Today is a VERY special day! Not because of the significance of the numerical date, but because on this day, 20 years ago, I wed the man that God created just for me!!
20 years ago on a sweltering hot 90 plus degree day, in a church with no air conditioning, I wed the man the Lord placed into my dreams. With sweat beading down his face he recited his vows to me while placing a ring upon my finger to symbolize our love for each other. Little did I know then, how adventurous, magnificent and miracously wonderful the next 20 years would be! Sure! Life together has been like a rollercoaster. There have been the good times and the bad. The ups and downs, the trials and tribulations. Without those steep hills to climb our love for each other would not have grown deeper or more meaningful. For the same reasons that trials and tribulations bring us closer to the Lord, I believe the same trials and tribulations have brought us even closer to each other.
God wrote our love story! He wrote the adventures, the tears, the joys, the children, the trials and tribulations and our salvation! It truly is a story that fairy tales are made of. He is my Knight in Shining Armor and I...his princess. The two who were meant to come together in the eyes of the Lord...... and destined to live happily ever after......
As if we didn't have enough to do already. Pandora decided to come by for an unannounced visit and she forgot to TAKE HER LITTLE BOX HOME WITH HER!!!
As usual, we,....actually......Chris started what was SUPPOSE to be a simple cleaning of the gutters. I just watched from the sidelines, held the hose and gave some encouragment every now and again. For instance, 'be careful hon', 'don't fall', 'your doing great', 'don't fall through the roof', ...those sort of sayings.
With all the rain recently we had noticed that the water was coming down in sheets across the windows. NOT normal. Especially when you have gutters. Thinking the gutters had become clogged with all of mother nature's debris, Chris climbed up on the roof to clean them out. The gutters do have gutter guards but they aren't worth a hill of beans in our humble opinion. They only keep the BIG stuff out.
So this....
turned into this....
Which led to lots of this....
And you guessed right. It turned out that the drainpipe was clogged. And I don't mean a little clogged either. Chris would dig 4 inches and pull out 4 inches of dirt and roots, dig and pull, dig and pull, poor guy!
After becoming extremely frustrated at the improper piping placed into the ground. And... realizing that there was no salvaging the original drainpipe, a trip to Lowe's was next on his list.
A few hours later he came home with everything plus more than he would need to complete the project. Lowe's is a 33 mile trip (one-way), and gas here in the boonies is $3.89 a gallon and our guzzler only gets 12 mpg. So, more than you need is better than another trip, especially with Pandora hanging around.
So after several hours of fierce battle with Pandora and her opened box, and three of the four drainpipes replaced, my noble prince has saved his castle from her treacherous blows. We can sleep soundly once again knowing Pandora and her water damaging spell has been defeated!!!
Dh will be retiring to his throne this evening. He is quite exhausted from the physically draining battle.
I on the other hand, have some very muddy clothing to wash.
Ding, ding, ding! It's round 1 and the men are eager to have at it.. With chain saws in hand they jump into the ring and commence with the tree cutting. Within seconds the first tree is down, and a second, and....What's that?...The third tree is putting up a pretty good fight..... It's refusing to go down for the count.... They slice it again and still it refuses to go down. The tree's friend has jumped into the ring to help him. It's attempting to pick it up. Isn't that an illegal maneuver? Where's the ref? Why isn't he gonna make a call on this?.... Look!.... The men are doing some fancy footwork and have taken down the stubborn tree AND it's friend....The odds were beginning to stack up against the men but they won the round! All 8 trees are down for the count! Ding, ding, ding!
The men return to their corners to plan out the next round..... What's this?..Is that who I think it is?.. YES!...... IT'S FRANKENBUCKET!..... Frankenbucket (so named for its numerous welding repairs) will be fighting in the next round...... Ding, ding, ding! It's round 2 and Frankenbucket has made a quick entrance into the ring and is digging rapidly.... But wait!.. Somethings not quite right!.... No!.... It can't be?! Frankenbucket has taken a hit! Frankenbucket has sprung a leak! A terribly large gushing leak!... The tree stump is getting the upper hand against Frankenbucket. If they don't do something quickly he will be down for the count. Ding, ding, ding!!! Saved by the bell and the end of round 2! Phew!
The men dive into the ring and quickly come to Frankenbucket's rescue. They determine that they can't make a quick repair. They don't have parts to make the repair. Their gonna have to call the fight! But wait!... The officials are having a conference..... It seems the tree stumps want a rematch!.... If it's a rematch they want then it's a rematch they will get! Next week, same time, same place.
The men spend their week repairing Frankenbucket and resting up.
Fast forward to the following weekend...........
