Insanity Squared (and then some :o)

For those of you who might be thinking Jen made a typo in the title, I'll tell you now it's [yet] another one of my terrible puns - can't help it...I love 'em ;o) So sorry I missed last week's post; and the one before that. Sheesh. You see I put a toe - more than one, actually - over "The Line". You know the one I mean? That line that defines your limits; the one that generally results in some sort of negative reinforcement should you be foolish enough to actually step over it. I usually refer to such things as "self-inflicted stupidity", however, sometimes events just kind of spiral out of control. Does that happen to you too? *sigh*

My mom was knocked so far off kilter by the move and subsequent upheaval, talking to her was like conversing with a late stage Alzheimer's patient (it was really scaring me). She was so completely overwhelmed, she'd start walking in little circles and saying things like, "I don't know what to do, I just don't know what to do." over and over again like a broken record. The only thing I could think of was to get her unpacked and situated as quickly as possible. The past month has been a complete and utter blur, but we got it [mostly] done. The two car garage, which had been completely filled with boxes has been unpacked to the point that both cars now fit easily inside. There are a few "later" boxes left, and those are stacked neatly against one wall. Thankfully, Mom seems to be herself again. Whew!

Of course working full time in a germ infested environment in conjunction with autoimmune issues means that such frenzied activity and late nights on my part are not sustainable for long. Inevitably there comes some sort of major crash. I got sick not once, but twice which slowed me down to a crawl (although I did manage to keep going; well...mostly ;oP Somehow or another, I managed to wind up with six big shelves to paint for Mom's little alcove off the bedroom (and do not ask me how, as the details are rather hazy) and that will be - I hope - the end of the major stuff for awhile. It took me two weeks to finish priming and painting those stupid things, but I delivered them Monday after work. I do not wish to discuss the state of my own house (which was duly sacrificed) and have taken to gazing intensely at the floor while navigating the living and dining areas where I have chunked and piled all the stuff I inherited through the downsizing. Somewhere in there, DD (who never gets sick) got sick, and I have taken today off to carry Sarabear - who is also sick - to the vet. More on that next time.
As promised, however, here are a few more photos from my parent's old house. The family room had fabulous vaulted ceilings and a super cool "balcony" that was one of DD's favorite spots in the house when she was little (and when she was not so little ;o)

The people they bought the house from made stained glass; hence the gorgeous glass accents. Is this kitchen cabinet not fabulous?

My favorite piece, however, is in the master bath. It was difficult to get a good photo, as the lighting was not the best. The glass is backlit, as you can see:

Isn't that simply stunning? I love stained glass, do you? Well, that's all for now and I really am sorry for being absent so long (have a hug? ;o)

I have no idea how long this post will be, as I'm running out of time (don't want to be late for church; Again ;o) I suppose I should start with a happy Earth Day to everyone! Pretty sure this is Papa bird from the little family of birds we had in our garage last month (Mama was brown). Does anyone know what kind of bird this is? I thought it was a Finch or maybe a Wren, but he doesn't seem to match any of the photos I've looked at (he's brown and yellow, extremely quick and very, very small). 
I was excited to learn that our "An Epic Farms' Fish Tale" was included in a list of Earth Day lenses on Squidoo (yay!) I wrote it when we decided to use the goldfish to keep the horse's water tanks clean. If you're interested, click here to pop over and read (but don't forget to come back!) Okay, so nix on the beginning statement of this particular post - I obviously had no time, as it is now Monday. Sunday afternoon was spent organizing mom's pantry, bathroom, and unpacking still more boxes. Meh. 

Here's the dirty deets: I've been running back and forth like a lunatic helping my parents to pack and move; they sold their high maintenance "mansion" in the next town (okay not really a mansion, but it was definitely BIG) and have relocated less than 4 miles up the road - Woot! It has been an interesting - albeit exhausting - experience to see God's hands all over this. Here are a few of the highlights: The first thing was the sale itself, lots of prayer for it to sell fairly quickly. The answer? The first couple that looked at it, bought it (how's that for unusual in a lousy economy? ;o) Because my mom was completely overwhelmed by the idea of packing up and moving, I had some definite concerns about her driving abilities during all of this and said a few prayers for that too. I assume most of you saw the 77 year old  woman who plowed through Publix recently when she hit the gas instead of the brake (eek). Anyway, interestingly enough mom's car suddenly malfunctioned and had to go into the shop for repairs and the replacement part they ordered was defective (which "never" happens), so they had to send it back. The new part is on back order and will be another week or two at least before this is resolved (problem solved - whew!) 

I have to say the biggest one was their "new" neighbors. A couple moved in down the street from their old house less than a year ago and they struck up a casual friendship (they now go to my parent's church). I could not take off for most of the two weeks they were packing because of the state-mandated testing going on. As much stuff as they had I was really worried about my mom tackling it by herself so I did the best thing I could think of and prayed about it. The answer? 
Turns out mom's new friend has moved no less than 27 times and is a 'professional' packer-upper (due to her husband's line of work - he's a troubleshooter for a national corporation). Not only that, but she was also in between jobs and had plenty of time to help. Now what are the odds of that I ask you? Is God awesome or what!? I'm telling ya, He never fails (Boo-yeah :o) Although we will miss the house (it was gorgeous - and I'll try to post some more photos next time), I will no longer worry about mom taking a header down the steps from the second floor. She'd already fallen once coming down the steps from dad's monster office above the garage.
Seems I'm out of time again - and now it's Tuesday - so I'll just end it with some photos of my latest project; a collaborative effort with DD. She built a toy box for a little girl's birthday; she has been working with the family and helping them with their signing. My job was to burn the child's fingerspelled name into the lid. Nothing like a small challenge, eh? Good thing I wasn't busy (and pardon me while I laugh hysterically at that one, right? ;o)
Here's the lid. DD brought it to me to work on:

If you've never done pyrography [wood burning] it's pretty cool (although tedious and time-consuming). First thing is to take some graphite paper and transfer your pattern. In this case the letters I printed out (the font is called "Gallaudet", which is named for the big college for the deaf:

Once you have the design on the wood, you can start carefully burning it. I keep a piece of waxed paper under my arm so I don't smear my design or get the wood dirty (we have natural oils on our skin, don'tcha know ;o)

Several days (and a gazillion hours later :o) you can sit back and appreciate your efforts as you work the cramps out of your hand. Oh, and it says "Shea", by the way:

Gave the lid back to DD for assembly, and we put it together. Two sets of hinges; regular (the stainless) and specialty hinges towards the outside so it would close more slowly and - hopefully - not slam shut on little fingers:

Not bad, eh? I think we make a pretty good team, anyway :o)

Internet difficulties and an hour and half on the phone with tech support (to no avail) has brought us (at the speed of a lame turtle) to Wednesday. *sigh* This may be a terrible post, as I don't really have time to proof it as carefully as I normally do. Shall I apologize? Said technical difficulties, along with life in general, have made it impossible for me to do much visiting. For that I will apologize - I've really missed reading your posts this week!  Have a great week (what's left of it anyway ;o) Hopefully, I'll be back to my regularly scheduled self soon.