Our April has gotten off to a good start. Temperatures were up into the 80s this week, but it looks like we’ll be back down in the 30s a couple of nights next week. It feels like spring has settled in a little more firmly.

I’m joining with Susanne at Living to Tell the Story to share some highlights of the week.

1. Watercolor painting. I’ve wanted to dabble in watercolors for some time, but just never seemed to find time to do it. Mittu asked a mutual artistic friend from church if she’d come over for lunch on Saturday and teach us a bit about watercolors. It turns out to be a lot harder than it looks! Even our friend, with more experience than either of us, had sheets and sheet of practice flowers. So that was a little dismaying on one hand, but encouraging on the other–my lackluster beginning attempts aren’t an indication that I can’t do it, just an indication that it takes time to develop and eye and feel for it. Even more than the painting, we enjoyed the conversation around the table.

We used this video for the tulips and this tutorial for ten small flowers, but only got through the first five.

My results for the afternoon. I think the single tulip turned out the best.

2. Repairs. A few weeks ago, a spring in our garage door broke, making the door come crashing down. Thankfully, nothing was under the door at the time. It took several days for a repair person to come out and fix it. But then, the motor of the garage door opener made a grinding noise whenever we tried to open and close it. Jim tried a couple of repairs that didn’t fix the problem. So he ordered a new system. He had it installed rather than trying to do it himself. It took another several days for them to come out, but that finally got done this week. It’s nice to have it working again.

Then our kitchen faucet has been having issues, getting harder to maneuver, even getting stuck a couple of times. Jim got a new one and installed it this week. Much better! While he had everything out of the cabinet under the sink, he installed a couple of pull-out organizers, making it easier to reach items.

3. A good dentist’s visit. Even a simple dental cleaning is one of my least favorite things to do. But after one a couple of years ago that discovered a cavity under a bridge and several visits to take care of that, I’ve been a little more antsy about going to the dentist. It’s nice to get the all-clear there for another six months.

4. Dogwood blooms. I’ve seen some white dogwood trees blooming around the neighborhood, but our backyard pink ones are just now budding. It’s exciting to see the flowers come in.

5. Checking off a to-do list. I’ve almost completed everything on my list this week, and I should finish up today. Of course, there are always more things to be done. But it feels good to complete a list.

Bonus: Timothy’s birthday isn’t for a couple of weeks. But he has an orthodontist’s visit between now and then, so he wanted to have his birthday dinner before his mouth became sore from that. He chose Fai Thai Kitchen. I was a little apprehensive, because I have not liked any Thai food I’ve tried. So I ate a sandwich beforehand. 🙂 But I was pleasantly surprised. I got the Basil Fried Rice with chicken and the shrimp spring rolls, which were both very good. Some of the entrees were sent out on this robot, which had a cute little voice saying “Here I am!” when it came to the table.

As we commemorate the death of Jesus today, I am so thankful He was willing to suffer all that He did on our behalf. “For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God” (2 Corinthians 5:212).

Happy Easter to you!