Lent Begins Today

Lent is the 40 days before Easter (not counting Sundays) and is symbolic of the 40 days Jesus spent fasting in the wilderness before His crucifixion. Although they don't fast for 40 days, many Christians make some sort of sacrifice during this time.

I have given up things like chocolate, soda, desserts, and bread in the past. Usually I try to choose something that I know is coming between me and a healthy body. This year I had a hard time coming up with something to give up. After thinking it over and trying to come up with something that is 1) sacrificial and 2) something that I know I can live without until the middle of April and 3) something that will help me be closer to God and my family, I have decided to give up my computer after 7pm.

I'm writing this from my phone now! This has limited capabilities, so if you wonder where I am or why everything is misspelled, now you know!

Updated Bucket LIst

After the bucket --list-that-really-isn't blog going around, I thought I'd revive my bucket list. I had to go back to last March to even find it, so I know it needs updating.  Here's the new version:

THINGS I HAVE NEVER DONE:
- see a Broadway show (On Broadway)
- see a volcano
- take a helicopter ride
- see Alaska (cruise?)
- visit Linville Falls and Caverns
- take a tour of Charleston
- take Savannah to Savannah
- drive the entire Blue Ridge Parkway
- see the Grand Canyon
- see a major league baseball game
- take a Caribbean cruise
- snorkle
- camp in Yellowstone Park
- visit the Australia Zoo
- skinny dip
- see the Poconos and Niagara Falls
- spin the globe and visit where my finger lands
- vacation on a beach in Ecuador
- finish the patio in the back yard and put a pool in

THINGS I'D DO AGAIN:
- see the Biltmore House (Savannah's class is going in April and I'm going with them)
- ride the Virginia Creeper Trail (LOVE this one- we go every year!)
- take a train ride through the mountains
- visit Old Salem
- visit New Orleans
- go back to Glacier National Park
- go whitewater rafting
- go skiing (maybe next week?)
- go to Washington DC
- go to Chicago
- go on another mission trip (this summer I hope!)

Not Tagged by Tricia on Facebook- but this looked fun!

Place an X by all the things you've done and remove the X from the ones you have not.

Things you have done during your lifetime:
( ) Gone on a blind date
( ) Donated Blood
(X) Skipped school
( ) Watched someone die
(X) Been to Canada
( ) Been to Mexico
( ) Been to Florida
( ) Been to Hawaii
(X) Been on a plane
(X) Been on a helicopter
(X) Been lost
(X) Gone to Washington, DC
(X) Hugged a homeless person
(X) Swam in the ocean
( ) Swam with Stingrays
( ) Been sailing in the ocean
(X) Cried yourself to sleep
(X) Played cops and robbers (and cowboys and indians!)
(X) Recently colored with crayons
( ) Ran a marathon
(X) Sang Karaoke
(X) Volunteered at a soup kitchen
(X) Paid for a meal with coins only
( ) Been to the top of the St. Louis Arch
( ) Been to the top of the Empire State Building
(X) Been to the top of Sears Towers
( ) Seen the Northern Lights
( ) Been Parasailing
( )Been on TV
(X) Done something you told yourself you wouldn't
(X) Made prank phone calls
(X) Been down Bourbon Street in New Orleans
( ) Laughed until some kind of beverage came out of your nose
( ) Fed an Giraffe
(X) Caught a snowflake on your tongue
(X) Fired a gun
(X) Danced in the rain
(X) Been to the Opera
(X) Written a letter to Santa Claus
(X) Serenaded someone
( ) Seen a U.S. President in person
( ) Met someone who has run for President
(X) Been kissed under the mistletoe
(X) Watched the sunrise with someone
( ) Driven a race car
(X) Been to a National Museum
(X) Been to a Wax Museum
( ) Eaten caviar
(X) Blown bubbles
(X) Gone ice-skating (if you can call it that- I think it was more like ice falling!)
(X) Gone to the movies
( ) Been deep sea fishing
(X) Driven across the United States (as far as NC to Wisconsin, anyway!)
( ) Been in a hot air balloon
( ) Been sky diving
( ) Gone snowmobiling
( ) Lived in more than one country
(X) Lay down outside at night and admired the stars while listening to the crickets
(X) Seen a falling star and made a wish
( ) Enjoyed the beauty of Old Faithful Geyser
( ) Seen the Grand Canyon
(X) Seen the Statue of Liberty
( ) Gone to the top of Seattle Space Needle
( ) Been on a cruise
(X) Traveled by train
(X) Traveled by motorcycle
( ) Been horse back riding
( ) Ridden on a San Francisco cable car (no, but I did ride the trolley in New Orleans!)
(X) Rode the NYC Metro Subway
( ) Been to Disneyland OR Disney World
(X) Truly believe in the power of prayer
( ) Been in a rain forest
(X) Seen dolphins in the ocean
( ) Seen Whales in the ocean
( ) Been to Niagara Falls
( ) Ridden on an Camel
( ) Swam with dolphins
( ) Been to the Olympics
( ) Walked on the Great Wall of China
( ) Saw and heard a glacier calf
( ) Been spinnaker flying
(X) Been water-skiing
(X) Been snow-skiing
( ) Been to Westminster Abbey
( ) Been to the Louvre
( ) Swam in the Mediterranean
( ) Been to a Major League Baseball game
( ) Been to a National Football League game
( ) Been to a Major Hockey Game
( ) Swam with sharks
(X) Been White Water Rafting
( ) Written a book or screen play
( ) Been to China
( ) Been to Europe
(X) Eaten things you can't pronounce
( ) Jumped off a waterfall
(X) Been in a tornado
( ) Been stung by a Scorpion
(X) Had any broken bones
( ) Ever eaten insects
( ) Driven a Police Car

