Random, but Funny

So I just wanted to share a few things about life these days from my perspective... 

Rubber bands.  I use them for everything... to keep my hair up, my pants from coming down and as an ingenious way to keep my daughter and dog out of cupboards.  I felt rather proud of myself on that last one as it saved me a bundle of money child-proofing everything.  Which then got me thinking about why I was so proud to save money using basic household junk.  You see, my family was... well, um... we ate the Christmas cereal in July.  I can't remember having non-processed cheese in my home and my sister was convinced that there was no such thing as boneless chicken until junior high.  Needless to say, my mother became extremely good at providing for our little family by making do with what was laying around (Mom, a sincere "thank you" for working so hard to provide for us!).  I first realized that I possessed this same trait while I was at a soccer tournament in high school, my shorts ripped in half (the not-so-lady-like half) and the moms could only come up with a needle, dental floss and a few other random things.  So, dental floss and needle made my shorts stay up the rest of the day, and I was happy.  This talent has translated to being extremely creative in using furniture to barricade the dog out of certain locations, improvising mittens out of socks (if you do this, make sure there's not tread on the bottom- it just leads to no where good), and using rubber bands to hold up my pre-pregnancy pants that are getting too tight.  

All of this ingenuity came into full force when I was asked to inventory all the things that were cleaned out in a shed at the local Bible College, and in that inventory I put down that there was at least one "usable" bunk bed.  Todd and I both knew that if we didn't get to it quickly, some other scavenging missionary would, so we hauled it to our garage (we will have two children in less than 5 months, and I'm assuming two are going to be harder than one, so I'm planning ahead).  At that point, my husband cordially asked my definition of "usable" as he couldn't figure out how to reasonably put together the parts from five separate bunk bed sets into one aesthetically pleasing and safe bedroom set.  I replied that "usable" meant that the wood was in good condition, and with some work, would soon be a great option for our growing family.  You see, I priced the same type of thing and it would be...  ...well, it would be a lot of money!  So we started working on sanding down the wood, pulling off all the stickers (judging by the number of stickers I think every five year old Missionary Kid in the past twenty years must have used a portion of our future bunk bed set) and getting all the things we would need to complete this project.  Half way through the sanding, Todd looks at me and says, "Really, for the price, we should just get those new ones."  I rebelled against this thought because 1) the wood was good and 2) I didn't want to unnecessarily spend money when we didn't need to.  My poor husband on the other hand is wondering how his pregnant wife with puppy and toddler will find the time to sand and paint all this (the wood doesn't exactly match) in the next five months.  So, here's to projects that are larger than my belly will soon be, and saving $200 because it's just good stewardship (they can never argue with God!).  Pray that I finish in time and that Todd doesn't have to step in and take over for me!!!

Note:  No pregnant women will be injured in the making of this bunk bed.  All dangerous, toxic, or otherwise strenuous activities will be done by trained and certified staff (me).  - Todd

Em and Makenzie (another MK) watching Daddy use the planer- they loved watching all of the sawdust flying out!