Not too old for...

 

We got tattoos this week. Yes. We. Did. I think that was rather shocking to people who know us well. The first question is probably, “WHY?” So, let me explain.

The whole idea started in August, when we went to a wedding and the bride had a very beautiful, very large tattoo on her shoulder and upper arm. She explained that the picture was a depiction of lilies and sparrows, an illustration of the words of Jesus in Matt. 6:25-30, and that when anyone comments about the tattoo, she has the opportunity to share about how much Jesus loves us and takes care of us.
Les was especially impressed with this, and began to encourage me to take that step. I thought he was crazy at first, but as we talked about it and thought about it for these 3 months, I began to warm up to the idea.
I really began to have a desire to have something that would truly speak to my personal faith, something that would not be the obvious Christian symbol, but something that would reflect a deeply held conviction of my own, something that might cause someone to ask a question that would open a door to share about Jesus. I prayed about it, and felt that God said, “Yes.”
A few weeks ago, our young friend Harlie, who is a new believer, said that she wanted to have the words, “This is Amazing Grace” tattooed on her forearm, because that song means so much to her. When she said that, I made my decision. We agreed that we would go together and get our faith statement tattoos.

We let it sit a while, and last Sunday, during worship, I told Harlie, “Let’s do it this week.” We made plans to go on Thursday. We didn’t know that Les was joining us until Monday, when he showed me his designs.

I had a hard time deciding what to write. I wanted to say, “I love Jesus with all my heart and soul and He gives me joy unspeakable and abundant life so I want to live out a radical faith.” Too long! Les came up with the idea that I went with. He designed all of our tattoos.

So, that is the story. Now, to answer the questions that have come up.

1.       Doesn’t the Bible say to not get tattoos?
It seems like it.
Lev 19:28  You shall not make any cuts on your body for the dead or tattoo yourselves: I am the LORD. 
Every commentary I have read agrees that this referred to the pagan practice of idol worshippers making deep gashes in the face, arms, or legs, as a sign of their grief in honoring the dead, and as an act of worship, spilling their own blood as a sacrifice to the false god. Although some tattooing today may be for these reasons, we had nothing of this sort as motivation.
This verse is part of the ceremonial law, the part of the law that Israel was to follow which set them apart from all people; don’t eat pork, don’t mix linen and cotton in your clothing, don’t mix beef and dairy products in your meals, all of the rules concerning the priests, the feasts, and the sacrifices. Most us eat bacon, wear fabric blends, and enjoy cheeseburgers.
The verse just before the one in question is this;
Lev 19:27  You shall not round off the hair on your temples or mar the edges of your beard.
No one tries to apply this verse today. We all understand this as an admonition to not cut the hair around the temples of the head as other cultures did in an act of worship.
For these reasons, no, I do not think that the Bible speaks against the modern use of tattoos in a literal sense.

2.       Don’t most people who get tattoos regret doing so?
That may be true. The reason some people regret a tattoo is because they are no longer happy with the content.
We are in our 60’s, and the messages we chose speak of beliefs we have long held. I have wanted to live out a radical faith in Jesus most of my life. And I experience a radical joy just about every day because of that relationship. I don’t think I will change my mind about the message.
Other reasons for regret just don’t apply. We don’t expect to try to get into an elite organization or apply for a job that would not allow them.

3.       What if it offends or upsets some people?
I never want to offend anyone. I never want to take any action that would cause someone to stumble. I considered this very carefully. Please understand my heart in saying this. I concluded that if I had the opportunity to speak of the love of Jesus because of this tattoo (which has already happened!!!), it would be worth possibly offending some people who already have a relationship with Jesus. I make many decisions with this as my guide.

4.       You don’t just get a tattoo and not live out faith, do you?
It is our hope that our lives would always affirm what the tattoos speak. I live my life always mindful that I am representing Christ. I am not perfect. I fail. I blow it sometimes. But, I try to always be kind, to be patient when service is slow, to speak kindly to cashiers and ask how their day is going, to be honest in all my dealings, to be considerate, to smile at strangers, to be friendly. I often ask servers in restaurants if I can pray for them. Wherever I am, I try to have conversations that will lead to a chance to speak about Jesus.  I hope that the tattoo will give me more opportunities to speak of the faith that I live out.

