Where to begin?

The bathroom renovations have begun.  Allen started in the middle bathroom.  It has kind of been a throw back to my childhood.  Seeing the imprints of previous bathroom layouts and the wall paper that was here long before us.  I grew up with a pedestal lavatory sink,which was taken in one of the remodels, there was also a small light at the top of a medicine cabinet.  I can vividly recall the chain on that light.  The bath tub was a dream come true.  Deep and big!  The wall paper was adorned in lush leaves and storks or flamingos or cranes, the ceiling was royal purple.

The pedestal sink sat outside the fence for many years, acting as a bird bath, until a cousin's wife took it and had it refinished and used it in a historic home in Brownwood.

We took this bathroom down to the bare walls, removed the double floor and even stripped the sheetrock from the ceiling.

Today the build back began in earnest.  Yesterday was spent buying supplies and ordering even more.This morning all the metal pipes came out, being replaced with new "pex".  We are blocking and leveling the floors.  By late today the floor and sheetrock should be up.

Let me explain.  "Supposed to" if things go as planned!

Things didn't go as planned.  In  fact, far from it!

We turned off the water mid morning, after Allen had all his new pex line ready to hook up.  When we turned the water on we had a leak at the metal pipe where the pex connected.  We turned the water off and went to the next joint.  We did this four times, finally ending up outside the house!  But we ended up with good "pvc" pipe.  While digging it up we found an issue with some old cast iron drain pipe so we fixed too, installing a a two way clean out in schedule 40 plastic.

But the plumbing issue cost us a day.

Allen needed to do some work at the church he attends prior to Easter so he took good Friday off. 

I spent Friday afternoon in Abilene.  Morrison Supply, Home Depot (yuk) and Lowes (which is rising on the yuk scale).  I am about fed up with the chain stores.

Home Depot has very few people who know what they are doing, and some people just want to sell you anything and will tell you anything.  The most surprising thing is that a store that size carrying a vast inventory, has no volume of any one item.

Last week I went to Lowes (about my third trip to look at tile) and placed an order.  12 x 12 pieces, 6 x 6 pieces, 3 x 12 bull nose pieces and 2 x 12 trim.  I requested all the material be ordered from the same color lot.  They asked me to pre-pay which I did, spending about $1800.  My ticket said to pick up the tile on March 29th, 2013.  When I told them I was there to pick up my tile, the looked at me like I was from Mars.  They didn't order the 12 x 12, the 6 x 6 was back ordered at the DC,  the trim was not in and the bull nose had been discontinued.

Needless to say, I was not a happy camper.  Last night about 8 o'clock I got a call telling me, hopefully my tile will be in by this coming Thursday.  I stressed to them that if the order is incomplete I don't want any of it.

Today I will probably go back to Abilene and look for alternate supplies.

Best news of the day is?  We got a "rain blessing" yesterday afternoon and last night.  Water standing in the horse pens, in front of the house, and in Tim's field next to the house.  I will make a trek around the farms later this morning to see how wide an area received rain.  Best thing is, we have a chance of rain the next five days!

Worst news is that the rain was limited to here at the house.  The farms only received traces.

I am going to sing in the Southern Hills Chorale Choir tomorrow.  We are doing two special songs for Easter.  Also there is a quartet of men doing  "The Old Rugged Cross".  At Wednesday evening practice it was very impressive!

Last week I attended Southern Hills early (Daybreak) service, then drove across town to attend their new out reach church called "Bar Church".  It actually takes place in a bar off of South Treadway and ministers to people who have had bad experiences in formal church settings or maybe have never attended a regular church.  Last week 140 people attended, although the number of bar people only numbered 25.  It is a very contemporary service featuring a praise band with keyboards, guitars, and drums.  The story has made it on the local news as well as the national news and lots of letters to the editors have been in the newspaper. 

Since I am singing in both Southern Hills services I will miss bar church this week.

Well, Happy Easter!

FATHER, I pray for patience in our projects.  I thank YOU for YOUR rain blessing!  Glory to YOUR name!.

Noble and Ollie's new
English Bulldog puppy!
She'll be ready April 5th.

A couple of notes.

This past week we lost two individuals.  One a local, the other an Abilene, physician.

Verla Ratliff, who was the mother of friends growing up, and worked at the school, finally succumbed to cancer.  It was a long and difficult road home.  Recently she had gone to M.D. Anderson in Houston, in hopes something new could be tried.  They had no answers for her and she wanted to return home.  Upon arrival in West Texas she was admitted to Rolling Plains Hospital and into Hospice care.

Our condolences go out to her family.