Ding, ding, ding! It's round 1 and Frankenbucket is back in the ring. With a few quick scoops, DOWN goes tree stump number 1. This is the same tree stump that nearly took Frankenbucket down for the count last week.... Wow!....Look at Frankenbucket go! Tree stumps #2 and #3 are down. There goes tree stumps #4 and #5. It's making this stuff look like a piece of cake. It's just chewing those stumps up like their tiny pieces of bubble gum.....Wait!.....Look out!...Stump #6 is giving Frankenbucket a run for his money! Oh no!.... Frankenbucket has just lost his bucket!!! It is down for the count! The ref is counting it out as we speak! 1.......2........3.........4.........5.........6.........Come on Frankenbucket you can do it! Get up!! Get up!!....7.......8.....Ding, ding, ding!! That's the end of round 1.
The men quickly jump into the ring and help Frankenbucket out! Not only has it lost a bucket but it's pin has been completely sheered off..... It's in dire need of surgery! It can't go on without surgery.... Can the men repair it in time?.... The men can repair it but are uncertain if the repair will last!.... It is determined that Frankenbucket would be better off with a new bucket! But where are they going to find a bucket on the weekend?....The men work tirelessly to locate one, but their efforts are in vain. Frankenbucket's part must be special ordered!... This is terrible folks! They are going to have to forfeit the fight?..... Look!..... Chris is signaling for a time out! (This is MY story and I can have time-outs if I want too!) They are requesting a 45 minute time-out so they can perform surgery on Frankenbucket. It's their only chance! Their choices are to make a temporary repair or wait 3 weeks for parts and the spare time to properly fix Frankenbucket. They make the repairs quickly and are off to finish the fight.
Ding, ding, ding!! It's round 2 and the fight continues. Frankenbucket is moving a little slower in this round than the previous ones. You can tell it has a handicap. The handicap is really hurting it but down goes stump #7. Frankenbucket moves on to stump #8 and you can see it is struggling. It is having a tough time taking the stump out. It is barely getting in some good scoops. This last stump is really working Frankenbucket. It is using everything it has to take the stump out.... OH! WOW!!!! It did it folks! Frankenbucket took down the last stump! WOW! WOW! WOW! IT HAS DONE IT!! It has won the Championship Lot Clearing Fight of the century!!.....What's this folks?..Oh no!..Frankenbucket's been injured! It's bucket has sheered its repaired pin! It's bucket is barely hanging on! UNBELIEVABLE! This has been the best fight I have seen in years! Their going to be talking about this for many years to come!
The moral of the story: Never start a project without adding Murphy's Law into the equation! Not once or twice, but as many times as will be needed/required during the project!
The sheer screams of terror coming from a 3 year old sent my husband and I racing toward the calls. Every mother and every father knows the panic that races through their bodies when such screams occur.
Then more panic sets in when we realize that the 3 yr old is making these screams of terror from behind a locked bathroom door. I can see Chris and his adrenaline strength build ever so quickly as he realizes his access to the terrified 3 year old is blocked! I actually think he could have either broken the doorknob with his physical strength alone or he would have surely kicked in the door of the bathroom with one swift kick (something he has been known to do on a few occasions during our 18 years of marriage and subsequent children) :o} Fortunately for us (and our finances), we were adamantly (more like YELLING) at the 3 year old to tell us “WHAT'S WRONG?”
She pauses for an extremely brief moment during her terrorizing screams to utter in a panicked voice “I wocked mysef in da bathwoom.”
PHEW!!! Is that all she was terrified about? Good grief!!!
Chris calms down immediately and speaks to the panicked 3 year old with a soothing voice and tells her to twist the button that she was playing with earlier in order to unlock the door. She immediately proclaims her innocence in any involvement with the door mechanism between her now somewhat calmer cries. Since Chris (my hero) was now speaking to her in such a soothing way, she was able to calm down enough to realize how she could unlock the door by herself.
When the door FINALLY came open she leapt directly into the arms of her superhero. And I, naturally, didn't have my camera on hand to take one of the most beautiful pictures of a Daddy with his little girl/princess in his arms. A true hero with his daughter! (suit and cape excluded, of course)
I hope you have a malfunctioning mechanism free and blessed day!
Confessions of a SAHHM (Stay At Home Homeschooling Mom). SAHHM to six children, 3 cats, 1 German Shepherd, Chaos, Murphy's Law, Notme, Idunno, and one incredibly loving and patient husband! :o)
If I haven't blogged recently, it's probably because chaos has gotten loose. It does that from time to time. Rest assured I will be back as soon as it is under control again.
Especially when you have gutters. Thinking the gutters had become clogged with all of mother nature's debris, Chris climbed up on the roof to clean them out. The gutters do have gutter guards but they aren't worth a hill of beans in our humble opinion. They only keep the BIG stuff out. 