I understand that someone reading this may totally disagree, and that is ok. I am not trying to influence someone to get a tattoo, or even convince anyone to think they are OK. I am just explaining why we felt the freedom to get them.

Oh yeah…
5.       Did it hurt?
Yes, but not bad, and not for long.

Now, for anyone still interested, here are the pictures of this momentous occasion.

Signing the waivers. (Neither of us had ever been in a tattoo parlor before.)

I wanted to go first.

A little nervous waiting. 

 

Harlie was a little disturbed while watching.

 Finished product.

 Les said that I took it so well, he thought that it wasn’t going to hurt at all, and was surprised that it did.

 

 

 

 

 

 And here is Harlie.

 

 

 

 

 

Critter Update

     We’ve already posted about all the critter sighting escapades and high-tailed adventures from back in the spring, shortly after we moved here.  They were driving us nuts as they scampered all through the attic gap between the roof deck and the interior sheetrock.  If that wasn’t enough for this city boy – those rascals made havoc under the house each night in the crawl space with their eerie chewing, clawing and scratching noises . . . sometimes sounding like they had a hammer.

     You’ll recall that one evening as I sat in the den, a squirrel came walking right past me on the carpet.  Minutes later I looked up and saw two raccoons standing on our back porch peering at me through the glass door.  Eventually, the cool nights of winter/spring gave way to the hot days and blazing hot temperatures in the attic, and the pesky wildlife looked elsewhere for their overnight stays.  I finally found their secret entry points they had gnawed through on the roof and sealed them up with heavy gauge wire mesh.  I never actually saw what ventured under the house during that time, but knew it was bigger and meaner than a squirrel - but smaller than a rhinoceros (of course - eros).

     One good thing about the summer’s heat - - it’s a really good deterrent to having those kind of overnight/un-invited guests.  So, I cruised along all summer with all the remodel projects including an extreme makeover of the second bath, as well as organizing the menagerie of wood, tools, hardware, paints, lawn and garden stuff, and recreational toys in the garage.  It’s now a real life MAN-GARAGE . . . a practical and compartmentalized work zone – much like my own version of Home Depot.

     I have a WOODWORKING DEPARTMENT where I have all my inventory of wood scraps and wood-cutting machinery.  I make a lot of sawdust, so I built a new wall to separate this area from the HARDWARE DEPARTMENT with all other power tools, hand-tools, plumbing and electrical supplies, etc.  I like to keep a fairly tidy workspace.  With my professional background, I’ve always had a large supply of paints and painting paraphernalia, so I also set up my handy-dandy PAINT DEPARTMENT walk-in closet.  I know what you’re starting to think – but it’s not over yet!

     The garage had a nice big room on the side that worked conveniently for all our recreational gizmos and lake house toys.  So half of that space became our OUTDOOR LIVING DEPARTMENT, and on the other end of the room is our LAWN AND GARDEN DEPARTMENT with everything we own for yard work.   It felt so good to get that done.  It only took three weeks to pull off.

     Following that surge of productivity, I was energized for the next installment of Home Improvement Maxwell Style, so I built new patio awnings for the back  and side of the sun room.  Too bad I didn’t do this back in June because it has really helped out with keeping the sun room cooler.  Two weeks ago, the time had come to start the demo of the master bath.  I had already leveled the kitchen and second bathroom, so I knew what was ahead for me and I was dreading going through all that tear out.  But once I lit the fuse, it was “Katy bar the door, ‘cause there’s no stoppin’ now.”

     I began by removing the old bathtub . . . ½” thick cast iron . . . 232 pounds . . . by myself.  Then I cut out the floor as I had done in the other rooms and leveled it back up to snuff.  The plumber came and installed the new Jaccuzzi tub and re-plumbed the bathroom underneath the house.  Then Rod and Kandi, the electricians, came and did their thing to make everything work – or work better.  Then I replaced the floor cut-outs and laid the new laminate floor.  The last few days have been occupying me with cement board backer over the tub area, and new sheet rock.  That brings you up-to-date on the actual work here.

