Living Tiny : My Garage Conversion

My first adventure into Tiny Living began with my Garage Conversion. When my house sold,  I saw there was nothing available to rent in my town, and in the surrounding towns, what was available was exorbitant. A very good friend of mine offered to let me turn her garage into a tiny house apartment.

So her garage was stacked from the floor to the ceiling with rubbermaid totes, antiques, paint, tools etc., as you would expect a garage to be. Literally there was no room to walk through it. Adjacent to the garage was a gravel driveway containing a utility trailer full of yard debris and a pick-up truck.
Now hold that picture in your minds eye.

The driveway has been cleaned up, the yard debris trailer and pick-up truck have been moved away and replaced by my new patio space. The pergola is it's own story. Barbara Kirkpatrick and I put it up together in a weekend. SAdly, the first night we put it together wrong. So the next morning she came back and at one point an entire side of it fell off and went crashing through the arborvitae's on that far side. It was a comedy. Anyway, Many thanks Barb, for helping me on this project!

Walk up three steps, in through the front door (Garage side door) into my retro entryway.

Looking back into the entryway.
 Before the conversion this area stored antique furniture and paint supplies.

Standing in the entryway, looking into the living area of the apartment.

I know it looks very cramped in here, but I don't have a wide angle for this camera. There is actually enough room for my adult kids to throw down sleeping bags on the floor when they come to visit and sleep comfortably.
Originally this area was stacked to the ceiling with rubbermaid tubs and antique furniture "Projects".

Standing in the living area, looking back toward the entryway on the left and toward the kitchenette on the right. Although there is a concrete floor underneath, we had a handyman build a floating floor.
 Actually the handy man built everything in here.
The entire conversion including labour cost between $4000 and $6000 to complete.

Dining area and kitchenette

The utility sink is perfect for this small space because it has so many uses as opposed to a small, bar style sink. I can hand wash delicate clothing in it and put the dish drainer right in the sink. A towel bar hanging directly above keeps towels handy. I am making a fabric liner for the exterior which I will fasten with velcro, in order to camouflage the cleaning supplies below.
Before the conversion, the kitchenette and pantry areas were used to store paint and tools etc.

Here is the pantry. It looks a mess right now. I need to re-stack the food in the baskets. Don't judge me.

So, there is a mini-fridge with an EXCELLENT freezer! The microwave is on top of it, and on top of the microwave is the toaster oven. I have successfully baked bread and pies in this toaster oven. It was a good purchase. Also included in the pantry are a coffee maker to the extreme far right, out of view on the work station, and a crock pot, George Forman grill/panini maker  and various other appliances including a single burner electric cook-top.

The question was asked,  "where is your bathroom?"
Fortunately for me, my room mate granted me my own private use of her second bathroom, which is nearest my apartment. The other option would have been to convert what is now the pantry into a small bathroom using fixtures that would normally be used in an RV. The space in the pantry is greater than most travel trailer bathrooms and so there would be ample room to do this. In such a case, the pantry would be moved closer to the living area, on the other side of the sink where the metal cabinet is now.

Stepping out of the kitchenette, back into the living space you can see that I've got plenty of space for my books, DVD's, computer games and even a few VHS. That book shelf is long and narrow and made a perfect room divider/entertainment centre. My African Baskets on top provide storage for seasonal items like hats, scarves and mittens.The black bookshelf, connected to the large white one contains my musical instruments, art supplies and computer odds and ends.

I originally installed this shelf with the hopes of adding smaller shelves beneath it, creating a sort of stairway up for the cats to be able to sit up there and look down on my roomate's dogs, effectively antagonizing them from a safe place. Instead, for now, my plants are sitting up there.

WHAT IS GOING ON HERE?

AT one point, many many years back in the history of this garage, some one had considered putting in a cadet heater in the wall. They carved out this space for the insert, but they never completed the job. So it was a hole but not all the way through. Just to the exterior siding at the back. So I am looking at this danged thing, asking my daughter who happened to be near by, "What should I do about this stupid thing?"  She said, "turn it into a little hidden shrine". So I had some random relics from back in the day when I was in my office studio, and had that whole 'Jesus Wall' thing going on. I pulled some of the smaller pieces out after Scout (my daughter) painted the interior. So, what you see is, from top to bottom:

-My Step Mothers Crucifix

-A small shelf depicting St. Jude, Patron Saint of Lost Causes

 (they tell me he is usually depicted with his head on fire) .

On St. Jude's shelf, sits a small rubber dinosaur, and a vial of water from St. Bridgid's Well in Galway, which Scout brought back to me from her recent Ireland trip..

-On either side of St. Jude's shelf is a rosary.

