Absence

Several wonderful folks have emailed and asked if my family and I are well. Thank you so much for checking on us. We are fine, just very busy. I am making a quick post to let you know where I've been and when to expect me back.

Are you ready?
Two weeks ago the sunroom and fireplace went away.
Last week we were supposed to get a new cement slab. Instead, we had a tornado, so the slab went in Monday of this week, which pushed renovations back a week.
Yesterday they framed in a new wall between the living room and “sunroom.”
Today they knock out the brick exterior wall, finishing some framing, and drywall the living room.
In the next two weeks:
--the blue skylight (tarp) gets replaced with a new roof.
--the new outside room and extended dining room get framed in.
--the windows and doors go in
--the existing exterior dining room wall gets knocked out.
--all walls get finished
--the exterior gets painted and gutters get put up.

While the workers have been doing that, we:
--Pulled up carpet
--Ripped up linoleum
--Pulled out carpet tack strips
--Pulled off trim
--Chiseled out kitchen tile. (Thank the Lord for Hilti!)
--Reworked the washer drain pipe.
--Planted a garden.
--Primed and repainted the entryway.

Along with that:
--We’ve had 3 hour Fiddler rehearsals 2x a week. I’ve done pictures for 3 of those rehearsals.
--We’ve had to research doors, floors, and stuff for the house. That takes an amazing amount of time.
--Oh, did I mention the week long stomach virus I had? What is up with a week of stomach virus?!
--And we still have PE and skating on Fridays.
--I spoke to a women’s group last Tuesday.
--I had my cardio checkup, which went great.
--Oh, and there is my writer’s group that took a whole Saturday morning.

You get the idea.

The next five days are nuts, but the light is clearly before us, and we will make it through.

We are home. I'm taking time to blog, respond to time-oriented emails, and sit a bit. I've already done a load of laundry and have another one ready to go when the dishwasher is done. I will get my ironing done when I'm done with this. I have to do a bit of picking up because we have family coming in tomorrow. I'm not trying to dust because there is no point. In fact, every window I can reach is open in order to air out the house because of the dust. This evening, we start Fiddler on the Roof performances for our daughter.

After that our schedule looks like this:

This evening--5:30 leave time for a 6:30 call for a 7:30 performance
Saturday—12:30 leave time for a 1:30 call and a 2:30 performance. Anna will stay there, and I will come home. Our neighbor is going that night to the 7:30 show, and he’ll bring her home. When I get home, Rob’s dad and stepmom from VA will be here.
Sunday—12:30 leave time for 1:30 call and 2:30 show
Monday—5:30 leave time for 6:30 call and 7:30 show
Tuesday—we’ll spend the day with Rob’s folks
Wednesday—Rob’s folks go from the hotel to the airport, so we won’t see them. We have no Fiddler either. I may lay out food for the children for the day and hide in my bedroom so I can write. I need to blog, and I need to get another chapter written for my critique group.
Thursday—I’ll do post production work on yesterday’s pictures and turn them in Friday at the cast party.

So that is where we are and have been. It's a good life. We are thankful we came through the tornado with nothing more than tree clean up. We are thankful we can renovate the house, and we are thrilled that Anna gets to participate in Fiddler. It is good. It is just an intense season, and I had to set a few things down for a few weeks. However, I already have a few more thoughts on being beautiful, and I look forward to sharing them with all of you.

For now, though, I need to iron and clean a few toilets.

I hope all of you are well and enjoying whatever season you are in. I'll see you soon!