     However, there’s an even bigger story to tell you about what’s been happening around here the last few weeks.  Fall-ish weather has brought cooler nights back, and you know what that means.  Yep.  The critters have returned to Capistrano.  About three weeks ago I noticed a 6” hole in the scuttle-hole screen.  I knew one thing . . . the creature from down under was now down under again.  We started being awakened every night between 2:00 - 6:00 am as the bumping and grinding resumed.  During the few days when the bathroom floor was wide open, I had the door closed for good measure (if you know what I mean).  One night I went in there to check on something, and when I turned the light on – guess who was standing on my ladder?  A great big possum!  Right there . . . inside my house!

     We stared at each other for a few seconds, then I slammed the door shut and ran around in a daze trying to figure out what to do to get him out . . . all-the-while thinking that now I know what made that big hole in the scuttle-hole screen. 

Jeannette and I stared at each other, trying to figure out what to do. Final, I went to the garage and brought back a garden rake (from the Lawn & Garden Department) and a cardboard box (??).  My strategy was to go back in and try to pin him down with the rake, and somehow get him in the box, which I gave to Jeannette to hold, then I would  and carry him out.  I also took a flashlight to try and blind him in a stand still.  All this was for naught as while I was collecting all my possum hunting gear – he went back down under.

     I covered the gaping holes in the floor with various size plywood scraps from the Woodworking Department, closed the door, and called it a night.  The next morning I removed the scuttle-hole barricade altogether so the rhinoceros-sized possum would leave for the day.  He didn’t.  So Jeannette went out and bought us a nice new shiny varmint trapper from Tractor Supply.  I baited it and put it in the opening of the scuttle-hole.  He never came out to dine . . . but the mice had a heyday eating the stinky catfood without tripping the cage door somehow.  This happened again the next night, so on the third day, Jeannette suggested that I set the trap under the house and close the scuttle-hole.  That sounded brilliant, and I did just that.  Meanwhile, the slam bam noises continued every night.

     Finally, one evening after two unsuccessful days and nights, no noises were coming from the underneath trap - no sounds of a caged beast, so I decided to check the trap.  You know, like fishing for a while and pulling up your line to see if the worm was there or not.  I was going to do it in a little bit, but I was busy on the computer in the den.  I heard what sounded like a dripping shower faucet from the second bathroom area, so I got up and started that direction.  As I got close to the door, the dripping sound stopped, so I went back to the den.             

     Minutes later, I heard the dripping sounds again, so I got up again and went to the bathroom.  Turning the light on, guess who was creeping along by the shower?  The rhinoceros possum!  I couldn’t believe my eyes.  The master bath floor was covered with plywood - so how could he get into the house?  I shut the door and went into my “catch the beast routine.”  Barefoot and wearing only plaid Bermuda shorts, I ran to our closet to put on my boots to protect my feet from a possible rhinoceros bite, then ran to my truck to get my heavy-duty work gloves, stopped by the Lawn & Garden Department again for the killer rake - - and I entered into a realm where no man has gone before.

     I closed the bathroom door behind me and found him hiding behind the toilet, so I teased at him with the killer rake a few times to get him out where I could pin him down easier.  It worked.   Someone had posted for our sake that you can grab a possum’s tail and pick them up. (Yuck).  But I did just that . . . while he snarled at me and tried to squirm.  That rascal was heavy, and I slipped quickly outside because I was afraid he would poop all over me or something like that.  It was 10:00 pm and I didn’t want to carry him off right then, so I dropped him into the garbage dumpster.  I put six concrete blocks on the lid so he couldn’t escape.  Six concrete blocks would keep a rhinoceros in that dumpster.

     About that time Jeannette got home again.  She always misses hearing me scream like a girl when I encounter the wild.  I’m a city boy you see.  Animals belong in the wild (or at the zoo) . . . not in town, and certainly not in my house!  She also didn’t get to take a photo of me in my hunting wardrobe either.  After all was over, I realized the dripping sounds were his little paws smacking as he walked across our vinyl laminate floor that goes from our bedroom door, around through the kitchen, and into the hall bathroom.  He was looking for water because he’d been without food and water for days under the house.  His point of entry ended up being through a hole in the floor that the plumber made for the drain pipe under the new bathtub in the master bath.  I couldn’t see it until I got a flashlight underneath and there it was – and wouldn’t you know it – the same size as the hole in the scuttle-hole cover.  It has since been stuffed shut with all kinds of insulation materials and boarded up.