Inside the Niche:

-St. Dymphna medallion, Patron Saint of the Mentally Ill, with info card.

-Picture of the Blond Jesus in the garden of Gethsemane

-Illuminated plaque of some yet unidentified Saint, TBD.

-A hand stitched postcard of the Pope.

-An LED pillar candle.

Across from the Secret Shrine and behind the big book shelf is my sleeping cubby. The wooden garage doors were replaced with brand new insulated garage doors which were installed without their tracks. The tracks are stored safely in the storage unit in case the area is ever returned to its original garage state.

So that's the gist of it.
Below are posted  two video's. One is a walk through tour,
the other is an answer the question, "What is that?".

The walking tour video is here :

Here is a descriptor of the odd, tiny, vintage TV:

RV Life Blocks

So as I was sitting up in camp at the lake, pondering futures while the dog looked on, I asked myself the simple question: "Michelle, what is keeping you from being a full time RV-er?"
My answer was irritatingly simple: "My earthly possessions".
Yes.
The simple truth.
My stuff.
My crap.

That's what is keeping me from jumping all the way into full time RV living.

While my kids were small and growing up, there was a phrase that I often said inside my head, sometimes aloud.

"See? THIS is why we can't have nice things!"

Stuff happens.
When you have 3 kids, their friends (6 kids now). A slob of a husband, two dogs, two cats, a parade of pet rats, mud, snow, rain, dust etc., well...stuff just happens. Put away, or hold off getting, anything of value.
It's going to be destroyed so just keep it packed away, until...someday. I don't know when.

Anyway, now that my kids have grown and are relatively sensible stable people, I have gotten to the place where I CAN have nice things. So I purged a lot of items after the sale of the house and kept those precious items packed away for so long - the mid-century-modern furnishings.

**This room is not my stuff. Just the same style.**

So yeah, I'm kind of at a point in my life where I am into "my stuff". I am enjoying it after a long earned waiting period. I am kinda not yet ready to get rid of all of it in favour of RVing just yet.

And who knows, maybe
God is not ready for me to move into that lifestyle yet either. So maybe my current affection for "My Stuff" serves Him in that way.

New thoughts are just old thoughts.

Those who do not remember history, are doomed to repeat it.
And as the way of Rome, so is America heading.

(This is not my article but it speaks volumes.
The original author is Matthew Rueger.)

~   ~   ~

How often have you heard sexual progressives claim that those of us who hold to traditional sexual morality and marriage are “on the wrong side of history?”

But it’s the proponents of the sexual revolution who are embracing a sexual morality that history left behind millennia ago—in the dusty ruins of the Roman Forum.

Yes, today Western civilization is undergoing a dramatic cultural shift. In just a few short years our society has fundamentally altered the meaning of marriage, embraced the notion that men can become women, and is now promoting the idea that grown men should be welcome to share a bathroom with women and young girls. Not unexpectedly, we’re also seeing movement toward the normalization of polygamy, pedophilia, and incest.

It’s precisely in times like this that we need some historical perspective.  Back in the day, Christian sexual morality rocked the pagan world of ancient Rome. The notions of self-giving love, sexual chastity, and marital fidelity were foreign, even shocking to the people of that time.

According to the Roman sexual worldview that prevailed for hundreds of years, women and children were viewed as sexual objects; slaves—male and female--could expect to be raped; there was widespread prostitution; and predatory homosexuality was common. Christian sexual morality might have been seen as repressive by the licentious, but it was a gift from God for their victims.

Claims in our day of being progressive and moving forward by accepting the ‘new prevailing views on sexuality and same-sex marriage' are horribly misinformed … Contemporary views about sexuality are simply a revival of an older and much less loving view of the world.

But they are also a revival of an older and impoverished view of human beings.
 
We can’t look away and ignore this unholy revival of pagan sexuality and its cheapened view of human beings. But we also can’t wring our hands in fear or throw them up in defeat. Christ and His Church radically transformed a far more sexually cruel and chaotic world than ours.

Look to those ancient believers who went before us: Rather than succumbing to or accommodating the spirit of the age, new converts in the early Church came to understand that Christian morality is based on Christ’s all-encompassing purity and self-emptying love…Christians could no longer live as the Greeks or Romans. Their worldview and self-view was distinctly different. They were now one with Christ in heart and soul.

Their distinctiveness, would not spare them from suffering; it would invite suffering.
It’s pretty clear now that the same holds true for us.

An Observation. #321

It is sad how, in such a small, fairly affluent town, the ugly head of illiteracy can be found skulking about.

Touting itself as a safe, progressive, family friendly town, with an excellent school system, it turns its head the other direction rather than get involved with the "elephant in the room" - illiteracy.

