Many Notes

Sorry I haven’t posted in a few weeks. We’ve had a lot going on around here; I’ll try my best to update.

ON A SAD NOTE….

Jeff’s great grandmother (Mama Li) passed away last weekend. She was 101 years old and lived a long, full life, but I really don’t think that makes things any easier when you have to say goodbye. The wedding band I proudly wear belonged to her – she took it off her finger and gave it to Jeff to give to me several months before we married. It’s a treasured keepsake we hope to pass down to our own kids someday. Jeff made the trip to LA this past weekend for the funeral. I did not attend because my own grandmother in Alaska (Granny) is currently fighting for her life, and I did not want to burden his family with my turbulent emotions. This is the same grandmother I asked for prayers for back in January. My dad flew up to be with her Saturday, and my only consolation is knowing she has her family (Grandpa, Dad and Twila) by her side during this unbelievably sad time. My Grandfather asked the Grandgirls not to come this time, as they want us to remember her how she was in January, not how she is now. She is currently at home with hospice care, and they are keeping her medicated so she doesn’t get agitated or anxious, but she is still conscious and very aware of what’s going on. They were trying desperately last month to get her down here to MS, but her heart just wasn’t strong enough to make the trip. Please pray for peace and comfort for her and the rest of the family as the Lord prepares to take her home. Both Jeff and I are unbelievably lucky to have had both sets of grandparents with us this long, but that extra time is also making it very hard to let go right now.

ON A FUNNY NOTE....

Jeff volunteered to help a friend, Chris Rachel, do some plumbing in his house a few weeks ago. After sending Chris to the store for supplies, Jeff showed up one evening after work ready to knock out the job, sure it wouldn’t take longer than 20 minutes. 1 hour of talking and 4 hours of work later, they still couldn’t get the pipes to stop leaking enough to turn the water back on (keep in mind the Chris and Katie have a newborn daughter at home). In desperation, Jeff and Chris formed a wad of epoxy (looks like gray play dough, but is supposed to seal up as hard as steel) around the seal of the pipe, but even that didn’t work. At midnight they had to call it a night and Chris decided to call in the experts the next day. When the plumbers arrived, this is the conversation that resulted….

Plumber 1 – Upon seeing the baseball size wad of epoxy on the pipe, exclaimed “What the HELL is this? Hey Plumber 2, have you ever seen anything like this before??”

Plumber 2 – “I’d have to say this is a first.”

Plumber 1 – Turning to Chris, very seriously “Whoever did this to your pipes, don’t EVER let them work on anything in your house again.”

I was over at Chris and Katie’s without Jeff when they told me this story and laughed so hard I cried watching Chris reenact the plumber scene. I wanted to call Jeff immediately to have Chris tell him the story too, but sweet Katie, who is much more thoughtful than I, suggested we give it a few days so he’d actually think it was funny because he’d left pretty frustrated the night before. I gave it all of an hour before I caved and told him everything later that night. Thankfully he thought it was just as funny as the rest of us.

And he hasn’t completely shot his credibility with the Rachel’s – he’s headed back over sometime this week to help Chris put in the bathtub.
I brag on my husband all of the time, because I really think he can do/fix/build just about anything. This was truly just a freak encounter with a set of copper pipes he couldn’t beat.

ON A FRUSTRATING NOTE….

We get to replace the compressor on our air conditioner today (goodbye $1500). Add that to the refrigerator repairs last month ($250), the initial AC call last month ($185) and new tires and brakes for Jeff’s truck ($375), all in less than 30 days. Ouch.

ON A NOSTALIGIC NOTE….

We had some good friends in from Atlanta to visit last weekend…I’ll post pictures later. The weather was perfect every day but Sunday. We enjoyed a fun day out on the boat Saturday, fishing, a gourmet steak dinner on the back patio, picnics and even a trip down to Vicksburg for Sunday brunch in an Antebellum home. Fun times fun times. And with everything going on with our families right now, having good friends and fellowship for a few days did both of our hearts a whole lot of good.

ON AN EXCITING NOTE….

I’m going to be an Aunt again!! Lana is due in December and we are all so excited for her, especially her 9 year old daughter Paige. She can’t wait to be a big sister!