Comedy Central, Bang 'em Up and Leaky Things

I have a lot to share about my summer.  A lot of fun,  nice things.  But since this is so fresh on my mind and has left me temporarily scarred, I will go ahead and share this first so I can get on with the healing process.

My summer has been a blur of busyness! But, life has a way of inserting its quirkiness ~ like it or not. In this case it was a "NOT". Our glorious old bathroom ~ the one that you have to drop an A-bomb on to begin remodel ~ had an on-curring tub faucet leak. One that was so bad I threatened the no-no word: Nag. We already had a new faucet, so let's get this thing on! That's what I "suggested". So, my trusty, feisty handyman, Ben, decided to tackle the beast. He is after all, fearless when it comes to this old house. And. . . he decided to tackle it in the late, very late, afternoon, on a Sunday. Not a good idea me thinks. He did, however ~ in his defense ~ buy some supplies beforehand. But you know life ~ it has a mean sense of humor, and we didn't have all we needed. Not feeling his own brute strength he (he being Ben, the Man, the Beast) turned a pipe wrench, or some kind of tool, a little too hard, hit the hot water line breaking it in half. Before anyone downstairs could register what his screams were about, approximately 300 gallons of water (in his - being Ben's guesstimate) spilled onto the floor (in the scary closet that only grown, brave men will venture into, behind our glorious old bathroom) and down onto the porch below. What occurred next was a mixture of "The Good, the Bad and the Ugly", and "The Three Stooges". (I can say that now because the pain has subsided somewhat). Ben has a shop vac attachment trying to funnel the water into a bucket and dump it into the tub. Not a pretty sight. He bolts down two flights of stairs, to the basement to shut off the main valve (of which there appeared to be several ), only to bolt back up two flights of stairs to find out his efforts were futile. By the time Bob and I made it to the bathroom, to say he was irritated and hysterical would be an understatement. After a couple of trips, Bob finally found the correct shut off valve and the meltdowns began. Oh yeah, I had one. Outside. Away from the pain of water damage and the frustration of a self proclaimed plumber.  Poor Kelly tried to console me, but to no avail.  Ben, the Man, the Beast, had one in our glorious old bathroom with the scary closet. Everyone else looked like deer caught in the headlights. Afraid to move, afraid to speak. Not pretty. No ma'am.

 In retrospect, Sunday probably was a good day to have this "catastrophe", since Bob and Kelly had work on Monday. Less folk in the house. Needless to say, Mr. Handyman had to get up a the butt crack of dawn to get to Lowe's to get the rest of his supplies (he was a trooper ~ and he had to make more than one trip). God love this boy's soul! He made me stay with him in that glorious old bathroom for moral support. I wasn't allowed to offer up much opinion ~ I just had to be a live, breathing body in the same room. And on occasion, I was allowed to hand him some kind of tool, or plumbing stuff, or the faucet, or a drink.  It's  hard work being a plumber's helper!  The girls were real troopers. Hope and Rease kept Helena and Piper busy. Thank the Lord for them! That was one less thing for me to worry about.

So, it's been about two weeks (seems like five minutes ago) and we have a new tub faucet, free of leaks and quite cute in that old glorious bathroom. Now to fix the leak in the sink. . . . . .

Are "A-bombs" illegal?

The "Proverbial Lemon Tree"

I haven't talked about my Lemon Tree lately. Maybe it's because I have been underneath it for a while and haven't even noticed that I have been overcome by lemons until late.

It's all well and good. No. Not really. But what am I to say? It's all bad? No, it's not all bad either. It just is.

There have been varying kinds of lemons - are there different varieties of lemons? Why, yes, yes there is. I know this because I just "Googled" it. In my lemon grove there has been everything from unemployment to health issues to school demands to stress to . . . . you name it.

I have realized that while I didn't realize I was buried under the tree, I did survive the over abundance of lemons. It seems we had just the right amount of rain and sunshine to produce the amount of fruit that came from those dag-nabit trees. They were worse than a herd of bunnies!

Survival for me is not a "sole" thing. I need to be "sured" up so I don't topple into a heap of insanity on the floor. My "surer-upers" did a splendid job getting me thru the harvesting of my lemons. That's not to say I didn't drive them into a heap of insanity on their floors! If I did - I am truly sorry. I know your insanity all too well. Please forgive me?

In case you are wondering about where those lemons are now - well, they are in baskets on my deck, waiting for me to deal with them. I am figuring if I tary long enough, they will rot down into juice and go back to the earth from whence they came and I will still be standing, probably in a stinky, lemony gas, but standing non the less. If any should survive the ooey, gooey death, I will take care of them. I figure they would be worth a look if they made it thru the rotting process.

