Getting my kids to read

Ok, I admit it - I struggled as a young reader.  Didn't really want to.  Didn't really get excited for it.

But as I grew up I found a love and passion for reading.  Even a need - ahem.

Can I trust that my kids will develop this too?

Fixing Pipes

In early April we moved into a rental.  It is fairly nice, but with some basic upkeep issues. One such issue was the back yard. Decimated.  Poor care, lack of and no need or desire (apparently) to keep it comfortable or beautiful (doesn't take much to create/maintain beauty).  The potential is there, but it was not watered.

This is a metapor in the works, somewhere.

So I started to fix the sprinklers.  Fixed one and the next boken one became obvious (water gushing out of the ground). Fixing pipes is a study of trial and error. Fix one, another broken on pops up.  Fix the second and then another.

Not unlike fixing our own issues.

Now interesting delimma is to find one that is not readily apparent.  it is there, the water is proof - but not easy to find.  I need to dig for it.  Get my hands dirty and feel around with my fingers for the leak.

Then I can fix it. Do we spend this amount of time digging into our own broken "pipes"?

Losing a house, moving and strength

We learn a lot about ourselves and others in times of trials or difficulty.  The way one moves through the situation can define a person and either bring you strength or send you crashing to the depths of dispair.

Faith helps too.

We lost our house last year. Went through the short-sale process.  We built the house.  I drew the plans. My wife picked out the colors.  It was ours.  The only home our youngest knew.

We lost it due to poor decisions our our part and bad loans from the banks.  One of the crowd over the last few years.

Then t got even harder. We moved in with my in-laws.  Don;t get me wrong, they are wonderful people and I love them very much.  They helped us and made sacrifices too.  Yet for some one approaching middle age, living with my in-laws wasn't at the top of my bucket list.

It was tough from a pride perceptive.  But humble myself I did, and it worked out fine. We're in a rental now and things are getting beter and brighter each day.

You know anyone who lost a home?  Hard stuff.

Funny thing - there's beauty in now, even with the pain.