GOING UP!

On Monday our lumber was delivered for our house remodeling and there has been a bee hive of activity ever since with very talented men who have made our house grow UP in just two days.

On Tuesday the framers got right to work and the walls of the new additions began to go up.

Today the roof came off and they cut away the part where the second story will be.

I went to the dentist about midday and returned to find that we had a stairway to nowhere—but it shows where the second floor will be—probably by tomorrow or Friday.

On the stairway with me is our wonderful builder showing me what the upstairs will look like. This continues to be an exciting adventure!

POURING THE SLABS

Yesterday they poured the slabs for our new additions to the house.

They made our front porch a bit larger.

They added our master bath and bedroom.

And they extended our kitchen and laundry room.

It was an exciting day to see so much progress being made. Next week they begin framing up our new rooms. I can hardly wait!

REMODEL WELL UNDER WAY

Our remodeling is well under way. The first week consisted of gutting our house. By the end of that first week we had a completely “see-through house” that my nephew called a “holey” house.

The first week they also put up the forms for our additions out back and the new front porch.

This week the plumbers worked on the plumbing and the men finished the forms for our additions. We should have poured concrete today but it rained off and on (slightly) all day and they rescheduled for Tuesday.

My husband had many consultations with our very patient builder.

Meanwhile, we are camping out at a friend’s house while she is out of town and living out of our boxes and suitcases.

THE MATERNAL FACE OF GOD by Richard Rohr

I love this piece written by Richard Rohr:

Historically speaking, in our culture the role of men has been to create, to make new things, to fix broken things, and to defend us from things which could hurt us. All of these things are wonderful and necessary roles for the preservation of the human race.

However, most children saw their mother in a different way. She was not a creator, a fixer or a defender, but rather a transformer. Once a woman has held her baby inside of her body for nine months and brought it forth in pain into the world, this woman knows the mystery of transformation in her body. She knows it intuitively, yet she cannot verbalize it. She just holds it in a deeper level of consciousness. She knows something about mystery, about miracles and about transformation that men will never know.

The feminine body can be seen as a cauldron of transformation. Her body turns things into other things--her body turns a love act into a perfect little child. Yet, in her heart, she knows SHE did not do it. All she had to do was to wait and eat well, to believe and to hope for nine months. This gives a woman a very special access to understanding spirituality as transformation, if she listens.

Adapted from The Maternal Face of God.

MISSING MOTHER TODAY

The many little signs of Mother's Day remind me of my mother and the fact that I cannot celebrate Mother's Day with her for the first time in my life. Sigh!

Happy Mother's Day to all of you mothers out there--especially all the marvelous mothers in our family. Thank you for the way you take care of your own families.

LOST ITEMS

Today was a day of trying to locate all those items that got lost in the quick transition from our house on Monday. We looked for hubby's medicine, the box with the recent electric bill so we could get the electricity turned off, our underwear, and my box of earrings. We have located all but my earrings. I may be relegated to wearing the same earrings for the next five months--OR, buying some new ones??

Much progress was made on the house today as they moved inside with the demolition needed there. It was sad to watch my tiny, snug, cozy bathroom disappear to make room for a larger master bath. I just could not stay there very long today for two reasons: first, it was sad and second, it was DIRTY, DUSTY and HOT! We had our first 90+ day with humidity and LOTS of mosquitoes. Not pleasant.

I have been taking lots of pictures and I will add them to my remodeling saga soon but am still borrowing computers and do not have my own access to the internet yet.

REMODELING--FINALLY!

Monday morning our builder arrived at our door and told us that the demolition team was on its way and wanted to know how soon we could be out of our house. We called the mover and he came late Monday night to get our furniture and remaining boxes. During the day a procession of neighbors were in and out helping with the packing, organizing and feeding of our very busy day!

Many, many thanks to good neighbor, Cheryl, who masterminded much of the organizing and packing that happened so quickly that day--amidst all the banging and jack-hammering outside.

Yesterday was amazing. As the sidewalks, patio and brick disappeared from the outside of our house, the forms went up for our new addition. There were swarms of workers, Bobcats, dump trucks and diesel pickups there all day!

Meanwhile, Hubby and I are still looking for all those lost articles that may or may not surface in the next few weeks. Ah, the joys of remodeling.