The shocking truth is that, while our students are very well educated, the problem seems to be most prevalent among the adult members of our community.  Even more disturbing when you recognize that many of these illiterate unfortunates are successful business people.

I see it on a weekly basis.

Simple words even, that most first graders can sound out.
Words like:

-STOP,
-NO PARKING,
-DO NOT ENTER
-CLOSED
(granted the word CLOSED would require a little more practice with long vowels and their relationship to the silent 'e', but still an adult *should* be able to sound these words out.

I think that our city council and the educational district need to put their heads together to come up with a game plan to eradicate illiteracy in adults in the town of Sisters OR.

Mid-end of July

I have now been almost in the apartment now for 3 weeks.

there are still a few more tasks to be completed before I can move the rest of the way in:

-The insulated Garage doors need to be installed. Right now a friend has installed some temporary carriage doors to the front so that I can at least live in peace for the time being.

-The adjacent edge of the carpet will need to be stretched when the doors get installed.

-The sleeping loft can then be built.

-After that, it's some minor things and I can finish moving in.

-I still need to do the landscaping in the patio area, but I can do that at any time.
I should start today!



IN OTHER NEWS -

I got to take a Through Hiker, "X-men", up to the trail head at McKenzie Pass this morning.
I was in Ray's yesterday and there was this kid in the cracker aisle loading up on Cliff Bars and just a ton of crap. I said, "Hey there, you look like a PCT hiker loading up!" He said, "Yes I am". We fell in to talking. He said he was from Switzerland. Funny, because I would have pegged his accent as French, but oh well, what do I know. Anyway, so I go to pick the kid up this morning, and on the ride up there he says he has only been in Switzerland for 5 years but was born and raised in Paris! Hah! I knew it! Anyway, nice kid. He is doing about 30 miles a day. He started early May and needs to be done by Aug 10th. Kid is BUSTING it!

               
"Xmen" and "Bitsy" at the McKenzie Pass trail head July 20, 2016

I'm Kind of Over It Now.

This living in the camper with the two cats.
After a day at work, I want to come home. But to what? My stuff, that I would normally do, is locked up in storage. Much of it, I can't even get to at the moment. I am entirely reliant upon other people schedule to decide when I will be out of this and into my own space. I was hoping to be in to the apartment and have it mostly done by the end of June - first week of July. But now, I just don't see that happening. So I come home from work. I go into the trailer. I do what few chores I can, and then...what? Read for a while. Watch netflix for a while. Go to sleep. Some people would say, this is a dream life. It is so NOT me. I DO THINGS. I do not SIT still. This is kinda pissing me off. And yet,there is nothing to be done about it. Except sit. And wait. And wait.

Ugh!

Packing and Prepping.

I am overwhelmed and exhausted.

Packing up all of my belongings. Getting rid of some that I never thought I would.
Last time I moved I kept things "in hopes that I would have time/space to use them in the future."

I can't keep storing a bunch of stuff for that future.
I need to jettison as much as possible to avoid needing a huge storage unit.

So things are going bye bye.
This makes me sad.

I know I've flogged this dead horse before, but I'm gonna do it again now anyway.
I really hate how people are taking advantage of their fellow man by gouging people in rent. In the span of two years, rent for a simple 1 bedroom apt has gone from $650-ish to $1100 and more. Because the law only allows landlords to raise rents by a certain percentage annually, many landlords are giving their tenants 60 day notice, and the tenant is required to re-apply for their apt at the new higher rental rate. Often the new rate is nearly double. This has increased our local homeless population dramatically.

As I look for a place to rent, I go from being despondent to indignant. It's is obscene what these people are doing.

Fortunately my friend is willing to finish the apt she began constructing in her garage. She has agreed to rent it to me at a price I can afford. I am so lucky!

In the mean time, I will be living in my little trailer with the two cats, until the apt is ready. Fortunately there are public restrooms at the park nearby where I work, which has had new showers installed. I will utilize this for the few months while waiting to move in to the apt.

I REALLY hate putting all of my stuff in storage though.

Home is Where Your Heart is: aka Trusting for God to provide whilst staring down the gaping maw of homelessness.

I think that is the longest title I have ever had on a single blog post.

So as many of you know, our house finally sold. It was a thing that needed to happen.
Grampa has passed away.
Helga the family dog followed soon after him.
All of the children graduated and moved to Portland.
And we got our divorce.

We listed the house last year, but there was not much interest.
This year we listed it and it sold within a month.

Last year I had a studio to live in.
This year I have none.

The rents have jumped beyond ridiculous. As many of you know.
What used to be an apt tha rented for $650 2 years ago is now up over $1200 per month.

