We're Saving 95.5 Percent on Our Heat and Cooling Bills!

Hmmmm...that title may be a bit overstated...but read on.

We've packed just about everything into this year that you can imagine. Early in the year we made it through two hospital stays, six chemo sessions, loss of hair (mine, not my hubby's, although his is a good deal whiter than it was before my cancer diagnosis). And finally, after chemo, a couple months of "normal". And hair again!

During that "normal" time we've put a new roof on the house and moved our laundry area from the basement to the kitchen. No, we didn't do the work ourselves. Although we're both fairly handy at do-it-yourself stuff, we're getting a bit long in the tooth. (For those of you who haven't a clue..."long in the tooth" is a phrase that was once used to indicate an aged horse. And since you probably drive a nifty Volkswagon or Chevy or Ford and may never have owned a horse, you've probably never contemplated the mystery of determining the age of a horse by his teeth. But I digress.)

As I said, two construction jobs done. Roof. Laundry. But we're not done yet. Today Doug the "Plmber" (as his personalized license plate reads) made a pretty nasty mess of our bathroom. The old cast-iron tub went out the door in pieces. Along with the tub went tile and sheet-rock. The new larger tub is in place but not yet hooked up. Doug the "Plmber" will be back tomorrow (and perhaps Wednesday) to finish the tub installation.

Once that is done, we'll have Roger the Handyman come in to finish removing tile, take out the old vanity, install the new vinyl floor and the new vanity and put in cupboard storage along one wall. Somewhere in there Doug the Plmber will remove and re-set the toilet.

But, hey, we're not done yet!

We've just about winterized this house enough to save 95.5 percent on our fuel bills (I exaggerate slightly, ever so slightly). We have decided to enhance that a bit (perhaps to 98.5) by removing the 45-year-old single-pane windows and having them replaced with new ones produced by Gerkin. Gerkin's windows are manufactured less than 40 miles from our house...the Green People will love us!

Jeff the Window Installer will be here the first of December. We're figuring with the addition of these energy-conserving windows we'll be able to heat this place with body heat alone. And if either of us runs a fever (God forbid!), we'll have to open the windows a bit to dissipate the heat. (I do tend to exaggerate, don't I !)

I told Hubby that "someday some new family is going to move into an awfully nice house". After all, we're not spring chickens, so it's not like we're going to live in this nicely renovated house for another 50 years. (Maybe 49, though. I have high hopes. Said with a silly grin.)

Perhaps next year will be "easy" time. This year was a whopper. But this I do know...we've been blessed this past year. God is good. No matter what.

Today's Verse? Psalm 146:2 "I will praise the LORD while I live; I will sing praises to my God while I have my being". And again in in Psalm 146:5-6 "Blessed is he whose help is the God of Jacob, whose hope is in the LORD his God, who made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, who keeps faith forever;"

On my good days I will praise God. And in my days of suffering (should they come again), I will continue to praise Him for the sure salvation He provides for His people.

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