Annmarie stepped in paint and it was all over the bottom of her foot.  I told her to jump across the hall to the bathroom to wash it off.  She jumped on the foot covered in paint (sigh).  Then Luci was twirling around and I quickly sent her out of the room.  Chiper was curious - but no way was HE coming in.  Rissy was overly confident (due to her one day's experience yesterday) of dipping the brush tip in the paint and handing it to me on the step stool.  She wasn't paying attention and dropped the brush full of paint on the plastic drop cloth. 

Note to self:  Stop buying plastic.  Buy old sheets and throw them away after the job.  Plastic sticks to a person's feet.

I can't believe when I was young I actually ENJOYED painting the "right way."  I caulked all the corners and woodwork, filled holes, pounded protruding nail heads back into the studs and then covered them with putty, and painted to my little heart's content.

Not so today.  Yesterday was 62 - 64 degrees and I had the window open.  A wonderful breeze came through the window to offset the perspiration.  Today it's near 80 degrees and I've turned down the bedrooms' thermostat to 70 degrees and have the ceiling fan going in the room,.  BUT, it feels as hot as nine hells in there!

Furthermore, white to "Pastel Jade" isn't a dramatic change and it's discouraging work.

HOWEVER . . .

I think I'd rather be teaching Latin & Greek word roots (a new book I bought for the girls) than painting.  I'm not sure which I'm too old for - Greek & Latin or painting!

I have no choice - I've committed myself.  And YES, I know . . . I really *should be* committed - SOMEWHERE!

What was I thinking???

Okay!  Okay!  Stop feeling sorry for myself and stop prolonging the job! 

Seriously, does anyone see much of a difference.  Like I said, I guess Forest Green to Jade Green IS the biggest difference, but the Forest Green is long gone.

Finally in THIS 3rd house, I put up the floral border, painted the room forest green with white woodwork, had white eyelet bedspreads with pillow shams, two white dressers with white framed mirrors, and a white curtain rod for the curtains that matched the border.  It really looked nice - all that crisp clean white against the dark walls, and the old crib quilt (which matched the wallpaper border) was folded at the end of one of the girls' bed.

Then something happen (What? ME redecorate????!!!!) . . . The white wooden curtain rod broke, so down came the floral curtains leaving just the blinds (an ugly window treatment!).  Next, we bought cherry dressers and mirrors and new bedspreads.  Now we had dark green walls with a border that matched nothing.  And, the dark wood of the dressers made the room dark, depressing, and rather tomb-like.

Someone (LouAnn?????) told me about priming and Behr paint.  BUT, I wonder if she had as much trouble as I did getting the primer washed off of my body!!!!  I painted in an over-sized t-shirt and white scarf and nothing else except underwear.  I had paint on my legs, arms, toenails and fingernails and face.  I washed my hands with soap and water (the primer can says it cleans up with soap and water) and nothing came off.  I used a nail brush.  Nothing budged.  Finally, I used the scrubber side of my kitchen sponge (ouch!) and removed a little bit of the paint.  I'm so glad I had taken off my grandma's wedding band, which I NEVER remove. 

Last night, I soaked in a hot tub for 30 minutes for my muscles AND thinking the paint would come off more easily.  It didn't.  Not at all!!!  I figured if I shaved my legs, the paint would come off in a zip!  Wrong!  I had to use my nails to peel/scratch the paint from my skin.  Rissy had to come into the bathroom to tell me where the paint was left on the back of my legs and arms.  I couldn't see it, so she scratched it off for me.  When she got to my face and was scratching it off of my cheeks, I was ready to holler, "Alright!  Enough already!"   I'm glad I covered my hair.  It's so thin and fragile, I'd NEVER have gotten the primer out of it without losing my hair!

Jesse had helped with the final wall - the "easy one" that I had left myself for last, because it had no windows or doors!!!!  Anyway, I was pretty stiff last night and heated up a carton of barbecued beef to put on buns.  Served potato chips and dill pickles with it.  AND, I used paper plates!  Over dinner I said to him, "Didn't I say 4 years ago, when we bought this house, that I was too old to paint and would never, EVER attempt to paint again?"  We laughed.  I was 51 back then, now I'm 55 and rethinking my project I've started.  HOWEVER, most of what I painted last time was the high walls in the main part of the house.  AND, I didn't prime, so the eggplant purple and the girls' forest green walls took FOUR COATS of paint.  Yeah, I was WAAAAY ready to never paint again!

