Thankful for? Refrigeration

 

new lights this year

Well, I don't really know what happened to the months of October and November. Sorry about that. We did enjoy a quiet Thanksgiving with family here. The boys presented my dad with some digital footage of video reels from his childhood that Cole found in a box of family treasures. He converted the video into something Dad could watch on the computer. It was great to hear my dad laugh watching the videos of he and his brother growing up. My brother Dusty and his family did most all of the yummy cooking for the T-Day meal + pies from Trish. But I did contribute this tray of goodies...thought it was a jazzy way to lay out the fresh veggies.

Truth be told, our lives are not quite as exciting without homeschooling adventures and little boy antics. So there's sort of a lull in the blog posting. Rest assured, there are still young-adult-men antics, but now I guess I feel less inclined to tell everyone so many details, as those stories are theirs to tell. About two weeks ago we had a small mishap with our fridge that I WILL tell because it was mostly my fault.

remains of the day

Our refrigerator had stopped making ice on a regular basis. Oh, it was making ice occasionally, but of course when I wanted a glass of ice water, the ice bin was always empty. This has been going on for about a year. We bought some ice trays. But it's just not as convenient as the automatic ice maker! We even bought bags of ice on occasion. Still, this is the only freezer space we had, (left side of the fridge), which is not a lot of real estate with 2 young men over 6 feet tall who tend to grab frozen things and warm them in the air fryer or the oven. So, one night about 2 weeks ago I looked in the back of the freezer and noticed a big chunk of ice. It was actually pushing the shelves in the freezer section forward. My theory was if I could juuuuust get rid of the ice, then the water would flow better and ice maker would work again. This has worked before. I was making progress. Little by little. 

But then my young men came into the kitchen and asked what I was doing. And well, they approached the situation with verve and gusto. They dismantled the top and back panels on the freezer and were using a chisel to hack away at the ice block. Until....phffffffffffffff.....the coil with the freon gas sprung a leak. Yikes! So we essentially destroyed it. I almost cried. (But didn't!!) I texted one brother who basically couldn't stop laughing. And I called the other one, who came over and helped us move the broken fridge out into the garage. (Is freon toxic??) I texted my neighbor who brought me an ice chest. Sent Cole to the store for ice. My brother also brought us a big ice chest. Dusty offered to be on the hunt for a 2nd hand fridge as a temporary solution until we could get a new one. Determination is that despite filters on the water system in the fridge, the water from our public tap here is so full of minerals, it just corrodes everything long-term. At the same time the fridge died, the bathroom faucet in the guys' bedroom also gave up the ghost. Cole is in the process of "fixing" this. 

Fortunately, God provided some extra funds this month to purchase a fridge. Or two. After spending about 10 days eating out of 4 ice chests, we ended up getting a new fridge for the house, and a used one for the garage. Needless to say, we are foregoing any future water hookups.

See? That was really a lame story about us getting a new refrigerator. It's just not all that interesting around here! We all work and Keaton goes to school and that's about it. I read a lot of books. They listen to a bunch of podcasts & watch movies. We generally make it to church once/week and spend a little time with friends and family. We did have a nice family birthday party for my brother at a restaurant I'd never been to. That was definitely a fun time. All the while, my stepmom is suffering from gall bladder cancer and homebound. She is on hospice, staying with my stepsister. And my heart breaks for my Dad and all of my stepfamily. It is just a "hard" that cannot be explained. One can try. But if you've read this blog from Feb 2013- Sep 2013 (and beyond) you know that I did. Try. Please pray for my Dad and stepmom.

All of the turmoil and stress has been rough, but when this stuff threatens to take me down emotionally, I really try to hone in on thankfulness. Once in awhile I see some beauty in this town and I have to share. Simply look up. It is there. 

Also, I'm still reading. And I recently started a book by Dr. Casey Means that is very, very interesting. She says out loud the stuff that I've thought for years about the medical establishment. Truth is, the industry makes more money if we (Americans) are sick. So it's kind of counter-intuitive for typical doctors to want to seek out the root cause to disease rather than prescribe multiple medications to treat various symptoms of separate diseases. I'm only a few chapters in, but my curiosity has been sufficiently piqued. 

If you're a finance nerd like me, you might be interested in a podcast I came across that delves into small business tax hacks. I geek out on this stuff. I've shared it with various clients. He is very succinct and explains things in a way I can understand and utilize with clients. 

Speaking of clients, my best friends love to hear my wacky or interesting client stories. Today, for example, I helped a roofer from New York City clean up his QuickBooks. When I received initial contact from him I thought it might be a scam. But he's legit. Asked me for 3 references before he agreed to let me work on his books. I've got such a varied client list: realtors, physical therapists, a fish broker, painter, carpenter, fence contractor, flooring contractor, dance studios, day spas, various not-for profit organizations, retail stores and virtual website stores. Anyway, with all of that variety, I'm having a lot of fun with work. There is so much to be thankful for!

Random stuff you might have missed --

Perdy and me hanging out one night in October

Cole's jack-o-lantern for our church's pumpkin trail

Cole & a Co-worker on Oct 31

a rare selfie

Cole's stormtrooper costume on display

Beignets I made from a mix given to me by next door neighbor after trip to New Orleans

Cousins both working at Texas Roadhouse

Enjoy your families and friends this month. Knowing me, I probably won't post Christmas footage until January. haha! 

"Now after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, behold, wise men from the East came to Jerusalem, saying, 'Where is He who has been born King of the Jews? For we have seen His star in the East and have come to worship Him.'" Matthew 2:1-2