Goals rather than Resolutions; Sinkless and Mindless

Well, it's 2008 and I haven't made any New Year's Resolutions. I don't really intend to, either. Goals are easier for me to comprehend, to stick with. This year my personal goal is to add 20 pounds--no, not add 20, but add them to the 18 pounds that came off last year as a result of not eating wheat! They came off so slowly that they'll probably stay off, and eating wheat hurts so much that there's no incentive to return to my old ways. That's a realization that's been refreshed by accidentally thinking a new cereal we had was wheat-free. Ouch! Takes a number of days to get it out of my system, and meanwhile I go around with an annoying limp.
Our family goal will be to get our house fixed up and sold. We're on our way, getting new cupboards and counters in. They will be really nice, but the meaning is a bit emptier in that while they're aesthetically pleasant, they're not intended as ours. The significance of the improvements is different when it's primarily to get the house sold.
After a couple of days of tearing out the old cabinets and disconnecting sinks... (I tried anyway--Dave the cupboard guy came to my rescue and helped me finish, bless his soul), my brain was gone and my muscles were sore for a couple of days. I'm beginning to speak in full sentences again, though--more or less.
All this is on the heels of Christmas. I'd barely gotten most of the Christmas mess put away before they started--there are still some ornaments and decorations to go, but I have to wait to do these until afterward, now. It's not the ideal scenario, but we wanted to get going with a bang after the holidays were done. Boy, did we!
So what was messed up before has more messes on top and we really have a lot to clean up once this remodel is done. Now we're sitting here with one sink in the house that's operational, downstairs where most of us hardly ever normally go. It's rather primitive, something like camping out except dryer and warmer. If you thought I was messy before, you should see the house these days! Uh, scratch that. Stay away for just a little while!
I'm not feeling very well-motivated yet--we will also have floors to be done, all the more since the edges of our old, cheap and worn linoleum are now exposed by differently shaped cupboards. You can see the subflooring underneath. This first stage of remodel will require us to rid the garage and basement of all those boxes of stuff and pieces of furniture that we've been intending to jettison, so that clearing the floors won't be such an enormous stress when that time comes. I guess it's a good thing, it will make for a much easier move.
Meanwhile we have a neighbor two doors down who has put her house on the market, and priced it quite lower than we thought would be the market rate. I knew the market wasn't doing well, but the house is vacant and they're in a hurry at this slow time of year to get it sold. They refaced the kitchen cabinets and added granite counters, and refloored the place--and it cost her much more, because while we have great Christian friends in the business, our neighbor went through a local warehouse store which subcontracted the work to various businesses that made many mistakes, went way past schedule, and blamed each other for everything that went wrong. We do feel very blessed. The men who are doing our work are just fantastic!
The friend doing our counters also came in one morning and told us that a previous customer of his had called to say he had a whole kitchen full of top-of-the-line appliances and a sink that he was willing to sell for the cost I'd seen for just a cheap range and fridge. (Most of our existing appliances are either broken or very worn, about 15 years old.) I think we've made some new friends. They are incredibly sweet. We looked at the appliances (they look almost showroom-new), and then they had us sit down and we talked for about an hour and a half. Their house overlooked the Puget Sound looking east, scanning a view from Mt. Rainier to Mt. Baker. They later called us at home with about three different offers of help to get the appliances to our house, at least a 45-minute drive.
God is good, life is sweet. I can't find anything around the house, but knowing God's goodness, I know we can get through it eating microwaved food with plastic and paper for the next week or so, and washing our hands in the shower.
2 Samuel 22:32-33 For who is God besides the LORD ? And who is the Rock except our God? It is God who arms me with strength and makes my way perfect.