There are those who have known me for many years.
They've witnessed what they considered to be my struggles, but to me were just ordinary life and I believe I was blessed greatly even in the midst of struggle.

There are those that say to me now, "be patient, God will provide. He didn't bring you all this way to leave you homeless."

This coudl very well be true, but at the same time, such thoughts bring us down to the level of "deserve".
As if I deserve something.
I'll tell you what I deserve from God. It's the same as you deserve, as has every other human that drew breath deserves:

From God's perspective, I am a sinner. And I can't undo what I've ever done. Nor can I stop being imperfect.

Therefore, in the eyes of God Almighty, I deserve Hell and Death.
Do I have better?
Yes. So then why would I expect any more from God.

But WAIT! If you order now, you too can have all that Sin BS erased!
In one not-so-easy payment, God took care of it all.

Through Jesus sacrifice.

So do I deserve Hell and Death? Yes.
Do I have better? Yes.
Then shut up, Michelle.

So...
I do believe that God sold my house.
Logically therefore, I can equally believe that God will make sure I have a roof over my head.

What does that look like?
Who knows.

If all else fails, I will live in my camping trailer.
With my two cats.
They will get used to it. Because I will be there with them.

So as it stands right now, there is nothing available for me to rent at a price I can afford.
I need a 10x20 storage unit to put both my crap and my kids' crap into as of May 31.
There are no storage units available. And even those that are available in neighboring towns have gone up the way that rents have - to unreasonable.

So, this is my odyssey for 2016.
What will God do?

I will watch and pray and be ready.

Re-Thinking the idea of "Home".

The house finally sold!

Yay!
We close on May 31.

My plan is to have all of our crap moved off the property by the time the next Civil War event occurs - May 22nd.

This would give me that final week to deep clean everything before the new owners take the helm. The problem is that there is a shortage of storage units in the town. I am on a waiting list for one that may come available on May 9th. I am hoping and praying that the manager will let me have it!

Then I will just need to find one more, for the kids's stuff. It is an over whelming thought: to have to move all this crap again.

Fortunately over the course of the last year, I have down sized a lot. Even so, there are just some things that I am not ready yet to part with. There is a part of me that says I WILL again have a space of my own. In the mean time, there is a part of me that is REALLY excited about the possibility of taking a year off to live in a trailer and camp. Free from rent. Right now, there is nothing available to rent any way. I did find a couple of cute apartments in Prineville but that is 1.5 hours away from where I work in Sisters. I must be committed to this job for at LEAST two years, to see it through the Transition(tm).
After that, I may look for a "Big Girl" job in Bend.

 It is an opportune thing, that hte RV Show happens to be this weekend.
I have a pretty good idea already of what I want, and what I want to pay for it. But it never hurts to go to a place full of smart people and ask practical questions such as:
    -What are some practical tips on winter camping?
    -How DO I attach the sway bar correctly, to my weight distribution package?
   -I know that my Ford Explorer is "supposed" to be able to handle a towing limit of 7,000lbs, but
     seriously dude, what is realistic? Isn't it more like 3000-3800?
And other such questions.

 On the upside of this adventure in living, I have an excellent friend who, a few years ago, began to trick out her garage in order to turn it into an inhabitable apartment. She put in windows and started a bathroom and kitchenette, but then got distracted. She has VERY GRACIOUSLY offered to revisit that project, creating a space for me to rent at a price I can afford. The first order of business is to discover if the electrical panel needs to be upgraded, and if so, will it be sufficient to carry the extra load without having to re-wire the entire house. This is a huge investment on the part of my friend. And I need to make sure to invest in it as well, as a show of good faith.

Right now, in this area - and I am certain other areas as well - most people bring a take-home pay of approx. $900-$1600 per month. With rents being in excess of $1000 (for a 1 bdrm dump) to $1400-$2000 for a 2 bdrm apt, most people are looking into "alternative" housing options. It's just obscene what people charge for rent because they think they can get away with it. I would call down plagues on their heads if I could. People who give their tenants a 60 notice, because by Oregon Law they are only allowed to raise the rents by a certain percentage. If they want more than the law allows, they are allowed kick everybody out and make them re-apply for housing at the new, exhorbitant rate.
This is common here.
 I have no polite words to describe the sorts of plagues I feel these people need to experience. If you are some one I know and you are doing this, you better not let me know, because I will tell you to your face that you are absolute shit.

ANYWAY....

All of this to say that I am preparing my heart for new things. Sure. Everybody wants their own space. Sure I would love to use my mid-century dishware on a daily basis as I have been doing. But that comfort will have to wait. In the mean time, I CHOOSE to look forward to a life of "Adventure" in an RV.

