It's the month of November already.  The month known mostly for the time to be thankful.  Each year I adopt the challenge to be thankful for something each day.  I post these thoughts on Facebook as well, mostly as a way to torture other people.  And also because I think I am hilarious.  I also save each day in Evernote.  I like to go back and read the past thankful thoughts.  (Full confession:  I also have a notebook in Evernote of Random Thoughts.  I also have a lot of those.) What I have discovered each year is that some of the things I have been thankful for change.  But even some of the random things I find myself being thankful for, indoor plumbing, repeat themselves each year.  Some things change......two years ago I seemed to be ever thankful for wine.  Which I am still thankful for, but not quite to that extent. Some things we are thankful for are a given.  Things we should be thankful for every day of our live...

You ever pause in life and think, "Where the hell have I been and where the hell am I going?"  No?  Then don't bother to continue reading this post. I have asked God why more times than I care to remember.  It is an insane thing to.  And even if He was going to tell me, let's be honest, I probably wouldn't like the answer.  I also have a tendency to not live in the moment, which is probably why I am asking about the past and then the future. I have had a lot of time to think over the course of the last few weeks.  I know you expect me to say that I've been napping (and I did do a decent amount of resting after surgery), watching tv (and I have watched plenty), reading (yes, that too), playing games or goofing off on the internet.  All would be true.  But what I have found myself doing most days is sitting in relative silence for hours at a time.   Alone with my thoughts.  Have you ever done that for hours at a time, days on end? ...

I assume most anyone reading this is coming here via Facebook.  In which case you know a lot of what is posted on here.  I thought I would take some time to tell about why I am back to blogging, at least for a hot second. Four weeks ago began as a normal day.  Except the kids were out of school and Mark had the day off work.  There was no rush to the day.  We all lazed about for the better part of the morning.  We had nothing on the calendar for the day and it was nice to just take our time.  I was finally ready to go ahead and shower at about one or so in the afternoon.  I went upstairs to gather my clothes and thought I should go ahead and start a load of laundry before I hopped in the shower.  I sorted about two loads into the basket.  Made the trip down the main staircase.  Made my way to the basement stairs and began my descent down the more narrow, more steep, and not quite fixed stairs.  I hit the third or so stair fro...

We moved into this house almost four months ago.  The amount of work that it needed (and still needs) was even more than I think we realized.  Luckily the inspection showed no major issues.  We got to work firstly doing demo.  Hundreds of square feet of carpet, which lead to thousands of staples, furniture, drapes, wallpaper, odd cabinets, horribly placed dishwasher, and fabric on walls, to name a few, filled a 30 cubic foot dumpster.  Then began the arduous task of putting it all back together. So we will start with a fairly simple reno.  The main staircase.  Beautiful, old, and also gross. So I set about changing that view.  This is after the carpet was up, but before anything else was done. First, was painting the handrails and spindles.   You can also catch glimpses of the wall color coming in as well.  One color that goes from entryway, up through the second floor main hallway.   The next step...

This is a story that began about  a year ago.  What has prompted me to write it? I took  a tumble down the stairs, breaking my ankle essentially five times.  This has left me laid up in bed for the better part of the day.  This is a story that will span a variety of topics, emotions, truth, hard work, heartache, lessons, spiritual musing, friends, and family.  I plan to keep it all as real as possible.  In the process you will see a move and a renovation of a new home.  You will see the loss of a pet.  You will see the addition of new family, both by blood and by God.  You will see a spiritual walk that has seen more highs and more lows than I have ever experienced in my life happen in one year.  You will see life being lived, trying to follow God.  You will see the good.  You will see the bad.  And you might see some of the ugly.  So life goes. We will begin at about a year ago when Mark first mentioned moving...