TAX DAY TEA PARTY IN SALEM, OREGON

Carissa and I came with our neighbors, Larry and Jane, to join in the Tea Party being held at the Oregon State Capitol in Salem. Grandad even managed to find us amongst the huge crowd! Of course he was proudly displaying his sign.Rod and Lynn also found us in the crowd, so I got their pictures for their kids, Jon & Stacy, who were hoping to attend the Washington D.C. Tea Party where they live.

THOUSANDS GATHER AT SALEM'S CAPITOL

Salem's gold man, as we called him growing up, looking down on the thousands gathered to protest no more spending, no more taxes!

Couldn't resist this shot. Love the jacket!

If you look closely in the center of the picture there are even teenagers letting it be known that it's their future that's at stake.

I saw many people I recognized, and actually got to talk to Elsie Ford, wife of Joe Ford, Dallas' former Assistant Postmaster.

I'm afraid that the pioneers in the background would be rolling over in their graves if they could see what is happening in the land they gave up so much for.

IS THERE HOPE FOR US AS A NATION?

After the rally as we walked through the Capitol grounds back to our car, we came across yet another group of protesters...But is there hope and an answer to all of this?
"If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land."
2 Chronicles 7:14

LEARNING THE SECRET OF CONTENTMENT

When I'm tempted to be discouraged about the one fourth of a year without my kitchen, I look out in my yard at the renewed beauty of spring, after a very hard winter, and know that my life also has seasons.

And...I remember that being content is learned. The apostle Paul says in Philippians 4:11-13, "...I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation...I can do everything through Him who gives me strength."

I've learned a lot about being content in the last 3 months... and patience... and trust... and just waiting on the Lord...for He is good and He always knows whats best because His love endures forever!

TWO STEPS FORWARD

You're probably wondering where I've been the whole month of March. Well, March 5th everything was finally dry enough to reinstall the wood flooring. But for most of the month I was continuing with the knee injections and physical therapy on the carpel tunnel surgery scars on my hands. They still hurt a lot, but are not keeping me from all the weeding, pruning, and shoveling of bark dust that must be caught up on. I have learned that it is wise not to over do it though! We also lost a whole week of Dennis' vacation with everyone sick with a very virulent form of the flu. Everyone but me that is. (It pays to get your flu shot!) It spread like wild fire through the family, knocking out even the strongest among us! We're blaming the lack of a kitchen for so much recurring illness in the family since February. Eating differently and not as healthily as we must eat prepackaged meals, etc. and the lack of a dishwasher, I believe, are key. I've been putting bleach in my dishwater, which is great on the hands! Oh for some homemade mashed potatoes!The 19th of March and clear through the weekend, we were literally zipped out of our kitchen while they sprayed the upper cabinets with a fresh coat of paint so that they will match the brand new lowers. Now we didn't even have the microwave or oven! Everyone was still too sick to want to go and eat out, so we had take out Chinese one night, and I managed to make tomato soup in the electric fry pan! It's very hard to ladle out of and a lot of extra clean up. Everything but the cabinet faces was masked.
...including the fated wallpaper!

THREE STEPS BACK

Monday the 23rd of March when all the masking was taken down after the upper cabinets were sprayed, the wallpaper came down with it in several places! At first I was hoping I could repair it, but there were just too many rips like these for the amount of wallpaper I had up in the attic. So Tuesday I went down to The Decorated Wall here in town and looked for new wallpaper to replace it and found four possibles, which I brought home to match to the original tile wallpaper on the bottom. That quickly narrowed it down to one. So after getting permission from our head contractor, I went ahead and ordered it 2nd day air. It arrived by that Friday afternoon, and the fun began! Thursday I'd spent the day stripping the old off, so I started right in wallpapering Friday afternoon, and was done by the time the lower cabinets were installed the following Monday the 30th.
The great part is that even though I couldn't replace what I had exactly, I actually like the new better. I didn't even try to replace the border. I don't miss it at all, and neither does Bernard. All he cares is that he finally got a counter to sit on to watch his birds again.
At this point we're waiting on the Formica which had to be reordered. (Another two weeks!!) When the cabinet installer rolled it out to cut it, it was the wrong width! Good news it should be here next week and maybe by next weekend they'll be doing the wood floor, which they'll have to kick us out to a motel while they do that.