Old Perry Road Miracle (Dear Friends)

Thursday, February 7, 2013

It was the house JH was living in when we first met.  Nearly two years later it was the house I moved into when we got married.  We lived there nearly three years when we bought Abbey Ct.  Since then it has been occupied at various times by JH's daughter & her new husband, his son, and a horrible renter (for a miserable year).  In the five-and-a-half years since we've moved from there it's been occupied about half the time.

JH's son moved to New Mexico last June.  Between the time the awful horrible sleaze renters moved out and he moved in I hadn't done anything to the house to clean it up.  That was the bargain, as a matter of fact.  We set the rent really low as I was hoping that he would do some of the clean up and repairs.  And he did clean up the inside and kept the yard mowed.  But any maintenance...?  Well, I think he takes after his dad in that respect.  ;)  

And it needed work.  Oh goodness, it needed work.  So for the past five months I've been trying to get it to a point that we can rent it again.  This time I have contacted a rental agent to take care of that part of the process for me (thank goodness!).

And this is where a gigantic miracle in the form of a wonderful couple, Peggy & Fred, comes in.  

Peggy working the kitchen floor.

I have so little knowledge on real home maintenance.  As an adult I've lived my life in apartments, condos and a townhouse.  That's life as a single person in San Diego.  I'm willing to learn and to do what I can, of course.  Which is precious little when it came to Old Perry.  Enter Peggy & Fred.  They are excellent at home repairs.  They have built two (or three or four?) houses.  I'm sure there will be a HUMONGOUS reception of people on the other side of the veil who they have "saved" by their willingness to use their talents, their time, and their money to help.  

And the list of work that needed doing was endless.  They have set times to come over and do hours and hours and hours of repairs to the house.  Things I had no clue how to do.  Yes, I could have eventually done most of the jobs, but it would have taken me two years to do what they have done.  And some of the jobs really needed more than one person.  

I serve with Peggy in the ward RS presidency.  She is the President.  She is awesome.  She is loving and kind, skilled and generous with her skills.  She is frank and to the point.  Fred is her perfect match (at least it seems to me).  And they adore each other.  That is another thing they do that is such an example to me.  They adore and support each other.  How am I so very blessed to have such friends in my life?  THAT is one of the miracles of this whole thing.  I don't think there is anyone else in this area that would have been able to do what they have done for me.  They have given me hope when I felt hopeless about the whole project.  They have been there when they didn't need to be.  They have been there for me...

 I have a really, really (REALLY) hard time asking for help from anyone.  Peggy didn't give me that option.  She would pull out her calendar and say "which day next week can we come over and help?" or "we can come over Thursday morning, will that work for you?"  and she would expect an answer!  Against my protests.  Week after week they came.

I will write more about this saga, but the point of this post is that Heavenly Father does answer (even sometimes unuttered) prayers and He DOES raise up friends.  I don't know what I ever did to be so blessed.  And I pray with all my heart HUGE blessings for them.  They deserve that and more.

Focus.Focus.Focus...

Thursday, Feb 7, 2013

Focus.Focus.Focus

That's the theory, anyway.  Oh my goodness, there are soooo many interesting and fun things out there!  So many things to try and learn.  So many things to read and look at.  Not only do I need to be able to exist without sleeping (oh, but there is nothing like waking on a chilly morning snuggled in my bed), but I need to have the energy to do it all.  AND THE FOCUS!

With so many wonderful choices out there, it's impossible hard for me to focus in on anything.  And talk about being easily distracted!  I might miss something really cool and interesting!  But true focus is what is needed to really do anything.  (The interesting thing is that when I am working at my job I am able to focus very well!  So what's up with my personal life???)

As silly as it sounds, I'm thinking of trying another type of planner as maybe a fresh way to look at things.  I've been using one very well known brand for decades now.  I really do like it and it's served me well.  (I'm still a paper planner, although I'm kind of a mini-geek, too)  But it's not at all inspiring to me -- it's very utilitarian.  I've come across many "free" downloadable versions wonderful and creative people have developed and shared online.  So I thought I'd look at those and try a few versions to see if any fit.

My dad once said to see if anything works, try it for about six weeks.   Can I focus on something for that long?  The clock is ticking... But wait, it can't start until I choose which planner-type to use.  And there are soooo many choices.