Robin is greviously injured

I noticed a crack today in the face of my beautiful Big Muddy (formerly Mid-Mo) Mandolin. On looking closer I found that she's perhaps damaged beyond repair and I have no idea when or how it happened. The crack extends across the entire face and down into the sizes on both ends.

I'm sort of numb and feel only disbelief and I have no idea what to do. I'm sure that will change.

I know Mike Dulak can probably fix it, but I've no idea if/when I'll be able to afford and arrange it.

It really hurts to see her like this.... see... it's changing already.

A pleasant evening

It was nice to take the girls out for a walk around the block last evening. A little yard work blowing leaves in the hopes of reducing the quantities dragged into the house by the four-footed swiffer-mops.

This on top of sharing a meal with Bart Larson at Shakespeare's Pizza and a fairly good day at work.

God's blessings abound.

More occasion to think on the truth that love is very much a choice. If one can love when all is good, is it to his credit? Those who claim otherwise, that to love or not to love is not a choice, are either foolish romantics who've never known true love or have never had love tested, or those who wish it to be defined in a way more comfortable to themselves. Romance is wonderful, but love is better.

Wisdom from Jack

"Aravis also had many quarrels (and, I'm afraid even fights) with Cor, but they always made it up again: so that years later, when they were grown up they were so used to quarreling and making it up again that they got married so as to go on doing it more conveniently." — C.S. Lewis (The Horse and His Boy)

Forgiveness

'Forgiveness may be the greatest virtue on earth, and certainly the most needed' ~ Gordon B Hinkley

'The weak can never forgive. Forgiveness is the attribute of the strong.' ~ Mahatma Gandhi

'To forgive is to set a prisoner free and discover that the prisoner was you.' ~ Lewis B. Smedes

Little Blessings from God

Since a little before Raina divorced me on January 5th, I've been struggling with insomnia off and on. I've never had this problem before... problems getting to sleep, but not problems staying asleep... no matter how tired and desperate for sleep and physical/mental healing, and even with the help of Bendryl or Trazodone and Ambien and Lamictal, I've sometimes woken up after 2 hours and not been able to sleep.

This considering that I can no longer pull all-nighters and cannot function without pretty regular sleep (I'm getting old and decrepit).

I was very worried that I wouldn't be able to sleep after yesterday's all nighter.

Praise the Lord, but I was. I was such that I forgot to turn off the heating pad (but kicked it out during the night), didn't put my glasses away properly, forgot to put on my eye mask and my CPAP mask, and didn't notice when, in the middle of the night that my orange juice on the nightstand got knocked to the floor.

18+ hours of healing and I didn't even mind mopping up the orange juice this morning.

Thank you God.

Redid much of the bathroom this weekend for showing on Sunday

Exhausting, and I never would have believed that it took as long as it did. I started at a little before 11am and I finished getting the house cleaned up for the showing around 6:30am Sunday morning.

I ripped up the old vinyl tile on the bathroom floor, cut away all caulk from that are and from the dias area, scrubbed the adhesive and dirt for several hours so that the linolium underneath was spotless, and then laid down the new tile to match the den and the dias. For an idea of how bad the cleaning was; when I pulled up the old tile, I thought that the solid linolium underneath was also square vinyl tile... until I started cleaning and the 'seams' started dissappearing.

I'm troubled with how loose the linolium was around the corners and how badly off the moulding was where it reached the floor, but there was nothing I could do. I cut and laid the new tile as best I could, and then caulked in around the shower.

I tore down the rather um... the old wallpaper, and sanded out any rough spots and then painted with matte interior acrylic white paint.

A little cleaning, and it all looked pretty good... all things considered.

What I'm Thankful For

KLOVE.com was asking what we were grateful to God for in relation to a study connecting gratitude towards God and happiness. My response:

"I'm grateful for every minute of every day He gave me with the wonderful girl He brought to me to be my beloved wife. I'm grateful for His love and compassion when I lost her, and for teaching me true humility, true forgiveness, and unconditional love. I am grateful to His people for coming around me, and His word for teaching me even in the darkest moments of hurting and heartbreak. I am grateful that He gave me such a love and a heart to find out how it can be broken. I am grateful for His promise to use me and use this pain, somehow, some way in fulfillment of His perfect plan."