 And I am sure that God will SHOW me a good time, in this life of "Adventure" in an RV. With the cats...Oh yes...

                                          My current trailer. 14 ft. 1210 lbs dry.

The Cats.
They had their first "adventure" in the trailer today. The home inspector was scheduled today so I had to get all of the pets out of the house. Ika went to work with me, but rather than cram the cats in a crate for 4 hours, I decided they should "train", by spending the afternoon in the trailer.
Funny thing, that...even though at the end of the afternoon, when I took them out and back into the house, they seemed none the worse for wear...somehow...I don't think they enjoyed it as much as I had hoped they would.

After doing a little bit of research, I have discovered that it can be difficult to live in a camping trailer all year round. Not because of the size necessarily - as I pointed out before, I do small really WELL.
The issue comes in the winter. Keeping the thing heated reliably, so that the water pumps etc do not freeze.

There ARE trailers that are designed for use in the winter temps, but they start at around $20,000 to $30,000 and on up.

 I could pay some one to build me a Tiny House for THAT price.
So no thanks on the RV. 
I know that Doug lives in his small RV - MiniWinnie, year round. I need to find out how he does it.
His is an older unit so there must be a way.

RV Living - will it be the life for me?

It is a thing I have been contemplating lately. I have friends that have become full time RVers.

It may be a good temporary solution for me once the house sells.
Maybe take a year off. (off of house payments and rent).
Trade in my little trailer for a larger one - maybe an 18 footer with a bathroom.
I have plenty of places I can park safely, many of them within walking distance from my job.
In te mean time I can save up and research and decide what to do about a tiny house in the future.
Or maybe not a tiny house. Who knows.
I have been researching RV life, and its actually VERY do-able.
But no house payment, or rent for a while sounds really good.
And as most of my friends know, I am good with tiny. In fact, I thrive in it, better than spacious.

Food for thought.

What is it with me and my feet and breaking bits of them?
 Got up in the middle of the night, pitch dark. Broke my toe. 
At this point, looking back over my life, its easier to count the toes I haven't broken.

As I come to a stop near the cross street, I see the runner a few yards away, getting ready to cross where I intend to drive. So I sit and wait until he is safely out of the way. But what does he do? He WAVES at me, as if not running him over is a praise worthy grace. I mean, do people put cars first, before human bodies? Oh what has this nation come to?!

In other news, I will be taking the night off. (Oh what Michelle? You mean you will not be up to your usual shenanigans?) to sit down and enjoy some of my favorite Irish films, like Waking Ned, and War of the Buttons, or Secret of Kells.

Have a good evening everybody.

This is my desktop.         ^^^ Right here.

I swear I glanced up and saw
people running across the grass in
the upper left portion of the lawn, running toward the
spire at the far left.
It's the little people.
Playing tricks with my mind's eye.

                                                           

This is all I have to say about this...

Of Rights and Wrongs

 
Tolerance also means agreeing to disagree. 
People have all different concepts of what "Their Rights" are. 

The Right to be accepted - that's not a Right. 

The Right to be agreed with is also not a Right. 
It's certainly not one that is afforded to me. 

The Right to do what ever we want - that's not a Right either. 

Because somethings are just wrong, of course, you may disagree with me, and that's fine, maybe no things are wrong. 

Yeah, sure.

There are just some days...

Even though there would seem to be negative influences in our lives, in our days, in our circumstances, sometimes we just have the energy to get up in the face of it and step boldly into it. Stomping out into choosing to focus on what is good and right. It does really take the day by the horns and turn things around. For instance today...it's gonna be a great day. Why? Because there will be weather. Now as most of you know, I LOVE weather. ExTREME weather. Today we are supposed to have some decent wind. Coming from the south west. I hope it drops a crap-load of rain on all these fires so that I can sleep at night instead of thinking about my kids and friends out there on the PCT hiking through the danger.


And of course...there will be wind. Which I love.
;o)

God Speaks

This post was held as a draft and is from quite a long time ago.


At a time when I was still walking dutifully, with hope, in the valley of the shadow. 
As I look back, I can see how the joys hoped for in this old post have been realized in the course of this year.


It is good to look back, and to take stock.


Lets go back in time to three years ago :




In the year 2012 there were two who came to me, to speak a message from The Lord God Almighty. Even though I am an artist, I am not given to flights of fancy where the matters of God Almighty are concerned. He is not an entity to be messed with or taken lightly. People come, spouting all manners of crazy folderol, and God has given us abilities to cut through such ridiculous crap via His bible and the smarts He gave us in the first place. I do not blithely run about accepting all wind of doctrine, or people who claim every spiritual gift imagineable, nor do I discount the right of My God to give a gift, even on a random day, to anybody He wants to, for what ever reason He wants to at the time. I just try and listen and obey when He shows me something in His Bible or when He speaks through people and environmental stumilae, (but the Bible is a BIG filter to run things through as I encounter them).

