Home Improvements

If you own a home, you know where I am coming from...

The process of updating and improving a home is endless. We have been living in our house for about three years now. Our first project...removing the ugly wall paper in the living room and painting. Then, a new shower followed by a new front porch, new kitchen cabinets and paint, a dishwahser, and now...wood laminate flooring. Ugh! The results are great, and we are having fun doing all of it. I just wish someone would have warned us about the addiction to home repairs.

It's kind of like being addicted to plastic surgery. Once one thing is changed, you just have to move on to the next. Next on our list is once again repainting the living room. I am sure that will be followed by some other room of the house. SOMEBODY STOP US!!! We have started renovating and redecorating, and we can't stop! Is there some sort of 12-step program we can join?! :o)

Life's Roller Coaster Ride

An emotional roller coaster. Traveling at insane speeds, so high you can see the whole world one moment, only to be wisked down the slope and sent into the row of loops. What a whirl wind ride! That is what I have been dealing with recently, and I know there are countless others who can relate. About a month and a half ago, my Grandfather was killed in a car crash, and since then, it seems that my roller coaster is stuck in the "loops" of life.

My husband, son, mother and I all went to visit him just five days before the crash. We were able to spend 3 days with him and his wife, my step-grandmother. It went well...we were all glad to have time to spend together even though there wasn't a lot to do. Five days later when I was told about the crash...I thought it was like some kind of sick joke.

He had been returning home from picking up his wife at the hospital. They needed to make a phone call, so he pulled over, turned on is flashers, and began to make the call. That is when it happened. A semi driver left the road and plowed in to the back of their car, killing Grandpa instantly and sending his wife back to the hospital by life flight helicopter. The driver of the semi...not a scratch.

We were present for the funeral, and it was all I could do to look at him laying there in the casket. I think I was still trying to convice myself that he would sit up and say, "Ha! Just kidding!" We stayed at his house, and I couldn't sleep. I kept thinking of him...almost seeing him. I was just waiting for him to come around the corner and give me a big hug, and kiss me with that scruffy beard of his. There was no breakfast waiting this time. No jokes about me needing to hurry up and have another baby. It was just quiet.

You would think it would get better after the funeral, but it hasn't yet. I still have a hard time listening to the Brad Paisly/Dolly Parton son, "When I Get Where I'm Going." I have yet to make it all the way through the song without crying. And...just when things are starting to look better, we have to be reminded of it all over again. The preliminary hearing against the driver of the semi is coming soon. We will have to sit there and look at this man...the man who took my Grandpa from me.

I know I will have to forgive him eventually, but I haven't been able to yet. I know God is going to have to help me on that one. I am still traveling through the loops of the roller coaster, just waiting for the next high peak, and yet dreading it at the same time. You see, I know what comes after the high peak, and I don't want to think about going there just yet.

Reading Rainbow???

Okay, so once upon a time, I actually belonged to a book club. I know that some of you may find that hard to believe, but it is true. Well, unfortunately, that fell by the wayside, but I still love to read.

I really like Francine Rivers. In fact, in my opinion, The Atonement Child, should be required reading for every freshman girl as they enter college. I have read it about a hundred times. Okay, so not a hundred...but close. Most recently, I finished The Last Sin Eater, and The Scarlet Thread. Both books lived up to my first impression of Rivers talent. So, just in case you need a good book to read, check them out.

I also have to suggest that you go out and hunt down The Yada Yada Prayer Group series by Neta Jackson. I loved them all...and can't wait for the 5th book to come out this summer.

I try to have a book to read all the time, and have just started Sisterchicks by Robin Jones Gunn and have Leota's Garden by Francine Rivers on standby. I will let you all know what I think once I finish them.

If anyone has any suggestions, please feel free to share them. Keep in mind, though, I like Romance and Comedy most of the time, but I don't like smut. Haha!!! It has to be tasteful. I also like suspense on some occasions.

Keep reading everyone. It helps to keep the mind sharp! And if you have a family history of dementia and alzhiemer's disease like me, you'll try anything to hold out a little longer!

Happy Reading!!!