Day Two of vacation was a pretty decent day. Despite the constant rain, I managed to take two full jeep loads of stuff to the Salvation Army. That is a cleansing feeling. Nice to have clutter out of the house and my life. As I look around, I still see some more items that I know will soon find their home there.

I was able to spend an hour with Blake today. He is so sweet and smells so good!! I honestly love baby smell (not the diaper smell obviously). He was sleeping and he woke up just before I left ready for his next meal. He is a great baby and my sister is absolutely loving being a mom (which she is very good at.) It is wonderful and exciting to have a baby in the family. This new life brings “new life” to all of us in so many ways.

I spent some money at Lowe’s today and I have all the stuff I need to begin the kitchen redo tomorrow. I cleaned out the kitchen and removed the hardware from the cabinet doors. A little spackeling tonight and they will be ready for sanding, priming and painting tomorrow. When it’s all done, I’ll post before and after shots here on the website. I’m excited about the changes and looking forward to a brighter and cheerier kitchen. Maybe it will inspire me to actually cook . . .

Peace – Melissa

Vacation update from Day 1: laundry done; dishes done; yard (jungle) mowed; cell phone fixed; checks cashed; kitchen cabinets emptied; NCD report written; and two movies watched. Fairly productive day, don’t ya think? I saw Princess Diaries 2 – cute flick (better rental) and The Notebook – beautiful work of art based on the story by Nicholas Sparks. I wish I had his writing gift. Very powerful film – bring tissues. Tremendous story about real and lasting love which overcomes all things.

I was thinking about my youth a lot today – for most their first day back to school. I wondered how it went; how they are doing; what they experienced. I pray for them to be strong; to live in grace; and to see themselves like God does – beautiful and special and very much loved.

Tomorrow will be focused on taking a large haul of “stuff” to Salvation Army; making my prep list for the kitchen redo; heading to Lowe’s for supplies and hopefully sneaking in a visit to my favorite guy, Blake. If it doesn’t get rained out, I may head to the Helias/JC softball game. We’ll see what I can get accomplished.

Let me leave you with this thought from Hebrews 12:16: Watch out for the Esau syndrome; trading away God’s lifelong gift in order to satisfy a short-term appetite. Definitely a word of caution to me. It can be so easy to take the short route or to settle for something less than God’s best to satisfy a need or desire. Doing what I want usually is satisfying a short-term appetite. Like drinking a soda when you’re really thirsty. Temporary thirst quencher but doesn’t last and doesn’t deal with the real need. Being Esau means settling for less and living with regrets. God has better plans and hopes for me than than an Esau fate.