So anyway...

Early in the year 2012, there were two who came to me to speak a message from My Lord God Almighty. The One who was, and Who is, and Who is to come. Yeah. THAT God Almighty.

One person was a complete stranger, the other a friend. They came together.
The first message was from the stranger, who literally spoke things that NO ONE except God would know. That was his only job.
What was communicated to me however, was a message from God: "I have given the stranger insight at this one moment because I want you to know that I am coming to you, and you can trust the bringer of the next message." Such discourse effectively prepared my heart and to really listen to the person, my friend.

The first speaker - the stranger - was not the message bringer, just sort of a preparer, kinda sent from God as a series of "finger snaps" to get my attention.

So my friend, the Message Bringer, began to speak:
She said, "My head has been filled with visions of you and a deep wrestling sense of long-suffering travail.A sense that you have labored weary and under a heavy load for a very long long time."
She went on, " I really believe the Lord would speak some things to you."
And then she began to deliver the message(s) :


" Michelle, I (God) see you. You have worked and sacrificed alone for many long years. You believe that what you do is small and insignificant, and that your sacrifices are meaningless and invisible, but they are not. They are huge and I see them. You are NOT alone, and I am bringing you out of the valley, up to Myself on this mountain in the light. To a good place, a beautiful and marvelous peaceful place and this is the place you long for.

But you aren't here yet, for you still have a small distance to go - and you must keep going, but I am bringing you to Me.

You are Shasta*, walking with Aslan. Walking through the fog, not seeing the path, not knowing where it is, but hearing My Breath as I walk the path beside you. I am The Great Lion on the path with you. "

I did not know it at the time, what all of these things meant as the message was delivered.
I *think* I am beginning to see it now however.

It is like looking at the concrete sidewalk racing up at you after you have stepped off of that 30-story building. The impact is inevitable.

I do not want to continue to walk this path, but in light of My Saviour's messages to me, I want to walk this path because I now know it is a necessary path to get to the good place.

I have been called to do something similar in the past. Without going into detail, I liken it to walking toward a furnace. (Think big walk-in style, think Abednego style), The thing was, God was calling me to walk toward the furnace voluntarily. Friends said, "are you crazy?" They cared for me and put up various road blocks to deter me. From a distance the furnace was an orange blaze. I was terriied and yet I knew this was what God wanted. I began to stake steps that would lead me in that direction. AS I drew nearer to this "Fiery Furnace" I began to notice that the grass became greener and more lush the closer I drew to it. The air, which had seemed hotter was acually growing cooler. Now I could see the door to "This Furnace" was open, and there was Some one standing there waiting for me. He held out His hand and I stepped through that doorway. I never regretted it since.

I think this will be a greater challenge. I envision it as having more scary repercussions, because it may affect more than only just me.

I know My God sees me and loves me. I believe He has indicated to me, in the years leading up to this one, that He will take care of my children and my dad.

I will do my best to walk this path, though I cannot feel it beneath my feet, though I cannot see the way, I can't even IMAGINE the way. I hope I will be able to hear His Breath guiding me as we go down this path. Or maybe it is UP this path. I don't know. I am in the dark.

But I have made a commitment to Him to keep going. And sealed it with Communion.

A Pastor friend of mine once said long ago, " If you're going through Hell, keep going! Whatever you do don't stop here!"

Good advice.


*Shasta is a character from C.S Lewis' Narnian Chronicle : "The Horse and His Boy."

New Lights inside my Head

You write such things.
Out of the blue.
Words I have never


never


heard ever before.
Ever.


Words that cause me to hope for things I thought were dead to me.
Dreams I was never encouraged to dream.


Maybe I am not mere wood, set apart to stoke the fire, or build an object.
Maybe this stick of wood,


will become a real girl.


Thank you for writing strange things that bring me unfamiliar ideas.
Thoughts.
And hope.


:o)

The Dark Side Files :

(These are snippets of things I write to expel and / or decompress residual bad energy from whatever is going on in the store that I can't verbalise or respond to, but have to put a nice retail face on.)


A Stunning Performance :
-Basically my unquenchable desire to serve you, Oh-Holy-Customer-May-You-Live-Forever, is purely theatre. I should have gotten an Oscar by now. Several in fact.)

Can't comprehend more than one sentence at a time :
-Dear Tourist - Ok so if there is a problem finding the public restroom less than a block away, it is because YOU did not listen to the directions. What is so hard about "Go to the corner and turn left. Its on the next corner." Seriously?

