Staycation Day 9 and Non-Vacay Days Following....

Bathroom finished with everything back in place  . . . and a few new things as well. Whew!

Had a meltdown about Zach the Cat. He's been puny for days. Looked like he was repeating his sick self on Staycation Day 9 the same way he did over Memorial Day weekend when I took him to the emergency animal hospital and signed over my car to them as a down payment. (Only kidding . . . I simply took out a second mortgage.)


But as I was calling my vet on Staycation Day 9 to try to get Zach in for an emergency check-over, Zach suddenly perked up and began swatting his play mice around the house. I canceled the appointment and hoped he wouldn't die over the weekend. 
So far so good. He's actually 
seeming much better. He's 
eating, playing, exploring . . .
just like the old, mischievous 
Zach. As for me, I need to see a 
cat counselor 
or whatever......


After I stored my bathroom paints in the shop and got over I'm-scared-my-cat's-dyin' cryin', I met a couple of friends for supper. What a joy. 


So grateful for friends, an improved cat, an improved bathroom, and time to enjoy my home and life.


Even though the Staycation is over, 

it will live on 
in my newly painted and decorated bath and, 
hopefully, 
in my l-i-f-e!


Grateful.

Staycation Day 8

New paint colors are on my bathroom walls! Yea!

One more coat tomorrow! (sigh)

Then I'll put the bath back together again...

shower curtain up, 

towels out, 

silk flowers arranged, 

rugs down,

wall hangings hung. Yea!

But tonight . . . 

tonight is the next to last night of my staycation.

It's almost over.

I already miss it......

Staycation Day 7
I've painted four different color places on the bath wall. 
Trying to decide.
Ceiling is painted. Needs one more coat. No roller. Had to use a brush. 
Neck hurts.
Tape is up and ready.
Drop cloth is down.
But which color?
Maybe I will know in the morning.....

Staycation Day 6

Scraped on my bathroom plaster walls and ceiling today. Then spackled. 

I used to love to spackle. 

After the awful spackle job I did on the walls, 

I can't remember why I loved it. 

The spackling was going so badly 

that I stopped and went to the computer 

and Googled "how to spackle a wall." 

Watched two videos 

where I understood I was supposed to "feather" 

the spackle outward so to avoid lines and thickness.

Let's just say my drying spackled walls remind me a bit 

of Vincent van Gogh's "Starry Night" Impressionistic art.

I'll get to sand a lot on Staycation Day 7.

Staycation Day 5

This morning 

I sat out on my deck 

drinking coffee 

and watched a turtle 

amble across my back yard

towards the wild, ivy-jungle section

which makes a nice turtle home.

Good times.

Love Wins

The following is an excerpt from the blog of Deacon Lex. He speaks insightfully to the heartache of  suffering and of God's presence.

Monkey Butt

           If God really loves us so much why does he allow bad things to happen?

*

        Before retiring, I worked at Hackensack University Medical Center. At least once each day I would ride the elevator in The Tomorrows Children Building. Frequently I would share that elevator with young children who were very sick. One day I stepped into the elevator with a young boy, about five years old, and his mother. He was in a motorized wheelchair and appeared to be paralyzed from the neck down ─ a condition that I assumed had been present from birth. He was unable to speak but could mouth words that his mom could understand. I was overcome by a feeling of pity for him and his mother; and in my head I started asking a recurring question, Why God? Why do you let such suffering exist?

         I was distracted from my thoughts by the laughter of the boy’s mother. She giggled to her son, “No, you’re a monkey butt!” His eyes were bright with laughter as he mouthed the words back to her, “No, you’re a monkey butt!” The playful bantering between this mother and child, who obviously loved each other very much, kept up as she wheeled him off the elevator and to whatever life-sustaining treatment he was getting that day.

        As I stood alone in the elevator I realized that I had been in the presence of God. God was very much there in the flow of love that went between that mother and child. No matter how much pain and anguish lived in that mother’s heart, no matter how debilitated that little boy was, their hearts were totally open to each other, open wide enough to allow themselves to share the gift of laughter and silliness. God was present in the center of the cross that was shared by that mother and child, just as surely as he is present in the center of the cross that hangs over our parish altar. Our loving God is with us in the midst of all the bad things, all the suffering we experience.

        And in witnessing that scene and experiencing that presence of God between mother and child, I can almost understand why God permits suffering.

        The bad things that happen and the suffering that exists in life are locked in a moment in time. But God, as well as each one of our immortal souls, is timeless; yet God is with us here in time, holding our hand through the suffering. Some day, when we are free of the limits of our human existence, all the pain and suffering will somehow make sense.

        If we could see eternity and the timeless love that awaits us with God, the sufferings that we witness and endure here in life might more easily be understood. God is so good to us that he shows us his face in the suffering. All we have to do is look; all we have to do is listen. God is present in the simplicity of the wind. God is present even in the silliness and the laughter of a word like "monkey butt."

By Deacon Lex

Deaconlex.blogspot.com