Truth is, this morning, my right arm muscle is a little tender, but the rest of me doesn't feel any stiffer than it does every day of my life.   I think painting a room with a lower ceiling helped a lot.

(The current "guest room" will be the room for foster children, thus the switching of beds.  It will have a double bed and a twin bed.  IF a family of 3 children moves in, we can quickly order another twin bed and the room will easily hold it.  Foster laws state each child must have their OWN bed - no sharing.)

Tomorrow is our errand day (therapist, P.O. Box, bank, store, etc.) and on Saturday we will be at our all day foster care classes.  I guess Sunday will be the day we move the king bed back to the girls' room and move the dressers back against the walls.  I'll BUY (I have no time to sew) some sort of curtains for their window.  The king bed only has the pink floral quilt you see in the picture and a white eyelet comforter.  Not sure what color/type of curtains I'll buy.  That's low on my priority list at this moment!!!

Then, next week, I'll start on the guest room.  I shouldn't have to prime it except in a few places where something was hung at one time (like a mirror or bulletin board) and left black marks on the wall.  Yes, we've lived here 4 years and I've never done anything in that room.  Also, there is a pastel border at the top of the wall that the previous owners had stenciled on.  I hate to paint over the stenciling, that someone painstakingly painted; but, I'll cover that with primer, too, before painting.  That's the room that has one whole wall of built-in cabinets and shelves AND the closet door.  I expect the guest room to be much easier to paint than the girls' room. 

Tomorrow Chirper will be one year old!  Haven't even considered whether I want to start a birthday party tradition for him.  Jesse-boy got chicken thighs starting on the 10th anniversary of when I received him and it continued until Jan. 26th of this year (9 years of chicken thigh celebrations@!).  I'm not a big pet-party person, but considering Chirper is our miracle kitty, maybe we should do a little something for him.  Stormy's b-day is a few days after mine (in April) and that's when we chose to have our Spring Fling Day for the girls, in lieu of Easter, which we don't celebrate (not the egg and basket Easter Bunny part).  Stormy got to play in the tissue paper from the gift bags!  I may have no energy by Friday and will just buy a toy when we do our grocery shopping.

Well, if I don't get off of here and move around, my muscles may lock up in a sitting position and that room won't get painted after all!!!  Plus, Jesse bought 2 ten pound chubs of ground beef at Sam's yesterday and they have to be divided into smaller freezer bags.  Oh the work!  It never ends!!!!

P.S.  Several people have asked about the lawn mowing incident and how things are going with that story.  Last spring, Jesse had helped out Jose's (the injured man) brother (Carlos) when he had a serious situation arise.  Jesse found some documents that belonged to him AND gave him cash to help him out of his emergency - and we forgot about the incident.  Apparently, Jesse's kindness was remembered and Carlos (the brother of Jose) has expressed his opinion that Jose put his fingers under the mower on purpose because he thinks we're rich (yeah - right!); otherwise, his fingers would have sustained more serious injuries.  Carlos doesn't even want Jesse to pay the E.R. bill, but we are going to - because we said we would.  Long story short:  Carlos has threatened to kick Jose out on the streets if he causes our family any more of a financial burden.  He told Jesse the cuts on Jose's fingers were "nicks" and he could use the fingers just fine, now.  So, we're waiting for the E.R. bill and will pay only that.  Thanks for your inquiries and thank you, even more, for your prayers.

As you know, we found the veterinarian who normally cares for Lottie and we got dressed in a nanosecond!  I loaded the girls into the Suburban with a/c going to cool it down, grabbed Sampson's leash (that once belonged to a German Shepherd *I* owned), and went to the back to call Lottie.  She was gone!  There was a patch of dirt under the side gate that had been freshly dug and my heart sank.  I went to the street, looked both ways, calling her name, and no Lottie.  I was prepared to drive the streets looking for her when I felt (in my own spirit) God telling me to check the side of the house where the two a/c units are running.  It's shady and the units put off a breeze.  Maybe she didn't hear me call her because of the roar from the units.