　


The Over Parked Winnebago:
-Dear Tourist, why do you think you can get indignant with me when you park your motorhome on 6 parking spaces right in front of my stores entrance? I know that you want to park under the tree for the day while you tour the town, but your vehicle is simply too big. When you get out of your motorhome I ask you politely, " Hi Ma'am, would you mind rolling your motorhome forward about 5 spaces, by the vacant lot? I have only just opened the shop and I will need these parking spaces here for customers today."

She argued with me: "Well, then I am going to have to turn on the generator, and its VERY LOUD."

I replied, "Oh OK, thats no problem."

She was about to argue more, but her husband shushed her and asked if he could park in the gravel space 50 feet away and I said he certainly could. But seriously, all they needed to do was roll the vehicle forward 5 spaces. That's ALL!

Anyway, as he drove around the corner she said, "There are no motorhome signs, what are we supposed to do?"

I said "there are designated motorhome parking spaces 2 blocks over on main street, you will find them if you go around the block to the left."

It's a small town with basically 3 streets.

She said, "You need to tell your city to put up more signage."

I wanted to say, "You need to spend a minute looking for the motorhome lot and not be so friggin' lazy and argumentative."

But I didn't say that, now did I?

Instead, I said "good idea." ;o)

　

　

The Queen of All of Everything, and her Daddy
-Ok lady, I don't care what you think.
No we do NOT need to develope a policy for standard discounts for dealers.
The price is the price and we are not hear to give stuff away so that you can flip it elsewhere.
If you want it, buy it, but don't EVEN think my vendors are here to serve your own business at a disadvantage to themselves. Not gonna happen.
Oh and yes, I DO remember when you were here last year from Modesto. (Boy do I remember).
A Regular Local Customer (not her real name) had come in to buy the architectural piece which we had just arranged for her to come and pick up. It was just a coincidence that you saw it, wanted it, walked away from it to another part of the store and in the mean time "Regular Local Customer" came in, paid for it and took it home, before you went back to that booth to get it for yourself. I'm sorry that happened and that you lost out. You really did throw a stunning tantrum over it. It was a coincidence, not a conspiracy.

Of COURSE I remember you. How could I forget your visit.
And so NICE of you to come back today and be all demanding and as needy as ever.
(*Opens eyes wide, tilts head and paints on the toothy retail smile.*)

These people are making me mad. First the lady insults me for not giving her a discount, then rants on at me about how "That Woman" cheated her out of the item she was going to buy here last year. Then her little old man dad finds the normally locked bathroom unlocked and goes in anyway even though he's been told we don't offer public restrooms here.When he comes out he proceeds to argue with me that the age of the plumbing is an excuse businesses in town use to not let people use the restrooms. Frankly, I don't need an excuse old man. No public restrooms in the shop. End of discussion! Sorry about your prostate Gramps but don't take it out on me. I don't think so. If he gives me any more lip I may just give it back to him.


IN OTHER NEWS :

--Now ya see THAT was an awesome customer! Just plain nice folks!

--This is just not going to work correctly. Time will tell.

--There is nothing that says Antique Store Employee more than a tatted-up woman in a hoop skirt, tank top and flip flops.

Oddessey: Scout being silly at the border

The Journey Begins: Images

 It is a builder of faith, that one takes ones only and first born son, out into the desperate wilderness and lets him out of the car, and then turns around and drives away. Ugh! Hardest thing ever!

 Scout and Kenz look on as Blake does his final prep

 A boy and his sisters are not parted by miles.

 2 years of prep and planning yield the securest (as possible) results.

 The boy and his sisters, not soon parted, are never the less always goofy.

 For the record...beginning at the southern most terminus to the Pacific Crest Trail at the Mexican Border.

A mom's heart starts walking...

A mom's heart walks further...

A mom's heart will soon walk out of sight... but a mom's heart will still continue alongside.

Photos pre-Oddessey April 4th and 5th

Scout Driving some where between Sacramento and Santa Nella while Blake does Navigatee things.

  Sketchy town USA - aka El Cajon. "Scout says, Mom, don't look anybody in the eye."

Ika oversees the final packing job in our last motel before wilderness. I have to point out that tomorrows Easter Breakfast was found at a truly hidden jewel in Descanzo CA. It was called the Descanzo Outpost and it was truly a small farming community outreach. Excellent food! Excellent atmostphere. I can not say enough about this place!

