Moving In And Repairing

My mom passed away a couple of months ago. So we are in the process of moving out of our rental house and moving into my old home the home I grew up in. My mother was a pack rat, so it has taken some time. As well as there are a lot of rooms that need repaired. Most are small repairs like paint, holes in the walls, and then some are not so miner. The tub has been there since my own parents had built onto the previous house back in nineteen seventy-two. There is also water damage that has happened over the years in several rooms. The house was never finished inside or out and so it has many things still wrong with it. The roof has needed repaired and redone for over ten years now.

I guess it is time for me to put my construction skills to use. Some I have done for larger companies throughout the years while other skills have been taught to me at the hands of loving parents. Most of the repairs I will be able to do my self. I’m certified in insulation. I know how to hang sheet rock and yield a mean hammer along with painting.

The rest I am going to learn rather quickly because I only have this year to see if I can put it all together. I also have to figure out a new plan for the house we have a few too many people with not enough bedrooms in our home. We need more space. So do we go up, under or build out to the side.

My daughter will have a mechanic shop in the back as well. So we need a plan. There will be cars to park while other cars are getting fixed. We have three lots to build on and work with. This is a plus as well as we have two years to actually figure out how to expand the shop for the best assess to the shop. 

I’m glad we have some time to redo and repair, but I hate the fact that we will be living in our home while all of the work has to be done. It will be along process to get the house ready for everything we need to do, but I honestly think in the end it will be a beautiful home once we are through.     

Parents

My Parents Through the Eyes Of My Childhood

My dad and mom had met when my dad was fifteen, his father had moved into the house next door to my mother’s family. He would come over and pluck chickens just to be near my mom, if you have ever plucked chickens then you would know that was true love. I’ve plucked my share of chickens in my lifetime and trust me I would have never done that for any man I have ever met. Even with taking a shower you never get the stink of burnt pinfeathers out of your pores. Although my mother had not fallen in love with my father instantly, she grew to love him over the years they worked along side each other. They married against my granddad’s wishes in May before my mom turned eighteen in August. My grandmother gave her consent and let them marry before my dad took off to join the Korean War.    

My father’s dad had passed on long before I was born, and his mother lived in Texas. We didn’t see her much, she moved around a lot, and Grandma Lottie was not a very maternal kind of person so we would lose tack of where she was from time to time. The last time I had seen my grandmother was at four years of age, we’d spent the afternoon with her. Soon after that she had moved down by Corpus Christie, and forgot to leave a forwarding address. Dad and mom explained she did that a lot. It was too trivial of a thing for her to remember. So I didn’t really remember my other grandmother and never met my dad’s father.

So although my grandparents who lived across the street from us was my father’s in-laws he never made that distinction to us children, he loved them and treated them like they was his own parents. If they needed help he was there. So much so that when I was asked in school where my mother’s parents lived I said across the street, they asked where my father’s parents lived I said across the street. One of the kids said, Oh they live in houses next door to each other. No they live in the same house, I explained. So your mom and dad are brother and sister. In my six-year-old little mind, I said I guess so. I had never really thought about any of this, it was just the way it was. I had never realized there was suppose to be two sets of grandparents.

My father worked long hours and came home to be with his family and spend his time with all of us with a smile and a caring hand. They remodeled our two-bedroom home into a three-bedroom home with a beautiful living room that was big enough to set up a ping-pong table and still have furniture around to sit down on. We spent our nights sitting around the fireplace playing board games and putting puzzles together. My mom had lived through a bus accident, which had been caused by a drunk driver, so my dad, sister and I pitched in to help more around the house since she had to stay in bed in traction. My grandparents helped out during the days, babysitting us children, making meals and taking care of mom as well as Jan and I. When daddy would get home they would go back to their home, and daddy would take over our care. 

After my grandfather passed on, my grandmother came to live with us at least part time she still had her home across the street where she could go anytime she wanted. She was a wonderful addition to our family. Through these years I spent a wonderful childhood. Like everyone else we laughed, we cried, we fought, and we made up. We enjoyed wonderful vacations together, we worked together, and we played together. I love my family dearly, the world was great and our family was wonderful.

The Empty Christmas Stocking

By Janeal Mulaney

I’ve noticed every Christmas presents get more expensive

Everyone wants more and more.

Are we forgetting what Christmas is all about?

On the twenty-fifth day of December our Savior,

Jesus Christ was born.

Do we remember that it’s His birthday we celebrate?

Do we put a gift for Him underneath our Christmas tree?

Do we hang a stocking for Him for the entire world to see?

You might wonder what we’d give to Him even if we did.

Well, here are a few ideas to fill His stocking with.

There kindness toward each other,

Peace on earth, and joy throughout the land.

We could put in understanding and forgiveness,

For those who have done us wrong.

Compassion and caring we could give throughout the year.

Is His stocking getting full or is there space for even more       

Then put in gentleness and tenderness, for they go hand in hand.        Let’s not forget LOVE the most important gift of all.

So, hang the empty stockings on the mantelpiece.

But don’t forget the most important one.

The one for Jesus Christ.

Don’t forget all the item’s that make our Christmas bright.

Our Love for the Heavenly Father and our fellow man

For each time we show our love for another.

We show our love for him
Let’s add all the other feelings that God gives us everyday,
Not just once a year.

Christmas Season

Well it's that time again. Yule tidings are everywhere, happy faces are seen here and there. Others think the nightmare has begun. Growded stores, last minute gifts, toys that break within a week of play. Good thing this is not what Christmas is all about. I love Christmas it's not the toys nor food. It our savior's birth and the time we spend with family and friends. Caroling up and down the streets, helping people that we may or may not know. The kindness, and caring for others that we don't always remember to follow through with for the rest of the year. Merry Christmas to all, and may you remember Christmas is once a year, but kindness and caring for others is what life is all about.