...and a splash, and a moan, and a crash, and a pow, and a bunch of other onomatopoeic words! Needless to say, our December has been filled with numerous domestic catastrophes.
A few weeks into December (while Daddy was on a business trip) our garage door broke and wouldn't close (and it even had a bonus - a dead rat caught inside! EEWWW! YUCK!). Thankfully, Richard and Mr. Lowery were able
almost close the door and dispose of the rat. After Daddy got home, he had to remove the screen door because it had broken as well. Two doors down. The Saturday before Christmas Mammy came over to help us prepare for our Open House. While she was here the following disasters took place: the washing machine hose detached (causing a flash flood inside our home), our blender exploded with chai lattes inside (meaning chai latte ALL OVER the kitchen), Mama and Daddy's toilet broke (that means six girls and a man sharing one toilet) and two of the drains in our household refused to drain. Add onto this list dog sitting for the Berrys, last minute Christmas preparations, our Open House and Christmas itself, our pre-Christmas December was quite eventful.
Luckily, the washing machine hose was a quick fix as was the toilet. The chai latte eruption only required a soapy sponge, water and lots of elbow grease. Daddy and Pop were able to fix the drains and make the garage door close completely (though it was still out of commission). Daddy called some folks about the garage door and ordered a new screen door. Everything should be ok, right?
Wrong. Katie and I began painting our room (which meant half of it being moved to various rooms in the house) and Daddy continued to work on
Fraulein when Mama and Emmy Xiang came down with a 24 hour stomach bug. Katie and I continued to work on our room, I planned a Lord of the Rings New Year marathon while Daddy plugged away at Fraulein. Then one of those "that only happens in the movies" events happened. While putting Christmas decoations away in the attic, Daddy's leg fell through the ceiling in the garage. Yes, he's fine, just a little bruised. Then Katie, Gracie and I came down with the same bug Mama had...at the same time. So, we called people and canceled the movie marathon, and Mama tried to clean the house from the holidays with stuff from our room everywhere and without her normal troops. Later the disinfecting began. Whew!
But today, it is a new day, a new month....a new year. We are all healthy, the house problems are fixed (except for the ceiling) and most of the girls' stuff is in the bedroom. On top of that, Christmas decorations are put away, the house is (mostly) clean, Gracie and Emmy Xiang's room is organized. Laundry is almost caught up.
Being good southerners, we've eaten our black-eyed peas (we were sure to get in all 365 this year!) and enjoyed quite a bit of family time, and rest.
Sigh. God certainly has a sense of humor, but we're glad He's good, and sovereign, and His plans are better than ours. May we remember His great love for us and respond joyfully to whatever He ordains for us.
A Blessed New Year to you!