind and generous person....who happens to be the mother of one of my teacher friends...donated the Kindle Fire for the raffle. 

I won it fair and square. 

So why do I feel guilty?

Maybe it's because something really fun and great happened to me at the end of that fun evening. 

And Tynan went home to fight his battle. 

That mother is watching her son fight that battle. 

And her world is turned upside down.

 And I never had to watch one of my children fight like that. 

I feel so lucky.  So very, very lucky.  

And that makes me feel guilty. 

I'm working on it. 

Perhaps Tynan will win his battle.  Perhaps he will be taken way too soon from this earthly place. Only God knows.  But Tynan is leaving his mark on hundreds of people in my community already. 

And for a brief moment on Saturday evening, hundreds of people stopped

and released butterflies to carry Tynan's wish to the heavens.

Romans 12:12 Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer.

 

Vanity

A lot is going on around the house....pulled out the last carpet in the house (our master bedroom) and had hardwoods put down.  And pulled out the hardwoods in the Powder Room and put down some marble.

A lot is NOT going on around the house....laundry...vacuuming...cooking. 

The house is totally out of order and it's all I can do to keep calm about it.  But until all the painting and plumbing is done, there is no point in trying to put things back.  The target is to have it all done by Monday...when the plumber is scheduled to come and put in the vanity sink and toilet.  The problem is we have a full weekend planned.  I really shouldn't be on here now...but I'm waiting on paint to dry so I'm updating this neglected blog.

Let's go back a few months....walking down the hall to our bedroom.....

Me:  Chuck, it smells in here.

Chuck:  I don't smell anything.

Me:  It's smells like tee tee.

Chuck:  I don't smell it.

Repeat.  Repeat.  Repeat.

Chuck didn't smell it because he knew if he smelled "it"...."IT" would probably cost him money. 

Repeat.  Repeat.  Repeat. 

Finally....months later...Chuck says he doesn't smell anything, but he believes me.  We get an estimate for new hardwoods in the bedroom.  And while they're here, we have them estimate tearing out the hardwoods in the Powder Room and replacing with some tile or marble.  NEVER put hardwoods in around a potty...I don't care what others say.  Because if that potty ever overflows....and the potties in our house have....the wood will never look the same.  It will be milky, warped and musty around the toilet.  Yuk.

As our little projects tend to do....this one has grown.  We decided since we had to have the sink taken out for new floors, we would look at new sinks.  And since we had tile guys here and were going to paint the walls anyway, we might as well get the back wall bricked to match the kitchen and den wall.


Once Chuck loosens the death grip on his checkbook, he kind of likes to shop (he will call it research)  and spend a little money...it was his idea to get a new sink and I threw out the brick idea and he ran with it.  He's out "researching" as I type.

This is the 1/2" brick pavers that we put in our kitchen and den.  Either we live here forever or the next people better love brick walls. 

 

Found this vanity at Laurie's Home Furnishings in Tomball. 

It was exactly what I didn't know I was looking for.

Now Chuck is "researching" one hole faucets. 

Hopefully, he finds one before Monday when the plumber arrives.

I'm excited about this newness in my "getting older" house.  Better get back to painting.

If you have time, check out this Arizona photographer's blog.....she took Jordan and Chris's pictures for their 2nd anniversary.  So you can catch a glimpse of the old married couple. wink 

misc.

Hang on...this post is all over the place.  I haven't updated in awhile because all I can think to tell you is that I have been spending a lot of time vacuuming.


***


Chuck and I invested our Monday evenings in The Bachelor.  I had read some of the spoiler sites out there so I knew what was coming.  Really it was no surprise.  Courtney couldn't keep her hands off of Ben and Ben couldn't keep his eyes off of her. 

One morning in the store, right after The Final Rose aired....

 a customer yelled out, "IT'S COURTNEY!"

Apparently she wasn't lying when she said she was an international model.
And she found so many ways to tell us...and so many times to insert that in the conversation. 

Next time you're in a store that sells Brighton, check her out. 

I work around this charm bar daily and I never noticed it was Courtney.



***

 

The weather has been perfect a few nights so we've been trying to enjoy some evenings in the back yard.  Harry hangs out with us.  He's funny.  He's huge and destructive, but he's funny.  I keep telling myself that he's still a puppy even though he's 70 pounds.

Half on, half off.


***

Sitting at a stop light near my house I saw 2 bunnies in the clouds. 

They were perfectly formed but by the time I got the cell phone out

and took the picture the clouds were dissipating.

Do you see them? 


***

As I mentioned, I am spending way too much time these days washing muddy towels and vacumming up dog hair.  It's Lab/Border Collie mix shedding season.

 If you're contemplating getting a huge, hairy dog....don't. 
It's no secret that I didn't think this through.
And yes, I'm in love with this dog, but oh, my gosh....I vacuum and by the time I put the vacuum cleaner away, there are more hair bunnies floating around.

Call before you come by so I can vacuum.

It rained for days and days which made for a layer of mud on the kitchen floor.

  Mud dries and turns to dirt. 

Dirt floats and turns to dust. 

 Dust stays put until someone wipes it away.

  Someone is busying vacuuming.

***

Will was home for Spring Break and took this picture of a chewed up basesball

(guess who chewed it?). 

 Will can make the simplest photo look like art. 

 ***



I got all of the Easter stuff out.  Well, not all of it.  I scaled way back. 

There are the cutest Easter decorations at the store, but I only bought one new thing.

It's way easier to dust a glass cloche than to dust little eggs and bunnies...
so there's a great reason to use glass cloches.


***

I spend all my days at work and all my evenings loving on or cleaning up after this....

***

The best part about the last two weeks?

I got to see a new baby girl get her first shampoo.

Addison Kenlie is here and she is perfect.  The mama hens at Magpies are beyond excited to have a new baby to watch grow up. 

I drive right by Addison's house on my way to work...and it's all I can do to NOT stop by and get a quick hold.  I am trying to remember my boundaries.  wink

***

Harry lays by me in the morning while I dry my hair and get my makeup on.  He leaves periodically and brings back a toy.  We play tug-of-war for a few seconds.  Then he'll leave again and get another toy.  This goes on and on as I continue to get ready for work.  The other day, the 3rd toy he brought me to play with was this.......

That would be a sprinkler head.

I thought it was sort of funny.

Chuck didn't think it was funny at all.

How is Harry supposed to know it's a sprinkler head?

It's the same shape as a chew bone and some of his other chew toys.

"whoops"