Guess who was there?  Yep!  Good ol' Lottie.  I put the leash on her, while she sat still, and through the gate we went.  She happily jumped into the back of the Suburban when I told her, "Let's go home, Lottie!"

The vet said there would be no charge to Lotti's family (I was going to offer some money up front to board her) and were SUPER nice.  I left a note for the owner in case she wanted to call and ask any questions.

We left there and went to Home Depot to (FINALLY) buy the paint for the two bedrooms.  Next was a quick stop at Wal-Mart, where I bought 2 chicken breast strips - my "lunch."  Actually, I had eaten NOTHING all day and it was 2:30pm.  I have hypoglycemia and normally would have never made it that long without eating!  I don't know if it was my adrenaline or God's strength that enabled me to go that long without a bite of food (and still function, I might add!!).  I picked up 2 prescriptions, a few food items, and (mainly) dog and cat food.

Jesse came home before us and had brought some fried chicken for the girls.  While we were eating  an early dinner, the phone rang and it was Lotti's owner's son.  He said thank you a million times and told me he was living a few miles from our house with his grandparents, while his mom was in Texas.  Lottie had to cross two busy roads to get to us - a miracle that she made it.  He said he was sure his mother would call later, and she did - an hour later.

Get this, she had been in Texas being "briefed" and was calling me from Lawton, OK at a military base.  She is due to be shipped to Kuwait later this week!  She said her thanks yous over and over and that Lottie was her son's dog that he had gotten from the pound a few years ago.  She said they had another bigger dog that cried the whole time Lottie was gone - cried to the point the police were called out one night by the grandparent's neighbors.  Anyway, the idea of her son losing his mom and dog all in a span of 2 weeks was heart wrenching.  I thanked her for serving in the military and she grew silent.  Stone, cold silent.  I thought I had said something wrong, but she choked back tears and said, "Not one person has ever expressed appreciation or what I do."  We said our good-byes and she said Lottie couldn't have found a better family to end up fostering her - and we hung up.

Last night, Chirper's  owner finally returned my call.  I figured when I left a message about her caring for Lottie until the owners were found, she simply didn't want to mess with it.   Not so.  She had been in a horseback riding accident.  Apparently, the horse bolted for the barn and she threw herself off and broke her left shoulder in several places.  Had she remained on him, the barn's doorway would have decapitated her.  After I asked, she said she didn't need extra help, her parents are close by, her husband is self-employed and is taking off work and some relative was coming from Florida to help.  She will require several pins in her shoulder and I think is scheduled for surgery today.  She wanted to know about Chirper and apologized for sounding "drugged" but she was on lots of pain medicine, thus the reason she hadn't called - she had been asleep most of the day.

I told her how well he was doing & how much weight he had gained.  Also, that he was so loved and carried around and kissed by us, that he is no longer the clingy cat we brought home at first.  I told her I take him in once a month to have his nails trimmed and to be weighed (only $4/month!!!) and how our vet commented, "I don't know what you guys do to make your pets continually beat the odds - but don't stop doing what you're doing!"  We pray.  That's all we do that, maybe, other pet owners don't do for their pets.  It's not "us" beating the odds - it's God!  She was so glad to hear some GOOD NEWS and told me to call her in a month to give her another update.  She, too, said, "He couldn't have come to a better home."  She said her good-byes and we hung up.

Suddenly I remembered Chirper.  At some point after finding that vet in the phone book, I thought of my lack of faith and God's capability.  My weakness, His strength.   A sick cat with a death sentence (who has been prayed for and even had healing hands laid on his body by me) who is gaining weight and overcoming physical challenge after physical challenge.  I stopped.  I learned, not to doubt that our God cares for animals, too.  He cares a lot!  If He cared about getting a dog home and had sent her to a house that would care for her and diligently try finding her owner - maybe the full impact of Chirper being sent to our pet loving home hadn't been fully considered by me.

