One of the best things about deployment is seeing how the Lord provides. Some days are bearable, and some days are not. The messes pile up, and then they all somehow work out in such a way that you know it can only be a God thing.
Lately I have been in survival mode. Just trying to keep up our normal schedule and maintain some kind of order in the house. The list of "things to do before the baby comes" sits untouched.
A few months ago I started loosing water pressure in my shower. It just kept getting worse until it was at the point where I could barely rinse my hair. I was afraid there was a leaky pipe in a wall somewhere, so I stopped using it and just started showering in the guest bathroom. Then the drain in my bathroom sink, which has always been a little slow, kept getting worse to the point where just brushing my teeth was a pain.
If the atrocious pink tile is any indication of the condition of the plumbing, then I was scared to know what was wrong. I just knew it would require ripping out walls and thousands of dollars.
After all, home ownership has been too easy so far, something has to go wrong in an old house eventually, right? So I just put it off and put it off.
Oh what the heck, since I'm talking about it I'll just show you our "dirty pink secret". Behold the one room in the house that is completely uncharming and none of the previous owners got around to renovating, the Master Bath:
Yikes. Not sure what decade this was, but it's hard to imagine someone choosing to do that. When we looked at this house and it actually HAD a master bathroom, I could have kissed that pink tile I was so excited. But it would be nice to update it and a girl can dream.
Anyway....
Then the cap blew off our lamp post and I added that to my to-do list. I hate going to Home Depot almost as much as I hate going to the dentist. Plus the lamp was all filled with snow, and I needed it to dry out before I put a cap on it. At least that was my excuse.
Then this week we had two days of crazy, Colorado-style wind. I was talking to Micah one night and telling him that it sounded like the wind was going to tear a shutter off the house. Sure enough, the next morning I went to
PWOC where a friend told me she noticed a shutter had blown off our house when she was driving by. I hadn't even noticed it as I was rushing out of the house 15 minutes late. Thankfully, it was still dangling and not halfway across the golf course like it would have been in Colorado. These aren't the kind of shutters you can find in stores, I would have had to have one made to match.
These days I'm exhausted. I mean....tired beyond reason. I wake up tired, I'm tired all day, I go to the Y and trudge through my 4 miles which gives me a much needed energy boost for about 2 hours and then I'm tired again. (Mostly I just work-out to get a break from Skylar, I'm not going to lie). Everything feels like it takes gigantic amounts of effort. I could barely even cut my toe nails a few days ago. It annoys me that everything has to be so hard.
I get tired just thinking about what to feed Skylar for dinner every night and she would be happy eating noodles with a side of noodles three times a day, so all of this accumulating house maintenance was stressing me out. One perk of living in military housing is the free, 24 hour maintenance at hand. I was seriously wishing I had that. Anyway, the shutter was the last straw. I couldn't have the house falling apart and looking trashy, and the missing lamp post cap combined with a dangling shutter was more than I could take.
So as soon as I got home from
PWOC I called my snow removal guy, who I know also does contracting work, and asked him if he could come by and fix it. Then it was time to find a plumber. Last
December I called someone to fix the garbage disposal who ended up being the sweetest old man. He could have charged me anything, but he was very reasonable and told me to call him for recommendations and he would make sure I didn't get taken advantage of. Sadly, there are quite a few places in town that take advantage of military families. So I called him and he recommended a plumber.
This morning at 8:00, my snow removal guy came and fixed the shutter and was about to drive away when I ran out there and caught him to pay him. I wouldn't have even known he was there if the dogs hadn't been freaking out. He wouldn't let me pay him. He doesn't know that Micah is deployed, and until that moment didn't even know I was pregnant. The last time we talked face to face was in September. He was just being nice.
Then the plumber came today. When he walked into the house he said "When I pulled up, I couldn't believe it. I know this house well". He had previously replaced plumbing, and installed many of the fixtures, a new toilet, and a new sink for the previous owner. There are dozens of plumbers in town, so I knew getting this guy was no accident.
He spent over an hour fixing leaky faucets in the guest bathroom, restored water pressure in my shower, and then fixed my bathroom sink--even replacing part of a pipe, and only charged $75 for all of his parts and work. He doesn't know Micah is deployed either.
So feeling motivated, I grab my tape measure this afternoon to measure the top of the lamp post and get a new cap. We've had two days of warm rain, and the snow is melted for now. My jaw dropped when I saw the cap was back in place. Seriously. It wasn't there yesterday. One of my neighbors must have unearthed it and returned it for me. I have no idea who did it, but I am very grateful.
Everything fixed in one day, just like that, and all for $75.
So even in our less than ideal circumstances right now, and with all the uncertainty surrounding the birth of this baby, what do I have to worry about? Absolutely nothing. It's all going to be fine.
"Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life? Since you cannot do this very little thing, why do you worry about the rest? Consider how the lillies grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you, Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. If this is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today, and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, how much more will he clothe you, O you of little faith!" Luke 12:25-28
They came bearing cupcakes from Magnolia bakery in New York City. We love cupcakes around here. 
They brought Skylar some snowshoes too. Unfortunately, we had just lost all of our snow, but she still had fun trying them out in the yard. 
She especially liked to cuddle with them in their bed. It was hard to keep her from barging in there first thing every morning. 
We decided to go to a popular breakfast place in a nearby town. The portions are HUGE. 
Kristy got the chocolate chip cookie pancakes, and after she was done with it she had to cut it into four peices to get it to fit into the to-go box. 
Then we decided to feed the ducks, because Skylar can't be that close to the water without at least checking on them. 
She carried her bag of bread around hoping to find them, and then sadly Lake Ontario was still iced over, so she could see them but they were too far away to feed. So sad.
Even at 25 weeks pregnant, Aunt Kristy was still fun. 
We made pizza one night for dinner and Uncle Andy made a deluxe, gourmet, 5-star homemade pizza. He was a culinary genious. 
Skylar was so sad when they had to leave, but we had a great visit. Thanks for spending your spring break with us! 
Basically, the attic is 1200 square feet of stuff we don't want to deal with. It's completely unorganized, some of it still in boxes from our move....a total mess. And freezing cold.
I dug out some baby gear and started washing it. I put the swing together wrong and had to take it apart and start over. Same with the bouncer. I think those were Micah's jobs last time. Then I started washing and putting away baby clothes, which I think is the fun part. (By the way, he already has 8 pairs of shoes. I stock up on them for baby gifts, but I raided my gift box and kept them all).
Now all he needs is a name. In the meantime I think I'll call him "phatty".
