The Rest of the story...

These include the before and after :)

Ministering and Being Ministered To

Most of us were amazed at how large, well organized, and really nice the Ronald McDonald House is. It has to be. It is the only safe haven for most of the families who come through its doors. These families come from all over the globe. (we talked to a mom from Venezuala, others from Mexico, another from Minnesota, etc...) They are here for the children to go through medical treatment in the medical center and could never afford the housing bills that come with an extended stay outside of one's hometown. That is where the Ronald McDonald House comes in. They house up to 50 families. This evening, we took pumpkins and snacks and helped the kids carve/paint the pumpkins as a break from their normal routine. Many of these photos are thanks to a father of one of the children at the Ronald McDonald House.

Job 8:21 He will yet fill thy mouth with laughter, And thy lips with shouting.

Another one...

A woman was flying from Seattle to San Francisco . Unexpectedly, the plane was diverted to Sacramento along the way. The flight attendant explained that there would be a delay, and if the passengers wanted to get off the aircraft the plane would re-board in 50 minutes.

Everybody got off the plane except one lady who was blind. The man had noticed her as he walked by and could tell the lady was blind because her Seeing Eye dog lay quietly underneath the seats in front of her throughout the entire flight.

He could also tell she had flown this very flight before because the pilot approached her, and calling her by name, said, "Kathy, we are in Sacramento for almost an hour. Would you like to get off and stretch your legs?" The blind lady replied, "No thanks, but maybe my dog would like to stretch his legs."

Picture this:

All the people in the gate area came to a complete standstill when they looked up and saw the pilot walk off the plane with a Seeing Eye dog! The pilot was even wearing sunglasses. People scattered. They not only tried to change planes, but they were trying to change airlines!

True story....

Laughter is the Best Medicine

So in honor of that...I have included some funny quips passed on to me by none other than the usual chain email.

PALM SUNDAY : IT WAS PALM SUNDAY AND, BECAUSE OF A SORE THROAT, FIVE-YEAR-OLD JOHNNY STAYED HOME FROM CHURCH WITH A SITTER. WHEN THE FAMILY RETURNED HOME, THEY WERE CARRYING SEVERAL PALM BRANCHES. THE BOY ASKED WHAT THEY WERE FOR. "PEOPLE HELD THEM OVER JESUS' HEAD AS HE WALKED BY." "WOULDN'T YOU KNOW IT," THE BOY FUMED, "THE ONE SUNDAY I DON'T GO, HE SHOWS UP!"

CHILDREN'S SERMON : ONE EASTER SUNDAY MORNING AS THE MINISTER WAS PREACHING THE CHILDREN'S SERMON, HE REACHED INTO HIS BAG OF PROPS AND PULLED OUT AN EGG. HE POINTED AT THE EGG AND ASKED THE CHILDREN, "WHAT'S IN HERE?" "I KNOW!" A LITTLE BOY EXCLAIMED. "PANTYHOSE!"

FIRST TIME USHERS : A LITTLE BOY IN CHURCH FOR THE FIRST TIME WATCHED AS THE USHERS PASSED AROUND THE OFFERING PLATES. WHEN THEY CAME NEAR HIS PEW, THE BOY SAID LOUDLY, "DON'T PAY FOR ME DADDY. I'M UNDER FIVE."

PRAYERS : THE SUNDAY SCHOOL TEACHER ASKED, "NOW, JOHNNY, TELL ME, DO YOU SAY PRAYERS BEFORE EATING?" "NO SIR," HE REPLIED, "WE DON'T HAVE TO, MY MOM IS A GOOD COOK!"

CLIMB THE WALLS: "OH, GRANDMA, I SURE AM HAPPY TO SEE YOU," THE LITTLE BOY SAID TO HIS GRANDMOTHER ON HIS MOTHER'S SIDE. "NOW MAYBE DADDY WILL DO THAT TRICK HE HAS BEEN PROMISING US" THE GRANDMOTHER WAS CURIOUS. "WHAT TRICK IS THAT?" SHE ASKED. "I HEARD HIM TELL MOMMY THAT HE WOULD CLIMB THE WALLS IF YOU CAME TO VISIT" THE LITTLE BOY ANSWERED.