At any rate, a lemon is trying to talk to me as I am trying to think and type, so before I fall into that insane heap on the floor, roll my eyes and cop an attitude, I had better go see what is terribly important.

That's all I have to say about that. For now.

A Blessed Calm After the Lemon Storm

I just returned from walking the girls to the bus stop. I must say it is so beautiful outside and it was very easy to let the morning "talk" to me. Just walking in the brisk air, smelling bacon cooking somewhere - probably the diner down the street, seeing the sun stream its glory above the rooftops, and admiring the gem-like glisten of the leftover rain and dew on the grass brings a calm to my spirit. I welcomed it this morning. Running thru the conversation that I had with Heidi yesterday and again digesting what she said made more sense to me than the "bombardment" of lemons I had been receiving. She reminded me that God sometimes lets us do a great deal of leg work for something we "want" just so it can be used for something someone else "needs". Although that "want" wasn't the onset of the "storm", it softened the blow to see a different picture of events. That, my friends, was the lemonade from that nasty storm. Add to that the friends that prayed for me and a daughter that saw beyond my anxiety to the needs of another, and the lemonade just gets sweeter.

"Lemon tree very pretty and the lemon flower so sweet,
but the fruit of the poor lemon is impossible to eat."
Peter, Paul & Mary

My analogy -

• the sweet flower - the calm and beauty of our lives - when everything is going good - growing us strong to accept the lemons that will surely follow
• the fruit of the lemon - our trials - when we are reminded that the sweet flower must mature into a healthy fruit - even at the expense of being a little "bitter" tasting
• the outcome - the sweet beverage we can make from such a tart, but beautiful fruit - the operative word is can - we must choose to make the lemonade :)

I thank God for my Lemon Storms and the sugar cubes of friends he has give me to sweeten my life and I thank Him for the calm that follows after the storms!

My Lemon Tree - Again

It seems life never lets me settle for more than just a moment at a time. Just when I start to feel the least bit comfortable in my "world" - life - very rudely - throws lemons at me. Now, I am not generally squeamish when it comes to getting bombarded by lemons, but sometimes - just once in a while, I would like to get to that calm place and sit for more than just 5 minutes. (Not literally, of course). By nature, I love being home - fussing over the things that make my home wonderful to me and mine. But lately - because of the lemon trees - it seems that not only my life but my nest is ruffled. It almost makes me wonder if Home is where I need to be right now. I don't want to share the reason for this last lemon storm, not right now anyway.

But, I must say, in my heart of hearts, I know God allows me this "pleasure" of being bombarded. It's just that sometimes I'm not sure how to make lemonade of the mess. That's where I am now. Before - I had a goal but my recipe for lemonade was shot down. Right now - I'm more in a quandary of sorts. Do I go back to the original goal I had? Do I look for a different "recipe"? I'm not exactly sure of where to start.

I am sure of one thing, though, and that is even when this storm passes - and it will - there will be more. So I suppose I have answered my own questions - I know I am being forged. I know God is teaching me something. I just have to be quiet long enough to listen to what He says!

And that is ok. I have grown accustomed to these raging storms. (Not comfortable, but accustomed to). So, Barb, just be still and listen!

That Lemon Tree is at it again! !

Hmmmm. . . . . . .my lemon tree threw all its lemons at me this week - maybe it was even more than one tree. I felt like I got hit with enough lemons to become a lemon drop! Seems I may have to regroup a little (or a lot) - but that's okay - I'll squish around in this lemon juice 'til I can think of something - lol! ! (I think the juice is good for the complexion!) There's nothing like knowing how refreshing the lemonade is - making it worth the wait - even though the wait can make you "antsy"! And you know - if I don't get the lemonade - that's okay, too, because I will have done everything I can think of to make that sweet-tart drink. And isn't that just like life - bittersweet?

When Life Hands You Lemon Trees

Sometimes life throws out a LOT of lemons! I mean, more than a tree full, maybe several trees full. I seem to have enough lemons to make lemonade for a year or more - so that's what I'm going to do. I had a brainstorm a few weeks ago and this has sent me on a VERY LARGE misson. I have a boat load of lemons that I need to do something with, and I found a nice large pitcher for them! ! Now all I have to do is squeeze the juice and add the sugar! Sounds simple, doesn't it. Well, don't let those little lemons fool you - they won't be squeezed easily, but that's ok. I have a lot of "squeezers" lined up! ! Now, I know its going to seem odd to ask you to pray for these lemons and the squeezers, but that's what I'm doing! Pray for me as well, as I prepare for this endeavor. I have to say, I am excited about this lemonade!