Life's Other Lessons

It has been a very long time since I have posted anything. That's not for lack of things to post; on the contrary, there are so many posts that I planned and wanted to share that my brain feels the high-powered pressure of being jam packed with things needing to get out so I don't have to store them cerebrally anymore. I am frustrated because many of them were things pertaining to autumn or certain days or lessons this past autumn, and I like things to get posted neatly, tidily, and in chronological order. But there hasn't been a single neat, tidy, chronological stitch in any facet of my life since September, so why should my blog be any different? 

You may recall our September disaster wherein a dishwasher leak ruined my kitchen. We are just now getting our kitchen back--went three months without one. It has been...an interesting experience. All of the real business of tearing the rest of everything out--the rest of the cabinets, flooring, etc.-- happened the day before Thanksgiving, which made for a real memory-making holiday. Getting everything put back into place wasn't the jubilee I thought it would be, either. Part of that is because we took on tiling the floor ourselves; part of that is that just because things are new, it doesn't mean they are perfect. And a house full of people living their lives makes all new things "lived in" in a hurry.

In some ways all of this was an interruption. There are definitely some plans that were waylaid. In other ways, however, we learned many lessons that couldn't and wouldn't have come any other way, and those kinds of lessons are almost always way more important than anything I might have planned. 

There were real-life applications of subjects learned:

Even a kid had to measure and draw lines for cutting the tile to fit certain places.

So glad to have an older son who was experienced
with tools and machinery from some manufacturing
and construction classes so he could cut tile.

Working together, everyone with their own responsibility, to get the job done.

We learned how to really work together as a family. If every single one of us hadn't picked up some tools and rags and whatnot and pitched in, my poor husband would probably still be laying tile. We were ALL up into the wee hours almost every night for a week, under the pressure of rented things needing to be returned and the deadline of upcoming installations. It was hard work. It wasn't fun at all. But I am so proud of how everyone just did it, and that we did it together. None of us knew much at all about tiling a floor before this, but we sure know a lot now. We also learned that things are just things. That life can be fulfilling without them, life can go on and even happily in any state, and that even in a state of complete chaos there can be peace and joy and fantastic moments that cement not just tile, but a family together.