     That was Saturday night Oct. 5, so the next day after church and having guests over for lunch, I pinned him in the bottom of the dumpster with the now famous rake and grabbed his tail again.  (Yuck again).  This time I was able to use the shiny new live trap to drop him into for safe cartage to a remote place down at the park, about two miles away.  Now he’s somebody else’s nuisance at night.
And here it is in pictures.

                                    

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

     Lastly, I permanently covered the outside scuttle-hole with a brand new heavy-duty wire screen.  It’s so strong . . . a rhinoceros couldn’t penetrate it.  J

This Weeks Progress (and animal control)

Les worked hard on the master bath this week, and there has been some progress, but a lot of difficulties. 
He got everything ready for the plumber, who was able to come on Wednesday. He did the plumbing work, then brought the new tub in. That is when we found out that the old size for a standard bathtub was 59 inches. The new standard size is 60 inches. OOPS. We couldn't put the tub in.

 

During this time, we had most of the bathroom floor open. Wednesday night, Les came into the den and said, "Guess what is in the bathroom." The first thing that entered my mind would have made me leave the house (rat), but he quickly explained that it was a possum. Yep, a possum in the bathroom. We stared at each other. We had no idea what to do. Finally, Les went to the garage and brought out a rake and a box. He gave me the box (I'm not sure what I was expected to do with it). And he went into the bathroom with the rake.

The possum was gone. It had gone back under the house.

Les had been fighting critters all week, after we heard something under the house or on the roof, or in the wall. It is hard to tell where strange noises are coming from during the night. Tuesday, he had found a hole in the wire mesh that covers the hole to go under the house. He built a new screen, made it secure, then put bricks in front of the screen. Unfortunately, we had trapped a possum under the house. Shoot! So, he opened the cover and hoped that the possum would just leave. Thursday morning, I bought a trap. We set the trap the next three nights at the opening, didn't catch anything but we have not heard any sounds. We are believing that the critter just left.

 

  The next day, (while trying to trap the possum), Les cut out one inch from each stud in the wall so that the tub could fit in.

 

 

 

 

 Saturday, while shopping for a really great light fixture for the master bath, we found a really great mirror for the hall bath. It was a great price, and just the right look I wanted for that bath. It is really hard to take pictures of a mirror. Either the flash is a problem, or the light above the mirror is. You can get an idea of how great it looks, though.

 

 

Master Bath Tear Out

We finally got started on the master bath. This is the next big job, and really, the last big job.
Once we got the kitchen done, the hall bath, and the laundry room, we took a break, and a big breath.

Then, Les spent two weeks organizing the garage. The next week, he built a roof over the patio. Then, he supervised the building of a drive-way addition.  It was hard to face another big project.

Finally, last Monday, Les got started on it, tearing out everything in the room. The floor was very uneven, so he cut holes in the floor to level it.  Just like in the other rooms, he put concrete blocks on the ground, then new piers, and jacked up the floor to make it level. He is getting really good at that.

For the last two days, we have waited on the plumber to come set the new tub.

These pictures are rather odd. 

These are looking down on the holes in the floor.

This is a picture of the jack under the beam.

This is the wall where the tub had been.

Another hole in the floor.

The plumbing for the tub.

 

Hopefully, tomorrow the new tub will be set.

Catching Up

Yep, like everyone else, we are busy folks.  We finished the kitchen. Well, not really, but it's useable and beautiful, just has some detail work to be done...like wall and ceiling repair!

Next, we moved on to the weird little area behind the kitchen. There was a hallway, with washer and dryer connections. If there had been appliances, we would not have been able to open the washer door! Then, a tiny bathroom, about the size of a coffee table. We could only open the door halfway, then wiggle around to get in.  We tore all the walls out to build a utility room and real bathroom. Fortunately, there was a closet right behind the utility hallway, that opened up from the master bath, which we didn't need. We tore out the wall to that, to create a nice size laundry room.

The new bathroom opens right beside the stairway to the attic, next to the kitchen. It is really looking good, but it's not completely finished. We want to get most of the real construction done eon the house, then do  repair, tape, bedding, texture, and paint on all of the walls.

The pictures aren't great, but they give you some idea of the new bathroom.