The Oddyssey: not mine

So after 2 years, the day has finally come. My son Blake has been planning, studying, saving and prepping for 2 years to hike the Pacific Crest Trail from the Mexican border to the Canada. I knew this day would come. I have had 2 years to get ready. Even so, there is something wrong about driving your first born child to the border of a crazy country and after he gets out of the car, turn around and drive away. leaving him there. 2000 miles away from his home. For the next 5 months I will be camping on 3 truths. 3 mind and fear cleansing facts:

1). As hard as it is for me to believe, God actually loves him MORE than I ever can and will.

2). God is every where all at once. I can't do that. He can be with my son where I can't. out on the trail.

3). Since God loves him more than I can and can do things and know things that I can't, I need to take peace in the fact that God is out there on the trail beside him. God is always working circumstances for Blakes good. 

Because of these truths, I can wash fear and doubt away, using the truths(tm).

So yesterday, 12:30pm Easter Sunday (how auspicious is THAT?) I left Blake at the southern terminus to the Pacific Crest Trail. As we watched him hike away, we took photos. The lone traveler beginning his journey. We got into the car to drive away and as we cruised down the dirt road back toward civilization we encountered him on a trail beside the road. This allowed us to yell at him, "you're going the wrong way!" He laughed. He knows how stupid we are. What pranksters we are. We hit El Cajon around 1pm-ish and headed toward L.A. LONGEST bloody 100 miles I have EVER spent going 10 miles per hour! We FINALLY got past those mountains north of L.A. (grapevine?) And busted it out on the flats. Arrived in Sacramento around 11:30 last night. The entire trip my mind was stuck on how I left my child in a wasteland. It bounced back and forth between that and God is with him and The Three Truths(tm). Slept fitfully and got on the road this morning - Sacramento to Sisters.All this long trip, I had been fighting the stupid unrealistic worries that only a mom can have - is his injured elbow troubling him? What about his allergies? What if he gets lost along the way? etc. At about 12:30 in the afternoon, while we were driving over the summit of the pass at Mt Shasta I actually got signal and a phone call. It was FROM BLAKE!!!  "Hi mom, Where are you guys at?" I asked him about his elbow. His answer was like I was being random, "uuuhhhh, its fine? Why? Its more my knees that are bugging me right now." Looking at his progress via the spot locator, He covered 15 miles in the first half day and now that its the second day it looks that he has covered another 20-ish? Not bad for 24 hours on day one! I am so proud of him! Tomorrow is Tuesday Apr 6th. Rain is forecast. He left the majority of his cold weather stuff here for me to ship to him later when he hits higher altitude. Please pray for his warm and dryness at this early stage of the game. Thank you! :o)


As of Monday Night April 6th, this was his position:  Blake's Pacific Crest Path

De-Christmassing, as Og calls it, is a lengthy process in my life right now.
Largely due to the fact that The Drugstore where I work has been handling and processing Christmas decor since July. I did not even set up our Nativity set until Christmas day. Today is January 10th, and I finally have almost completed the tasks. At work, I will spend the bulk of January de-Christmassing until the last ornament is packed back up and lobbed into the storage unit.

So I found a lovely car for Blake to use in Portland so I can get my jeep back. Today however, I got a call from Blake saying that the jeep was making a hideous "sewing machine" sound under the hood and smelled of burnt plastic. O goody. I find him a car just in time to replace the engine in my jeep. Cars! What a pain in the butt!

Managed to flip the utility trailer I bought in 2012 for $200. While the above is NOT a photo of it, it is VERY similar. Anyway, I sunk an extra $140 in it for upgraded electrical, tires and 4 stabilizers and flipped it for $850. Used the profits to purchase this:

My neighbor was selling it for $1200 and she let me make random payments on it the rest of the year. I finally took ownership of it in late summer of 2013. It's maiden voyage occurred the 2nd weekend in September. Looking forward to summer of 2014...as long as I can get the jeep fixed to pull it. :o/

At the drugstore, we sell a lot of Dept. 56 decor items, including Snow Babies and Snow Pinions.
When I was introduced to Snow Pinions, I thought of pine trees and pinion cones and pinion jays.
Today...I "got it"...

SnowPinions have very "opinionated faces" and often carry a little sign with some form of pithy saying or comment. Talk about delayed reaction - I've been working here since April and only just now made the correlation between the words "Opinions" and "SnowPinions".

Duh.

Lastly, the local community theatre group has cast me in our winter play : "Web of Murder" as the crochety cranky, wheel-chair bound Minerva Osterman.
The details of which can be seen HERE

 Ok....I WAS going to sell these but after having looked them up I think I will keep them, as I grew up with them on my walls through my entire childhood:

M. Medieros circa 1963. Litho's.
#2313. Unsigned.

If you go HERE, and scroll down a bit, there is a fascinating article on these pieces as well as those of the other "Big Eyed Children Artists" of the 60's.