mini life update

One of bummers of doing a blog about house projects is that sometimes I get so wrapped up in things like sepia pictures or the darker legs on my pale pale IKEA chairs that I forget to tell you about the big things. So I'll fill you in today... grab a cup of coffee or hot chocolate.

First of all, let me share with you a great verse I read this morning. I try to get up before AJ and Drew and read the Bible for a little bit, I figure it starts me off on a great note and that really is the only time of day that I've found works for me with the fewest distractions. This is from Colossians 3:12-14 in the Message:
So, chosen by God for this new life of love, dress in the wardrobe God picked out for you: compassion, kindness, humility, quiet strength and discipline. Be even-tempered , content with second place, quick to forgive an offense. Forgive as quickly and completely as the Master forgave you. And regardless of what else you put on, wear love. Its your basic, all-purpose garment. Never be without it.
Challenging, right? Things I need to be remembering all. day. long.

So update. First, the least important thing... AJ and I have been feverishly working on two apartments. I shared the first makeover for the first Makeover Monday and it'll be rented on February 1st. Phew. I can stop worrying about money a little bit. I wish I didn't worry so much. Maybe my next verses will have to be about worry and I'll have to tattoo them to my hand where I'd see them all the time. Probably about four days this week I headed up to our other vacant apartment in Gloucester once AJ got home from school and painted like a fiend. The shower was hideous, to say the least:

After a little tub and tile paint... the stuff is expensive ($40 for a quart) and like glue.. but it makes a huge difference. You can still see the grout lines so I'll scrub that with my best friend AJAX or Comet and hopefully that'll make a big difference.

We are showing the apartment on Sunday at 4pm which means we have about 50 hours to get the place up to snuff. We still have to tack down the carpet, put the finishing touches on the painted cabinets, finish painting the kitchen floor and polyurethane it and clean like crazies. (UMMM sidenote: AJ just walked out the door in my rain boots to go feed the chickens. He's a 10.5 mens. I'm a 6 womens... imagine what this sight looks like.)

________________

AND WAY MORE IMPORTANTLY, the other thing that has changed recently (and I've mentioned this before), is that AJ's sis is in Mass General waiting for a heart transplant. She lives in New York, as does the rest of AJ's fam, so AJ and I are having more visitors than usual since we are about half an hour from the hospital. We joke we've never gone into Boston so much in our whole lives. They are giving amazing care to Mern and have set her up in a corner unit room. Here she is with her new haircut that won't interfere with all the cords:

Seriously, let's talk about her smile for a minute... She has the BEST spirit about this, not to say she doesn't get down, because who wouldn't, but she is handling everything with so much GRACE. She is at the top of the list for the heart transplant and in the meantime we'll just keep waiting and praying. Mass General is the fifth best place in the nation for their cardiac ward so she's in good hands. If you think of it, please pray for her as she adjusts to spending a longer period of time in the hospital and as she waits for a heart. We love you, Mern, don't forget it!

Hope YOU have a great weekend! Are you doing anything fun? My in-laws are coming out to see Mern this weekend so I'll be making sure the house doesn't look like a bomb hit it today. :)