There's No Going Back ....

.... now that my bathroom is demolished. That was kind of a scary thought the first time I walked in there after the end of the first day of demolition.

Here's what it looked like before they came:

The shower and tub:

Looking out towards my bedroom:
The two sinks and the vanity area:
Walking into the bathroom:

Here is what it looked like at the end of Day 1:

Thankfully they had a tarp hanging in front of the doors to keep the level of dust to only about an inch thick, rather than a foot:
Walking into the bathroom ..... noticing the lack of a shower and the huge pile of broken tiles in its spot:

No more sinks or vanity:

For some odd reason the bathroom looks MUCH smaller now that there's nothing in it (except for the tub):
No turning back now that there's no shower .... or shower head!
My picture window over the tub is no more. Well, unless you consider plywood to be an art form. I guess I could draw a picture onto them. Hmmmmm, I just might!
Here's what it looks like now:

No more striped wallpaper. Interestingly enough, the green and white striped wallpaper covered pink and white striped wallpaper. The previous owner had a thing for stripes!
Not only is the shower head gone, but so is the wall and sheetrock!
A shot looking in to the bathroom:
I have no idea how long this will take. My designer/builder pretty much laughed when I threw out a time of 2 weeks. Seriously.

Next will come the jack hammering. Hopefully, my dearest mother ..... they will do that before you get here. If not ..... I apologize ahead of time and think you should go see several movies.

I think there will be jack hammering to put in new pipes (since the old ones moan and groan) and a new hot water heater. Hopefully this will mean that even when a certain son goes over his time limit on his hot showers, I will still have hot water for mine. If not then a certain son may get "snatched bald-headed", as the saying goes.

Choir went well today ..... right up to the point where we read about Henry W. Longfellow and how he came to write the words of the poem, "Christmas Bells", which later became the song "I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day". It seems that the first Christmas after his wife died in 1861 he wrote in his journal, "How inexpressibly sad are all holidays." The next Christmas he still couldn't write anything positive .... rather he wrote this, "I can make no record of these days. Better leave them wrapped in silence. Perhaps someday God will give me peace." He wrote on Christmas day, 1862, "A merry Christmas say the children, but that is no more for me." He didn't write anything on Christmas of 1863, but finally wrote the poem on Christmas Day of 1864. The last two verses are these:

"And in despair I bowed my head;

"There is no peace on earth," I said;

"For hate is strong,

And mocks the song

Of peace on earth, good-will to men!"

Then pealed the bells more loud and deep:

"God is not dead; nor doth he sleep!

The Wrong shall fail,

The Right prevail,

With peace on earth, good-will to men!"

Thankfully this was towards the end of our rehearsal so when I lost it and couldn't sing this song, it didn't color the whole rehearsal for me. Plus, I was able to quietly lose it and just follow along reading the song so hopefully it was not noticed. Though the lovely woman next to me did whisper to me, after the reading about Longfellow, "Are you OK? That had to be rough."

It's still nice when people know that certain things are rough .... that I'm thought of. My brother, who was sitting behind me, texted me that he, also, was thinking of me and knew it was difficult for me.

I'm trying hard (thus the singing in the cantata) but I will be glad when this season is over and when January 7th (Jim's 50th birthday) has come and gone. What a couple of months. They used to be, but are no longer, my favorite months of the year.

Here are a few of the pictures that some of the school children drew of Jim. They drew pictures of each board member one year and when Jim died the school district gave me a big frame with 4 of the pictures, plus each of the kids and I received an 8x10 frame with one picture in it. We also have several saved from when the kids first drew them and gave them to the board members.

Note the handkerchief in his jacket pocket. He always wore one when he worse a suit. Also note that he has a mustache in one of the pictures (several children included mustaches, for some odd reason)! I love these pictures .... they are hanging in my study.

OK, it is now time to watch my Cowboys with Son #3. Hopefully they will beat Iowa State this afternoon. At the moment they are up 6-0.

Happy Saturday, Peeps.