We Wear Jesus...

Yesterday was Tom's last day of vacation.  We went to a place called "Unclaimed Baggage".  They had a little bit of everything there.  Tom found a new Jean Jacket with sheepskin lining and I found 4 pairs of dress slacks.  Plus we found some sheets for the bed and a pretty crystal clock for the mantal.  They have a lot of 'junk' there but they also had some good deals on new stuff.  We saw some beautiful scenery on the way.  Alabama sure does have some beautiful mountains. 

Today I got up when Tom left and showered and got ready for my 'meeting' with my cleaning lady.  She understood all of my concerns and did a great job on the house today. 

This afternoon, I am hemming three of the four pairs of slacks I bought yesterday.  Of course, I have pinned them up and started hemming but doing the blog seemed like more fun so here I am...putting it off for a few minutes.  lol   Tom says I should be playing my new Nancy Drew game today but I feel like I need to get things accomplished today and not waste the time.  I have a cabinet in the laundry room that also needs attention this afternoon.  It is the last area of the house that I didn't get organized while I was recovering from chemo.

So...nothing really exciting going on here...I miss Tom being here.  I am thankful for this time away from the stress of work though.  Next Monday it starts all over again.  O joy.  8-)

Here is a little Max for today...interesting perspective on how important appearances and actions can be.

"We Wear Jesus

By Max Lucado

“All of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ.” Galatians 3:27, NIV

We wear Jesus. And those who don’t believe in Jesus note that we do. They make decisions about Christ by watching us. When we are kind, they assume Christ is kind. When we are gracious, they assume Christ is gracious. But if we are brash, what will people think about our King? When we are dishonest, what assumptions will an observer make about our Master? . . Courteous conduct honors Christ."

By Grace Alone -

Teresa

Done, I say!

We have finished with the sink (for real this time...no more leaks...yeah!!) and the Necklace Holders.    We ended up cutting the four foot strips into two foot strips and only using three of them.  That leaves room for growth in the future if I want to hang the fourth one.  8-)

Visuals below. 

Below is a close up of the nails so you can see what a great job Mr Tom did of nailing them into the holes.

I have deep cleaned the kitchen today and deep cleaned the fireplace.  While we have a lady that comes in and cleans every week, she doesn't do baseboards or nicknacks so, every once in a while, I have to attack them and get things back the way I like them.  8-) 

I spent some time today during a rest break (for two hours...lol) chatting with Mom on Skype.  It is always a nice and relaxed environment when I chat with Mom.  We each kinda do our thing and chat back and forth when we think of things to say.  Neither of us talks the other to death...8-)   Today she cleaned off a table while talking to me and I cleaned off my desk and played some computer games.  It is kind of like getting to spend some of my vacation time with her without having to travel all the way to Texas.  I am about traveled out after our Kentucky trip. 

Not much else going on here...just thought I'd let you see the finished product. 

By Grace Alone -

Teresa

Projects done...now what?

So, after fixing a leak or two (and buying a few new tools to do the job correctly) we finished up the sink/faucet/water filter project.  I finished painting the necklace hanging thingy (I have no idea what to call it since it is a new invention) and sprayed it with some lacquer and it is drying now.  Tom says they look really good but I think they look either like a 5 year old who can't color in the lines or an arthritic old lady who can't hold her hands steady while she paints did it.  Tom says Van Gogh couldn't paint in between the lines either and it gives it a realistic look.  Whatever.  I still like it.  It doesn't have to be perfect...just functional and kinda pretty at the same time.  8-)  I'll post another "finished on the wall" picture when we get it hung.

Since we are just about finished with these projects, I find myself saying "What's next" for the next couple of days.  Tom wants to go out to the Unclaimed Baggage place and see what kind of deals we can find.  We might do that on Wednesday.  Tomorrow we'll double check under the sink and make sure there still aren't any leaks (yeah, that'll take about 5 minutes...unless there are leaks...hmmm) and if there aren't then we'll put everything back under the sink.  Next we'll get the necklace thingys hung (I REALLY have to come up with a name for them.) and then make some plans for the last day of vacation.  I am going to take Thursday and Friday off also but Tom goes back to work on Thursday.

Thursday the cleaning lady comes and I want to chat with her about ways to 'improve' her current cleaning habits.  (grin)  I might even jump into the cleaning with her and get all the baseboards cleaned (which is one of her deficiencies...) and by then I'll need to start the laundry and I want to wash all the rugs in the house, etc.  You get the idea...I like to get things accomplished.  8-)  No need to waste time while on vacation.  I will go back to work refreshed because things got done. 

Max really spoke to me with his daily devotion today...enjoy!

"Get Your Eye Off Yourself

By Max Lucado

“Do not merely look out for your own personal interests, but also for the interests of others.” Philippians 2:4, NASB

What’s the cure for selfishness?

Get your self out of your eye by getting your eye off yourself. Quit staring at that little self and focus on your great Savior . . .

Focus on the encouragement in Christ, the consolation of Christ, the love of Christ, the fellowship of the Spirit, the affection and compassion of heaven."

It is so easy to get caught up in 'me me me'...I pray God will move my eyes away from me and always onto Him.

By Grace Alone -

Teresa

Projects Galore

Okay...I might have gone a little overboard in Lowe's Friday.  Oops.

We have a few more days of vacation left and following my grandmother's teachings about idle hands being the devil's workshop and all, I picked out a 'few' projects.  I've wanted a new sink since we moved in (the house was new when we bought it and just had a stainless steel sink in it...builder's grade...you know...I've always hated those because they scratch up so badly) so we found a really nice granite composite mocha one to go with our countertops. 

After picking that out, we went over to the faucets to find one that would go with the new sink.  The one we picked out has a soap dispenser, sprayer and faucet.  Perfect.  Then we picked out a new water filter that is supposed to remove bacteria from the water as well as all the other stuff.  It was the only one that would remove bateria and Whirlpool is a good name so we picked that one. 

Here is a picture of the sink installed.  We haven't tested the running of the water yet because he still has to install the water filter.

Finally, I had this idea in my head for a solution to my 'too many necklaces and not enough room to hang them' problem.  (No...I don't want to throw some of them away...I am a very diverse person who needs lots of change when it comes to decorating this body...lol)  The idea was to have a couple of nicely sanded and stained pieces of wood placed horizontally on a wall about 10 inces apart.  Then a lot of little gold nails could be placed on both pieces of wood and necklaces hung separately on each nail. 

When we got into the wood section we weren't actually in the wood section but we were in the baseboard, quarter round section and ran across some really neat boards with leaves burned into them.  It had places in it that nails could be put (little dots evenly spaced across the wood) and those will be the locations of each nail for each necklace.  I'm not quite done with the staining and painting yet but I did get a picture of the not quite finished boards.  I still need to paint the stems and vine and I am going to make them yellow (I think...still not sure about that one).  I stained the wood this morning and waited for it to dry while we worked on the new sink.    Below is a picture of the boards in their half finished state.

That is all the projects that I remember picking out.  I am sure that Tom feels like it was ENOUGH...lol.  We should be able to finish these in the next few days and then before we know it, it will be time to return to the grind of work.  It is fun to putter around here a bit before we have to go back to work.

Here is some Max to fill your day with:

"Only Life

By Max Lucado

“Be faithful, even if you have to die, and I will give you the crown of life.” Revelation 2:10

Can you imagine a life with no death, only life? If you can, you can imagine heaven. For citizens of heaven wear the crown of life . . .

We are not made of steel, we are made of dust. And this life is not crowned with life, it is crowned with death.

The next life, however, is different."

By Grace Alone -

Teresa