No more nightmares

about my tub. Thanks for the tip about resurfacing, Eileen. 

It's not perfect, but it is so much better, and it wasn't too hard.  I'll probably have to do a little sanding in a few weeks because of some big drops that came out of the spray.   I feel much better now about "Bunny Hollow Bed and Breakfast" opening  for the first time this year.  Our first honored guests will be Misty and Tiffany on Friday, followed by Tom and Lynn next Thursday.  (I just hope the enamel doesn't come off the first time we use it!) 

 Before I forget, I wanted to show these "I spy" pictures.

Can you tell which is the plastic bunny and which is the real one?

Gary spotted it as we were eating dinner on Sunday,

and Natalie and I were so excited.

I love bunnies.

This morning I

woke up early from a bad dream with a bad headache.  In my dream I was taking a bath and the tub was disintegrating and falling apart, as were the walls around me .  Is there some deep rooted symbolism here?  Probably.  But more likely it is because the enamel in the bathtub (which is now in it's 40th year) is worn thin, is discolored, and has been bothering me.  Plus, it doesn't help that I scratched it as I tried to clean it with a pumice stone.  (That was not a good idea.)   

So, back to my dream.   I won't try to read any more into it than that we need a new bathtub (and shower, and carpet in the family room, and paneling removed, etc. etc. etc.).    But then, maybe, I'm also subconsciously thinking about the people in Japan who have very literally had their homes collapse around them from the recent earthquake.   That makes minor house issues like mine seem very inconsequential.    

Well, so much for not reading too much into the dream. 
Now I really have a headache. 
Sweet dreams tonight, please.

 

An April

Fools surprise?

It looked like spring yesterday.

Gary's comment

when he came upstairs and saw this poster making project on the bed,

"It's nice to have the house back to 'normal' again. 

I just didn't realize how much I miss it until you are home."

**I hope you catch that this is not exactly a compliment..

I'm back to my normal life once again.

It is always kind of interesting to me how quickly your mind/body can switch from one mind-set to another.  You can be totally immersed in whatever you are doing and whoever you are with (like I have been for the last 10 days).    But when that ends, you go back to your normal life so seamlessly that, in some ways, it doesn't even seem like you ever left it.  

For me it's called a survival strategy.  I've gotten better at the transitioning part of it.  The first few times I was separated from my children and grandchildren after moves, I felt devastated.  Every time we visited them and left, or they visited us and went home, my heart would feel like it would break.   I would cry all the way home.   Maybe I'm becoming more emotionally mature?  I hope so.  But more than anything I've come to realize that it is part of the journey of life, and I can't stop the movement.   I'm just glad I live in such a time as we do when long distance does not mean lack of contact and relationships.  And I'm also grateful for what I do have right here under my nose.   Well, maybe not under my nose, but by my side and around me.    So I guess the point I'm trying to make is that . . . I'm not sure what point I'm trying to make.    So let's just use the old cliche, "Bloom Where You're Planted" (and don't forget to fertilize and nourish the soil around you).

I'm probably going to regret this entry, because I'm feeling half asleep. Tonight I finished reading the 10 days worth of newspapers I missed while I was gone. An hour ago I told Gary my hands were black, but I had finally finished reading the papers and was going to bed. So why am I here writing when I'm seeing double?


Oh well, I can always delete it if it doesn't make sense in the morning.


 

Trust

and two year olds. 

I've been thinking about that a lot this week.

I remember a Sunday school teacher once calling and asking me to share my thoughts on what it means to be "childlike."  She meant it in the context of what we read in the scriptures about the need to be like a little child in order to enter the the Kingdom of Heaven.

I've sometimes been puzzled by that, actually.  As you observe small children, they are often grabbing what they want, hitting, and pushing, etc.  (Unfortunately, we can also observe that in adults who haven't learned to control their behavior).

But the meaning of it has become more clear to me this last week with Lucienne, who is two.  She got an earache right before I came out and Tiffany took her to the doctor.  So every morning and night I have had to give her medicine with a syringe.   The first few days she would just say, "Don't need medicine."  But gradually she has gotten to the point where, when she sees me filling the syringe, she stands there and watches and waits as I do it.  Then I set her on the counter, cradle her in my arms, and hold her down.  She always starts fighting and tries to spit it out, but once it's done she sits up and is happy again.

A couple of times she has also come to me with hang nails.  Obviously Tiffany clips them with a nail clipper, as she brings one to me.  I don't want to clip them, because I'm afraid I'll hurt her.  But she totally trusts me to do it.  She's obviously learned that trust.

So, when I think of these experiences with Luci, it reminds me of what it means to be childlike in our relationship with our Father in Heaven.  We may try to put up a fight, or cry, or become angry with the way things seem to be in our lives or the lives of others.   But through it all, we can know that we are in good hands and can trust that everything will be ok. 

Can there be anything sweeter than a two year old?  I wish I could bottle up her sweetness, trust, and  joyful attitude, and take it (or her) home with me. 

I'm losing

my confidence with making cupcakes.  We've made some vanilla and some chocolate, and both have different problems.  I had to bake both of them 10 minutes longer than I do at home, and the vanilla were too dry and the chocolate were not done.  (I'm afraid my cupcake pride has been severely damaged.)

he kids don't seem to mind, though.   They are not real frosting lovers, so I made a cool whip, cocoa, and powdered sugar mixture that tastes good and holds it's shape well.  

Annie and cousin, Mary

Lucienee going for the good stuff.

PS:  The kids are being great, and I'm having lots of fun. 

I do, however, miss my convection oven

and my husband (of course)