MARCH MADNESS.....

I call this blog March Madness because we've started our projects for the year!! We seem to begin to think of home improvement when the snow begins to melt and "daffy down dillies," as Steve called them, begin to poke out their heads. We're doing a re-decorating of our upstairs bathroom; we don't have the money to do the remodel that the bathroom needs, but we can redecorate!! We're going for a cottage look--hence the white boards. The paint color is a moss green, and the pictures are still in question--they're actually pictures of birdhouses. We're ready to take down the "naked" pictures and the bathtub parphenalia. I put them away with reluctance, but they've served their time!!

In the midst of the re-decorating preparations, Dad discovered that the chimney in the living room had jarred loose, so here he is ready to crawl into the attic to check out the problem. We were both reminded of the time when Susan was about eight and decided she wanted a bedroom of her own, and she discovered the crawl space above the coat closet. One evening when we were at the temple, she went into the crawl space and began moving the insulation around to make room for her bed. It's truly a miracle that she didn't inhale the insulation fumes!!

Once he found the problem, Dad set to work fixing the chimney. A difficult, dirty job. So, Dad worked on his chimney upstairs, and I worked on my quilt downstairs. I told him to holler if he needed me, and he said he hollered and hollered for me the other day and couldn't get my attention! However, he was able to get my attention, and I helped him for a while. We were an amazing team.

Grandma tells us that she hopes to be able to attend church on Sunday, so she's doing better. Not better enough to suggest that she doesn't need us to come each week but better. She expressed the desire to have a "granny rocker" in her bedroom, so we've bought one for her which Dad is going to finish, and we'll take it to her on Wednesday. She is still quite weak, but she's moved from the walker to her cane once again. She especially loves all the telephone calls she getting, so take the time to call her when you can. Dad said he watched an hour long tv show with her, and she received five calls. She was thrilled. She also loves her cards and pictures as well. Take a minute to send her some. Her "gang," as she calls them, the "girls," all in their late 80's, came to her on Monday afternoon with linens, silver, crystal, and dinner and they dined together. Remember, her 93rd birthday is May 8.

All is well with us. Our mission assignment is slowed down this week because it's Spring vacation, but we'll be teaching again next week. When our class in Portland ends on April 24, we'll be reassigned to The Dalles Oregon stake, which means no more trips to Portland. We'll be teaching a class in Hood River for the summer, and then one or two classes in the Fall. Plus, the stake president would like us to do some firesides/workshops to encourage other retirees in the stake to get off their couches and do volunteer work, service or full-time missions. Should be an interesting challenging.

Love to you all from your mom, the chimney sweep.