Weekly Update: 3.15.25
The warmth of spring drifted over the Ozark hills this week. Chilly mornings found us in sweatshirts and jackets, but most afternoons sent us scurrying for shorts and flipflops. We might have another week of winter still ahead, but the cold already feels like a distant memory. The change has been delightful. It feels like a treat to work out in the sunshine each day -- not to mention the satisfaction of keeping the sanding/cutting mess all out of doors. And while we are busy about our daily routines, the first hints of green are shooting up all around us.
This week, we worked on a variety of projects. On Saturday, I helped Jeremiah install an extra outlet in his bedroom. After moving in, he wished he had a place to plug a fan in up high. Because the adjacent room is still unfinished, adding another outlet was an easy task.
On Monday, we cleaned the outside of our wall tent. We had taken our damaged fly off last week, so our dad and Levi took the opportunity to hose off the top of the tent, which gets dusty. Once the tent was clean, they secured a new fly -- just in time for a noisy, windy night. We've always felt like the wind was loud in our tent, but we realized this week that the fly, not the tent, is the source of the noise. Once the new fly was up, we unfortunately had less pleasant nights of sleep.
On Tuesday, I had my hair cut during our weekly grocery trip. Once again, I had a great experience with Rikki at the 417 Social Hair Haus in Bolivar. I took off several inches of length -- just in time for the warmer weather.
On Wednesday, we sisters touched up the paint in our half-bathroom, and we put the plywood underlayment down on the floor. We laid the VCT tile on Thursday, and we worked on the bathroom door. We planned to stain it, but we didn't like how it turned out. So, we went ahead and painted the whole thing red. The storms on Friday drove us indoors with our painting, which was no easy task since we have so many projects going on in various rooms.
And whenever we found time between other tasks, we worked on siding our full bathroom. Sometimes it was Grace and I, other times Grace and Bonnie. We came back to it whenever we had time, almost finishing on Friday.
Despite everything else going on, several family members decided to try the Whole30 program starting this week. All of the ladies are taking part -- except for myself, who is doing a modified version since I tend to eat out more than the rest. We were already eating really clean with Paleo, but Whole 30 cut honey, maple syrup, and even natural sweeteners like stevia from the menu. It's been tricky finding compliant food, but we've done our best. We even experimented with a homemade ketchup recipe, which turned out delicious -- if I don't say so myself.
Looking back over the week, I am rather amazed with all we accomplished. It was so busy it felt almost chaotic, but that's how life goes sometimes. Jeremiah had work events that took him to Springfield most of the week. I had some social engagements that kept me more occupied than normal. We had sick people throughout the week, and bad rounds of allergies. Inspite of everything, though, we conquered with God's help. And for that, I'm very thankful.
