Bathroom Troubles

Our landlords decided to put on a new roof, YEAH. We were so excited. It is a metal roof, too. While the guys were working on the roof, my bathroom got a mind of its own and completely shut down. If you flushed, the bathtub had water come up out of the drain, if you washed laundry, you had water fill the toilet and come up out of the drain in the tub. So we tried a snake, and couldn't get it to work. Thankfully, the guys working on the roof found an outside cleaning point and got the drains cleared, and fixed the toilet drain so that it drains better. While the were here they decided to retile the bathroom floor.
OK, so week before last, I was changing the position of our shower head (from low for the girls to high for me) and it broke off in my hand. The shower arm was plastic and it apparently did not like being moved. So Randle and I tried several different things to remove the piece inside the pipe and failed miserably. So our efforts now stopped so that we could focus on the tile. One night we took out the sink, toilet, washer dryer, etc. When we removed the sink one of the pipes snapped off and shot water EVERYWHERE! I ran and turned off the water, we put the girls to bed and then Randle ran to Lowe's. We got the pipe fixed, but it wouldn't stop dripping, so Randle had to buy more plumber's tape and another piece. WOW!! Then we broke up all the tile. The next day, while I waited for the guys who were putting in the tile to come, I went ahead and removed all of the broken tile and put it on the porch. Well FOUR days later, they finally finished with the tile, so I moved the washer and dryer back in. In the mean time Randle tried a few more things to remove the broken shower arm. He finally ended up using a torch and melting it out.
Well, I thought I was really smart and decided that I didn't need to wait for Randle to come home to put in the washer and dryer. So I carried them into the bathroom by myself, and hooked them back up. The dryer went fine, the washer, not so much. First, I hooked the hosed up backwards (hot to cold and cold to hot). Then I didn't' attach them well, so when I did my first load, the bathroom flooded AGAIN! I mopped up my mess and retried. I flooded again, the guys came in to hook up my toilet and tried to help, and said I needed new hoses. So Randle brought home new hosed and we washed again. It still dripped. So he finally got it fixed and I can now wash almost 2 weeks worth of laundry. I was seriously running out of clothes.
So after my washer adventure, I decide I can hang a door. I think I dropped the stupid thing onto my head about four times. It is up and hanging very well. Finally, 1 point for me!
So tonight I put in my shower head, and guess what NO LEAKS! Yeah, 2 points for Katrina! Now the guys are retiling the girls bathroom. Can't wait to see what trouble I can cause in there! J/K

A Remembering of the Lessons of 2009

God is always amazing me. One of the things that He (God) is working on me with is faith. It has been the major theme of my life and lesson I have been learning this past year. With Randle going from unemployed, to a temp job, to a side job, and back to the temp job, my faith has been stretched. When Randle lost his job originally, I thought I was trusting God by moving to AL. Then when we were waiting for the temp job to start I again, thought I was trusting, but all along, I had been only partially trusting. I had every expectation of Randle getting a job. I am now beginning to realize that my trust must be fully in the Lord and that He will supply everything we need in His time, and in His way. So far he has supplied through friends, family and temp and side jobs. NOT a permanent position. Every time the bills come due He has supplied the money for them. Last week I did the budget several times and couldn't get it to work. Finally (which is embarrassing to say, b/c I should have done this at first) I put it down and prayed that He just supply everything we needed. Last night when I sat down to rework the budget again, everything worked out. It is what I like to call God Math. He seems to change the numbers to where everything works even though the numbers don't seem to work before. It has taken me longer than it should have, but I think I am beginning to learn my lesson. I am very happy to say this. To learn a lesson and move on to the next is always exciting.

With 2010 fully here, I know it will be filled with new lessons, revelations and adventures. 2009 was quite the adventure for our entire family. I can't wait to see what this year brings. I have seen Randle grow in great strides closer to God. I have seen Harley begin to ask questions that show she is getting a deeper knowledge of Gods Word. Natalie's longing for more knowledge of God and His Word is very steadily growing. Natalie has also begun to realize more fully the difference in believing and accepting God are two different things.

I am thankful for both the blessing and lessons God has given us this year. I hope that He continues to lead us in the path He has for us!