Dr. Herman Shaffer had served as my children's pediatrician many years ago.  In fact, he was the doctor that figured out why Rian who weighed 7 pounds at birth, weighed only 4 pounds at six weeks of age.  Rian's skin just hung from his frame.  I will be forever indebted to Dr. Shaffer for his diagnosis and diligence.  I am sure if Dr. Shaffer had seen Rian in recent years, he would have found it hard to believe that scrawny baby and Rian were one and the same.  Dr. Shaffer had been retired for a number of years.  He too had a long and difficult road home.  He suffered from pancreatic cancer and multiple melanomas that metastasized in his spine causing some paralysis.

Our condolences and gratitude go out to his family.

Late developments in my divorce now find me employing another attorney.  This one a contractual law attorney.  I also still have my divorce attorney employed.  We are in the process of having the mediated settlement vacated.  There were a number of items in the agreement that were time sensitive that have not happened five weeks after the agreement was signed.  We are asking the judge to throw out the mediated settlement and to issue an order to vacate the house, prepare it for sale and to sell all the equipment with proceeds being split right down the middle (after expenses of course).

When this is all over I should write a book.

And Wednesday we go back to court for Merrit's mess.  In the mean time I am spending time in the local bank, sheriff's office and district attorney's office.

I should be a legal beagle before much longer.

And, we are still waiting on that rain blessing.  All we have received is enough to spot the cars when the dirt is blowing.  I am afraid our wheat is beyond hope.

Several farmers are putting down yellows (herbicides).  I am not that brave.  Depending on markets, a guy might want to be able to plants some milo, possibly at a later date.

Remember you heard the next message here first.  John Boehner is the biggest ass in Washington, D.C..

Can I have an amen?

Well, have a day!

Oh FATHER, help me to keep a clear head as things swirl about me.  Help me to make good choices.  We continue to ask for YOUR rain blessing. 

Hello March!

Happy Birthday Addison!

Well, a month after mediation and I am still married.  I told my attorney to throw it all out the window and let's sell it all and split it down the middle.  Carol's attorney has had the decree since February 6.  There was one conditions and several time lines in there, and the way my mail looks, none of them have been met.

There was one title that they could not produce and the entire mediated package depended on on that.  Then they were supposed to have all the utilities changed over to Carol's name (I had paid all the utilities and house payment, insurance and taxes since last May (except for electricity, and I subsidized it the last few months).  In addition Carol had a payroll trust issue and they were supposed to get a printed copy of the IRS amount due to my attorney prior to the end of February and I was supposed to take a money order or cashiers check to my attorney up to an agreed amount if the amount due exceeded the cap, it would be less if the amount owed was below the cap.  I received a text February 28, 2013 at 5:15pm. with the balances due.

Too late to get the funds to my attorney if we had had been able to confirm the amounts.  IRS office in Abilene closes at 4:30.

Then we come to the issues with Carol filing charges against Merrit.

It appears I will be filing similar charges against Carol.

And still no boots, no rings, and no diploma.

But I did get another box of stuff, including my license plates.

We have been piddling with brakes on the old '51 Chevrolet bobtail truck at the farm.  We got it running, now I want to be sure to have the ability to stop..

We have been down one at the farm the past week.  Slats has stayed busy.  One day he ran seven tanks of gas through the chain saw clearing fence rows.

Bill has been in the hospital.  Two weeks ago he was moving some firewood at his sisters and got mesquite thorns in the meaty part of both thumbs.  For a week he messed with them, trying to dig out the poisonous tips, but every day they were swollen more and puss filled.  Finally he went to the doctor and they put him in the hospital for some serious antibiotics as infection had gotten so bad his arms were swollen to his elbows.  Finally they did surgery. 

Now they have him quarantined, as they believe his own self treatment and delay seeking professional treatment, now he has contracted a staff infection.  (Funny isn't it, but use to they said the only place to contract a staff infection was in a hospital).

My sister, an RN, is so paranoid about staff infections that the last thing she does at night is put a small dab of neosporin in her nose, as they say "staff" is air borne.

Some interesting developments.  In visiting with Slats this week, he told me that Bill's Dad had taken him to the ER.  This hit me between the eyes.  I looked at Slats and told him, "I thought Bill's Dad died last May?"

Slats replied, "No. Now Bill's mother died in 2011 but his Dad is still kicking!"

Last May when we were planting, Bill received a phone call and he got off the phone, crying.  I asked him what was wrong and he told me they had found his Dad dead in the sleeper berth of his truck in Dallas.  Of course I had told him to do what he needed to do, and he left and I did not see him for two weeks.

This was a very critical time on the farm as we were trying to pick up the cotton we had already planted and to continue planting the remainder of the cotton.  I made a decision to stop planting and concentrate on the seed we had in the ground already because I could not be in two places at one time.

Now he and I are going to have a talk when he returns.

Rian has walked in to the kitchen now and he has his on agenda for the day.  I wish he could come down here and just relax.

Oh well.

Have a day!

FATHER, there is so much going on.  Help me to make good choices.