…..is a crossed-off to-do list:

 “The desire accomplished is sweet to the soul…” (Proverbs 13:19a). I had originally desired to accomplish those things by last Saturday, and got all but one of them crossed off. But I just couldn’t get the remaining one taken care of til this morning.

It’s funny how things that have been needing attention for weeks months get taken care of with ease once they are on a list. I had been needing to sew a couple of buttons on clothes here and there and remove a patch from Jesse’s old Awana shirt before giving it away for ages. It only took me a few minutes to take care of that — I just kept forgetting about it.

Of course, I need to make another whole list for this week. But it’s nice to savour that moment of getting things done. 

I don’t know why it always seems to happen this way, but so often when we schedule one event when the calendar looks clear, as the time approaches then the calendar seems to fill up. We signed up to host a teen fellowship after church April 15. We had never had one since living in this house because, though the house itself is not small overall, the individual rooms where you’d have company are. We had a family of five over once and ended up with people sitting on the floor. So having a big group over just wasn’t something we felt we could handle. But this year they are splitting up some of the teen fellowships into smaller groups — jr. high and sr. high or guys or girls or one team or the other. So we’re having the junior high over that night.

Then the seniors at our school sponsor a “Spring Fling” on a Friday and a yard sale on a Saturday as a fund-raiser for their senior trip. I’ve known for a long time that I wanted to participate in this year’s yard sale — and found out a couple of weeks ago that it is Saturday the 14th, the Saturday before the fellowship. Aaauugh!!

One problem with going through things in the attic and shed that we know we want to get rid of is that the prime times for doing that, when there is not much else going on, are summer and winter after Christmas. But that’s when those areas are the hottest and coldest. Spring and fall, when it would be easier to get into those places, are busy times on our calendar.

I think what I have resolved to do is spend this week sorting through things for the yard sale as much as I can, reminding myself it’s not likely I’ll get through the whole attic and shed — will just have to have another yard sale later on, maybe, or take the remainder to Salvation Army when we can. Then next week I’ll be getting ready (read: more than basic cleaning — you know how it is when company is coming) for the fellowship. Because I know if I clean the burner pans on the stove today, I’ll have a major boil-over between now and the fellowship and will have to do it again. 🙂

Jesse is on Easter break this week and was going to sort through some things in his room as well as have a friend over one night. Sunday evening he said he had a sore throat and a few sniffles, but we thought it was just allergies. He even had a friend over yesterday with plans to spend the night, but felt progressively worse during the day, then started running a fever, so I guess he has a full-blown cold or flu. We sent his friend home to hopefully come back later in the week. Then last night Jesse asked for the “throw-up pan” because he felt sick — and lost his lunch. I don’t know if there is a stomach bug, too, or is just the gunk in his throat is setting off his gag reflex. Jeremy used to have problems with that when he was younger, too. We were doing cold medicine and acetaminophen on an as-needed basis yesterday, but today I am giving it to him every four hours, so hopefully he’ll feel better than he did yesterday. He hasn’t eaten much — a little applesauce, Jello, and Sprite — and he’s the only one of us who doesn’t have any extra to lose.

The “throw-up pan” is a bigger pan that I don’t use much — somehow when the older guys were little we’d let them keep it near by when they were sick in case they couldn’t make it to the restroom. Once we got alliterative with it and called it the vomit vessel, the barf bucket, the upchuck urn….

Then they’d get really grossed out when I’d use that pan for things like corn on the cob. I’d assure them it had been well-cleaned and sterilized since they last used it.

One thing I am dearly hoping to be able to get done before the fellowship is to get the curtains up in the family room that I mentioned here and here.  I did finally order fabric this morning — that was the last thing on my to-do list from last week. In case anyone is waiting on pins and needles to know this ( 😀 ), I decided on this fabric –the blue check with the toile as an contrast lining for the valance — and this pattern (bottom right-hand corner). All the other fabric I looked at around town was more expensive (even at outlets) and I just didn’t like it as well. The pattern is fairly simple, so I am hoping I can whip them up. By the way, Fabric.Com is a great site — easy to use, and no charge for shipping on the first order.

I guess I have rambled on enough and should get busy. 🙂 I’ll post a couple more Easter quotes in a separate post. Oh, and I want to remind you that a month from yesterday, on May 2, I’ll be having a Q&A session with Lynn Walker, author of Queen of the Castle. She’s doing a “30 Blogs in 30 Days” author tour, and I am delighted to be one of her stopping-places. I am jotting down questions as I think of them, but if you have any questions you’d like for me to ask, let me know!

Have a great day.