Last night, Chirper's previous owner said on the phone that she felt God had done a huge work by sending me to her house and allowing her to let go of one of her beloved pets.  This was not one of the cats she sells, but her OWN pet that she had a deep bond with and loved very much.

I contemplated that last night and again this morning.  This is what we do best - help those in need.  Of course, that immediately brings to mind "human beings" only and my mind has never really taken our "helping and hospitality" gift any further.  But why not pets?  Why wouldn't God send animals, that would never have a chance of surviving somewhere else, to our home? 

FOSTER PARENTS - what does that mean AND what kind of hearts has God created in us?  Taking in the unwanted, the unlovely, the no hope people and animals in this world . . . Are we really equipped?  Or, does God intervene with each individual person/animal brought our way and equip us for that moment???

I know we feel blessed by caring for others (and animals) and we are happy and cheerful to do so.  I need to think more about the hidden potential God has placed in me and how empowered and magnified that gift could be if I prayed more about God's will in that area of my life.

With that thought - I leave you and say, "HAVE A BLESSED DAY!"

P.S.  I'm still having troubles with my computer keyboard not typing all of the letters I hit.  I've dropped the keyboard numerous times and all that happens is it cures an old letter problem, but then new letters cease to work.  Until I buy a more expensive keyboard, please bear with me.  I'm concentrating so hard on not leaving out or typing a wrong letters that I'm missing the obvious - like: Which witch is which?

We are also having to make a decision of what to do with the stray dog.  Jesse thinks the family might have moved into our neighborhood and the dog got out.  The address on the dog's tag is a similar neighborhood (house-wise) as ours, and it IS the first of the month - many people move.  They aren't answering the number on the dog's tag.  So, the dog could have been brought to this neighborhood to be watched by a family member or friend.  My last desperate attempt will be to call the phone company to see if that old number has an additional new number in our area.  After that, she will have to be taken somewhere TODAY.  The storms from Gustav are supposed to start this afternoon or tonight and be horrible all through tomorrow.  She just can't stay in our yard without a shelter.  I have tried to contact the lady who sold us Chirper.  She had lots of dogs in her yard and I'm wondering if she'll take this dog.  I'll write a note to the name and address on the dog's tag telling the family where the dog can be found and hope they receive my note.  The idea of taking any animal to the pound kills me.  The only other option is to let her loose in our neighborhood to see if, in fact, she finds her way "home" to a new house in our neighborhood.  I'm uncomfortable with that, too.  Lots of calls being made this morning.

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Sooooooooooooo . . . change of subject to something less depressing.

The day before JoAnn and Aolani left, JoAnn wanted Mexican food one last time and to do some more sight seeing.  We had already shown her how our downtown area has changed, but she wanted to see where she lived for fifteen years while married and THAT part of town.   Lots in her old home area has changed.

Yesterday, I decided to stay home and do all of the laundry (10 loads!!!) and will go today to the post office, Wal-Mart, and do whatever other errands need to be done.  I sure don't want to be out in the storm these next two days.

I hope you enjoyed the last of my "JoAnn's Visit" pictures!  And, I hope everyone enjoyed their long week-end!

We have a triple car garage.  One side has a double door, the other a
single door and a wall divides the two spaces.  Yesterday afternoon,
Jesse had both doors open and was working on his lawn equipment on the
single side.  He said, as he came through the doorway to the double side, he heard heavy breathing - almost like a panting.  Scared the daylights
out of him!

Here's what he found.

At any rate, she reminds me of Chirper when he first came to our home.  She won't stop moving, even jumped up to my shoulders and tried to hug me when I went outside this morning to give her fresh water (thus the blurry pictures).

Ironically, we ran out of dog food yesterday morning, so Cindy's Dog and Sampson are eating cat food until I can get to Wal-Mart later on.

I'm glad God sent her right into our garage as a diversion from the sadness of saying good-bye to our recent guests, and He knows we will take good care of her.  Now we are praying Cindy comes home soon to claim her lost pooch!  It's supposed to rain starting Wednesday (Hurricane Gustav) and I hate to put her in a warm garage, even though the temps will go down.

The rain will be way too heavy to keep her outside without a dog house.