Hunter

(borrowed from Julie)

My oldest brother has been in ministry for as long as I can remember. He served with Inter-Varsity out of college, was called to be a church planter in Dublin, Ireland, and then for over ten years as senior pastor at Redeemer PCA in Winston-Salem. Last year he made a bold and life changing decision to leave his position at Redeemer and to sail with his wife Julie for 9 months -year on their sailboat Contigo. Their adventure began in October and three weeks ago they returned to visit mom. Tomorrow they head back to their boat in the Bahamas to finish their journey. I will miss them; they will return at the end of May or for mom's funeral, whichever comes first.

Here are a couple of blogs he posted about his visit home.

http://www.cruisingcontigo.com/2012/03/24/parade-of-the-broken/

http://www.cruisingcontigo.com/2012/03/24/a-break-from-sailing-to-visit-mom/

Old Dog New Tricks

I love learning new things and yet for as long as I can remember I have been confused about how anchors in the wall work, so instead of asking I would avoid it. These days you really have no excuse about anything because you can find it on the internet. So yesterday one of my goals was to hang the toilet and towel holders. I knew that if I hit a stud it was no problem but into drywall was another matter. 

I made two holes in the wall using my hand drill (a wonderful, can't live without tool)

I then took the anchors and screwed them in the wall using a phillips screwdriver, so they were flat against the wall

I then screwed the plate in the wall so it was tight and 

Voila, you place the holder on the plate and it's snug!

It literally took me five minutes!

New Friends

I'm back!

I won't begin to fill you in on the past two weeks other than to post in the days ahead, but for now I want to give you an update on my bathroom remodel. I can't say I am completely finished but they are being used and enjoyed.

New and improved Jack

New area where former toilet was

New Jill

I still need to

• hang the toilet and towel holders
• finish painting the molding and doors
• decorate the walls with some interest pictures and add some contrasting colors

Mom

I can't seem to get my mom out of my mind. Maybe it's because we met this week with the nurses who care for her. Maybe it's because we learned that she is in her last phase of life and the description of what takes place in her body. Maybe it's because I wish I could sit and look at her and hold her hands. Several years ago I painted a picture of her crabbing at the beach; an event we loved doing as a family each summer. I have wonderful memories of times with her.