A Breakdown of the Month of November

Or, more accurately, the breakdowns of the month of November. Now that we're safely into December, I think I've healed enough to recap our Month from Outer Space.

"So just where was that Stephanie during November when she wasn't blogging?", you're asking yourself. Ok, so you're not really asking that, but I feel the need to fill you in nonetheless. It's all part of my therapy. Let me back up.

The 1st Setback: An ice cube melted on our kitchen floor. Or at least that's what I thought. Turned out to be more of a glacier, in the sense that after much poking and prodding and a couple of plumbers, the root of the problem turned out to be a foundation leak in our home. So let's fast-forward. After 2 1/2 months of various people in our home completing a plethora of repairs, things were almost back to normal. Other than a few inconvenient weeks, such as the one with no running water downstairs (can we visualize life without cooking, dishes, laundry, or quick potty trips for a moment?), we made it through that whole process barely scathed.

The blessing: After all was said and done, we were truly praising God for this leak. You see, it enabled us to get a "free" flooring upgrade for the majority of our downstairs, which we had coveted for four years. Thanks to Garfield being willing to undertake most of the labor, the insurance covered just about everything. Good riddance, linoleum!

The 2nd Setback: Right when things were in complete upheaval in our kitchen, we spot another leak. Could this be the result of some faulty new plumbing? No, it was, in fact, our dishwasher. It apparently was dying a slow, leaky death.

The blessing: This happened right before the flooring was switched out, so ripping up a bit more of the old stuff was no big deal. Had it occured just weeks later, disaster would've arisen if we'd ruined that portion of our new wood laminate. Again, we had insurance money on hand, so we painlessly visited the Scratch 'n Dent store and got an even prettier dishwasher than our old one.

The 3rd Setback: We head out on a 6 1/2-hour road trip, to attend a Family Retreat with our church in the Texas Piney Woods. This silly mommy was concerned about things such as sanity for that long in the car with a 4 and 1-year-old, the four of us sleeping in the same room, packing both warm and cold weather clothing for all of us, etc. Dumb stuff like that.

What I wasn't worried about was our car stranding us. Good thing I wasn't worried about things like that, because it would've been a waste of perfectly good worrying. It happened anyway. An hour out of town, when only a few of the bazillion snacks I'd packed had even been broken into.

The blessing: I promise, there are many. Such as: we were close enough to town to be towed back. We were early enough in the process to still attempt the trip, like crazy people, in the vehicle of our very thoughtful pastor. We coasted right into a large gas station/varitable theme park as our dear car died, so we had food, bathrooms, and even entertainment while we waited for our tow truck. We were all together, instead of this happening the following weekend, when I was supposed to be driving alone to visit a girlfriend. The Retreat was a huge blessing in itself, with wonderful memories made.

The 3rd Setback, Part B: This left us with no family vehicle. The repairs would be more costly than the car was worth. Wonderful. We needed something that will fit 3 carseats, come January.

The blessing: It was time to turn in Garfield's work truck soon, so we found him what seems to be a very reliable "new" truck. The people we bought from offered a great deal on our dead car as a trade-in, so we were able to spend far less in getting his truck. It's got a spacious back seat, so all the kiddos will easily fit. (Let's not ask about my Cabin Fever in staying home all day. I'm trying to focus on all the gas we're saving, and how content I need to be in our home. Those are blessings, right? Right?)

The 4th Setback: When we returned from our Retreat, we found that our main home phone thought it would be fun to hop on the bandwagon. Yep, dead. As in, I could hear people leaving messages, but wasn't able to call out or receive calls.

The blessing: Well, to be honest, we're still working this out. But hey, if you've got to be stuck at home, you may as well not be able to talk to anyone, either, huh? ;) Thank goodness for cell phones.


It's always exciting to see God's hand at work, even in the midst of some crazy situations. We were a bit frazzled at times, but we trust in His sovereignty, which really does make things alot easier to wade through. His blessings abound, much moreso than we deserve.


So that's the main rundown. Amidst all this, throw in a Princes Party for Emma's birthday, along with Thanksgiving plans and travels, and you can see why I wasn't exactly fit for blogging. Good thing we're not in a busy month, like, let's say, December. And good thing I'm not 8 months pregnant. Oh, wait...