THE WATER PISTOL : WHEN MY THREE-YEAR-OLD SON OPENED THE BIRTHDAY GIFT FROM HIS GRANDMOTHER, HE DISCOVERED A WATER PISTOL.. HE SQUEALED WITH DELIGHT AND HEADED FOR THE NEAREST SINK. I WAS NOT SO PLEASED. I TURNED TO MOM AND SAID, "I'M SURPRISED AT YOU. DON'T YOU REMEMBER HOW WE USED TO DRIVE YOU CRAZY WITH WATER GUNS?" MOM SMILED AND THEN REPLIED..... "OH YES, I REMEMBER."

(and last but not least, my personal favorite)

SUPPORT A FAMILY : THE PROSPECTIVE FATHER-IN-LAW ASKED, "YOUNG MAN, CAN YOU SUPPORT A FAMILY?" THE SURPRISED GROOM-TO-BE REPLIED, "WELL, MMM, NO. I WAS JUST PLANNING TO SUPPORT YOUR DAUGHTER. THE REST OF YOU WILL HAVE TO FEND FOR YOURSELVES."

Will work for Finished Product...

Let's just say, I am requesting to get HGTV in on this job...but seeing how the odds are not strongly in my favor, I will take any suggestions that any of you may have, not to mention help painting. :)

Brief background-- Our house was built in 1992, I think, and the wallpaper in every room was just a standard feature. Our study has been one of the last strongholds (Cindy, I am not sure I can use this word after Sunday's lesson, but...) in our house. It currently has wood moulding everywhere. (and for those of you who have not seen it, I really mean everywhere!--except, of course, where the wallpaper is :) ) We have heavy crown moulding, and foot moulding, panel moulding with wallpaper where the panels would be, and a wall of complete built-ins. To some this may sound perfect...to me, it just represents hours of misery. You see, they did not stain the moulding. They painted it with a somewhat faux brown finish that looks like wood stain. While I was perfectly content with that when we bought the house, the paint chips and desperately needed a touch-up. I took the drawer to ICI Dulux (which I highly recommend as a paint store, by the way. Cheap but GREAT quality paint--builders use them) and had them match the paint color. My mom and I did a sample paint job on a board and found it to match quite well... Now for the problem...

I forgot that to get the streaked look, I would have to have only 1 coat on the wood. When I touch up that makes a second coat. Duh...but I forgot this. I cautiously, but obviously not cautiously enough, touched up all the mouldings on the drawers and only occasionally touching anything else. I discovered that it looked pretty decent in the dark, but in the light...!

It was pretty noticeable where the new paint was--too noticeable. And it was a solid, ugly, dated brown color. I knew then that I did not want to paint all the wood that same color to erase the touch-up job. It would really look bad then.

That brings me to now. I want to keep it a dark, manly study...(with the dark wood look) but need to do something about the touched up cabinets. I have already bought the paint for the wallpaper panels and planning to do a dark cream on the top of the chair rail and a slightly darker shade below and then stencil an Italian looking design in the darker shade on the top so it will be subtle. Our house is very traditional in style and I would like to keep that feel.

What do I do with the wood the room? (obviously, I will have to repaint all of it, and I am steeled to do that...even with oil based paint) Now, please keep in mind that I am far from as artistic as so many of you!

Here are a few pictures to get you thinking... Can you see the unmatching paint? (it is also a bit glossier--I think only because it is fresh paint-- than what is there already) This is a picture pre-touch up, but you can see the wallpaper (to be painted over) and the incredible amount of work to paint over the wood--including built-ins.

So... any suggestions?

Floors and more-Take 2

Well, in the process of taking pictures of my study...(more later about that), I discovered that I had not put in my memory card. The pictures were on the camera itself...and you guessed it! So were the Frustratingly Lost Pictures of the Floor. To really prove the discrepancy that the sun has made to our floors in the 3 mos. since the wood was installed--

We put the rugs back down for company a bit ago and have yet to pull them back up to "tan" the floors. :) I know what I have in store this week!

Filler

I was going to finally write another post...one I had been meaning to do for a while. Even went so far as to type in the title "Update on the floors", and then I realized... I must have deleted the pictures without meaning to. So, that post will have to wait. Instead, I will add more photos of Cindy's party here.