Some Hopes for this New Year

1 Timothy 4:9-10 "This is a trustworthy saying that deserves full acceptance, that we have put our hope in the living God, who is the Savior of all men, and especially of those who believe."

"Well begun is half done." Mary Poppins

1. Get the tub installed in the second floor bathroom.

I really hope that we will finally get the bathtub on the second floor installed. The uninstalled tub has been sitting in the bathroom for more years than I can remember. It's a lovely 5 foot claw foot tub that we had refinished after pulling it from a very old house. We spotted it in the paper and went for it. It was owned by a well dressed man in his fifties. He helped Riley get it out of the house and it was practically the end of both of them. They both looked really done in by the time they got it into the back of our Voyager. Late that evening Riley thought he was having a heart attack. I thought he was probably suffering from the strain of moving that tub, but no way was I going to suggest he just wait and see, so I called 911. In practically no time 8 firemen and paramedics came jogging up to the third floor of our house to collect Riley. It was quite a sight. They took him off and a while later, after I got our oldest daughter up so she could watch the other children, I went to the hospital to see what was up. The doctors had determined that Riley had greatly strained his arms while moving that tub, but otherwise he was fine. He stayed there for a while longer, probably to rest up a bit, and then I brought him home. I never let him do much moving of that tub again. As it turns out he has a very healthy heart. And now, many years later, I am so looking forward to being able to relax in my own bathtub.

2. straighten up the third floor, which is our bedroom

Now we have already gotten started on this project, but it really is a rather large task.  It could actually be looked at in sections.  For example, about 11 years ago I was on the second floor, heading towards the third, when I noticed a big spot of pink on the ceiling.  That immediately suggested to me that the shower on the third floor was leaking.  First thing we did was to stop using that shower.  After that we never saw any growth in the pink spot.  Later Riley tore out the shower and sure enough the water was leaking through the improperly installed tiles on the wall of the shower.  Interestingly, this shower was installed by the previous owner of our house, who is a vice president of the largest remodel company in town.  I'm getting tired of having a half bath with a gutted shower to look at. It is really ugly. I would like a refined elegant look to this tiny bathroom. Not easy I'm sure. The room has only 2 1/2 walls at this time. We had a contractor in once to give us an estimate for fixing it up and he gave us a bid of $25,000! This is a space hardly over 6' by 6'. But even though it's a small space we've got lots of ideas. But for starters I don't want to look at a gutted shower any more.

Well enough about dreaming. First thing I need to do is get the third floor all cleaned up. It's actually a bedroom/attic, and it needs to look more like a bedroom and less like an attic!

3. Make sure that I will still be a daring baker by the end of the year

I love being a daring baker, though I feel rather like a dwarf in a group of giants. But I shall try and not dwell on that idea. At this time I feel that I can at least tackle anything they send my way. But we'll see. So far I have made Bostini Cream Pie, which Annie thinks is the most fabulous dessert she's ever tasted and she wants me to make it for her birthday, and potato bread, which was very nice though very wet dough, and a buche de Noel, which felt like quite the accomplishment. I can't tell you what this months project is, but I will say that it should be a cinch and very well received by my family, especially my husband.



If you miss two challenges in a row then you can't be a daring baker any more. So for starters I don't intend to miss any challenge. You get a whole month to do it, so if I don't leave it to the end, as I can be want to do, then I should be okay.

4. See that there is a door on the pump house.

Now the big problem here is that I can only prod Riley and give him ideas. I have absolutely no carpentry skills. But I am anxious for there to be a door there because it will look so much nicer than looking in at the pump. I want the door to be simple slats or boards connected however is convenient, and then I want it painted blue. It would be best if it were to be somewhat rustic. And even though the pictures I have placed here have rounded tops, that is not necessary.

5. Be a more encouraging person

This is especially important with my family. I did not receive much encouragement growing up. The best my mother could do was to tell me that she thought I could do anything I wanted to do. Now that sounds encouraging, but it's actually very limiting. I don't think I was hardly ever praised, unless it was for doing some activity that my mother didn't want to do. Like telling me what a good job I did waxing the furniture, or how well I made spaghetti. As a child I knew the reason behind the praise, so I discounted it. I would have much rather been praised for getting 100% on my 3 hour math exam, or on how well the Vogue designer dress I made looked.


But enough about my lack of encouragement. How can I be more encouraging to my family?


encourage:
• to give support, confidence, or hope to (someone)
• give support and advice to (someone) so that they will do or continue to do something
• help or stimulate (an activity, state, or view) to develop

“You learn to speak by speaking, to study by studying, to run by running, to work by working; in just the same way, you learn to love by loving.” Anatole France



6. I would like to improve my self confidence

Part of my problem is my age. In this very youth oriented culture you start to gradually feel increasing like a lesser person with each added year. But then looking at self-confidence from a different angle, I think it has a lot to do with your own personal attitude about yourself. In 2001 I spent the summer in Paris with my youngest daughter. We were studying French at the Sorbonne and living in a lovely apartment in one of the dorms of Cite Internationale. But I was really struggling with feeling okay about myself because everyone around me was much younger. I felt like a dowdy Mom. But at some point I noticed that although not all French women are beautiful or even pretty most of them still seem to have a strong visible self-confidence. I decided that it was all about attitude. So I began to walk around like I felt good about myself. I can't say that this worked all of the time, but it did work quite well a lot of the time. I must add that another thing that really helped how I felt about myself was how good I felt because I had to walk about 4 to 5 miles a day, and do it quickly. I felt much healthier than I had felt in a long time. So for starters I think I need to stand up straight and walk a lot.

"The pessimist sees difficulty in every opportunity. 

The optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty." 

Winston Churchill