New Floor Project

Scott cut and I laid the tile. Now it hast to dry for 24 hours before it gets grout. That's why the board is there- we can't walk on it.

We're almost done! The tile is down and we're just waiting for the mortar to dry so we can add the grout. Hopefully today or tomorrow we'll be done!

Progress (or How Much I'm Loved on Valentine's Day)

I wasn't online at all yesterday (which is very strange for me!) The day started with Scott and I working on the floor once again. Like most home improvement projects, we don't have all the right things and keep making trips to the store. Luckily, there's a small hardware store across the road from my house. Unfortunately, they closed early yesterday. So when Scott comes back, he doesn't have a chalk line. He has chocolate and Valentine's presents!

OK, so this is the chocolate! I didn't know they made chocolate Skittles. And he brought regular flavored ones for Savannah, who doesn't like chocolate. He also brought me a calendar with pictures of different beaches. He says this should be a goal- to visit some of these places. Since two are in Hawaii, I'm game!

So we go to work on the floor. You have to put this cement board under the tile as a moisture/mold barrier. So we cut and mortar it in and then screw it down. To lay the tile, we needed gloves and a sponge. And we still needed a chalk line and some joint tape. So we go to the store again. I told him I'd make us a nice Valentine's Day dinner, so we got the stuff for that while we were out, too.

The floor is looking better! At least now it looks like a floor. We had planned to get tile down last night, but were just sitting down to eat that nice dinner when the phone rang. It was Brandon, who had been in a fender-bender. So we go rescue him and his girlfriend. Everyone is unhurt but shaken- this is the first accident he has been in. His truck is probably totaled, which is ok with me since it was getting ready to need a lot of work and had over 200,000 miles on it. But now we get to go car shopping. And the tile gets to wait for today.

I did get Scott a funny card. (You have to love being able to laugh with your friends!) It says "Our relationship is pretty unusual- I'm pretty, and you're unusual." He loved it!

My Saturday Project

My project for today was to replace the laminate flooring in the foyer with tile. Sounded pretty easy, especially with Scott's help. Water got in under the door and buckled the laminate flooring. Easy job to pull up the laminate and lay tile. I've done it before. I have a friend who owns a carpet store who sold me three boxes of tile left over from a job for $5. Then he gave me the mastic and grout. All I had to really buy was a trowel and the backer-board.

As seems to be my home-improvement luck, when we pulled up the flooring, we found that part of the sub-flooring was rotten. There was also some mold under there. So it had to come up too, so add plywood, insulation, and a new threshold to the list. Back to Lowes.

We had a plan. We had the tools. We had the materials.

What we have now is a huge hole!

Brandon Hits 1000

The boy holding the basketball is my son, Brandon. He is a senior in high school this year and captain of his HS basketball team.

When I got to his ball game last night, I found out that he was only 8 points away from his 1000th career high school point. So barring an injury or something really wacky, they were planning to celebrate with him at the game. He had no idea- he knew he was close, but he thought he was 18 or 20 points away. (I wish someone would have warned me earlier, I would have brought the good camera and not used my cell phone.) One of the dads had his video camera, though, so we have it on video.

The boy hit the first 3-pointer of the game. 3 points. He was fouled and hit one of his free throws. 4 points. He hit a layup. 6 points. Then he gets fouled again. At the free throw line, he makes the first one - 7 points. Misses the second! So we play some more. It didn't take too long for him to hit one more shot. 9 points, and 1001 career points.

The coach called a time out and the announcer told the crowd that they had just witnessed his 1000th career point. The coach presented him with a signed basketball. We had a 30 second photo-op and then play resumed.

This picture was actually taken at the end of the game- more time to assemble everyone for a shot. I'm so proud of him- and he is proud of himself, too. Savannah and Scott were at the game with me- I'm glad they got to see this. More of the family might have come if we had known it was close, but it was really a nice surprise and a proud moment for everyone!

Congrats, baby boy!

Who Am I - Casting Crowns

For Cathy- and anyone else who asks!