...taking a deep breath

it arrived in the mail today...
I was aware that it had been mailed...
and was eagerly awaiting it's arrival...

the contract for my bathroom redo...

I will read it...
sign & initial all 5 pages, both copies...
and then return it to the contractors...
they will sign one of them and return it to me...

then it will be "game on"...



"redo" sounds rather....
"let's paint and change the curtains..."
and this is soooo, NOT that...

I've lived here for 20 years...
and wanted to "fix" the bathroom from the beginning...

I'm glad I waited... because my tastes have changed...
but living with an increasingly unusable bathroom ...
has not been fun...

when I have scrubbed it...it's still nasty...
[broken leaky pipes...behind tile...]
and the most recent house settling...
since the new roof of September, 2005...
cracked the floor tiles badly...
making the most newly scrubbed floor look dirty...
the subfloor is rotten...
the toilet "rocks" when a cat jumps on it...

the vanity is broken...the plumbing will leak as it chooses...
[that's WHY the subfloor is rotten...]
the shower faucets have been beyond repair for 20 years...
[they squirt HOT water when the shower's being used...]
the tub is unusable...[not that I ever would...]
but it's a pain to climb into...and NEVER gets clean...
[besides harboring possums from underneath the house...]

ALL the grout needs replacing...
I've re caulked the tub a number of times...
but it doesn't last...

something "organic" is growing out of the wall...
between the faucets and the tub...
out of the old caulk...
it's fibrous, looks like thick horse hair...
and comes back as soon as I remove it...

I don't have a mildew problem...
because I always make sure to "ventilate", after a shower...
and I used anti-mildew paint when I last painted in 1993...
I DID have a mildew problem before that...

after 80 years...all the tile... and the tub...
need reglazing to be able to be cleaned properly...
and stay that way for more than a day...

I have never had any visitors use it ...
without feeling ashamed of it's grungy-ness...
so I'm looking forward to this getting started [9/8/08]...
[those of you who are aware of my fasination with the number "9"...
notice the start date = 9....]
and finished [10/17/08]...

these are, of course, "tentative" dates...

they won't start sooner...
but may end a lot later...
[if there are problems...]

the bottom line is that I've come a very long way...
from where I was last year at this time...

in how I'm living...
[my surroundings... my health... my outlook...]

and my plans for the future...
[what ? ... I can't tell you ...
if He hasn't told me yet....
can I ? ...]

I know that there's a quite lot yet to do...
but with all the "miracles"...
"goals accomplished"...
"life-changing projects started"...
and "hearts' desires realized"...
that I've seen in this last year...
in my life ...
and the lives of others who are dear to me...
I am encouraged to keep going...

it won't be easy, but the good things never are...

they are, however, worth it...
all the effort, tears, frustration, pain...
working, hoping, praying and waiting...
will eventually result in the life God had planned...

for each of us...

if we can stay the course...

keep the faith...do the work...

and trust our little lives...
with their daily traumas, fears...
dreams and plans...

to the "Master Contractor"...

I'm already enjoying my "better life"...
less cluttered, cleaner surroundings...
more order... less chaos...

and plan on continuing to "become"...
as He tells me, who, what, how & when...

and He will...

because...

God, is good...

for those of you interested ...
in the REAL bottom line...
of the bathroom "fix", that is...
here are the gory details...
maybe I'll start buying lottery tickets...