Friday, December 26, 2008

Christmas is over.....




And the real adventures begin. We are finally moved into the house, did that last Thursday the 18th. Moved most of what we need over, have done two trips back and forth from the cottage to the house every day since then.

We endured a very hard last day of school at Truman. This was why I did not want to move during the school year. I knew this would be hard, but not this hard. My little Emma is still a tiny bit upset. She spent most of the last day of school crying. She cried through pretty much all of her testing at her new school and showed no enthusiasm during the school tour. After the tour I made a stop at the post office and she just started crying out of the blue......I took her home, got her in comfy clothes and we just cuddled on the sofa as she cried through endless episodes of Drake and Josh. She did eventually fall asleep, but not without some outbursts of tears. She was in bed by 7 and woke the next morning about 7am. Scott called me that morning to say Em went back to bed at 8 and got up at lunch time. Her heart is very sore......she misses Mrs. Long and Emily...that's all she talks about.

The next day things got a little better, there was actually conversation about the new school.

By Christmas day we were definately showing some excitement about the new school, with a little bit of hesitation mixed in.

Now we are preparing for a day of no bad weather on the 27th so we can move the last 7 pieces of furniture into the new house. I've rented the truck and friends are gonna show up to help. I hope it goes well, that no one gets stuck in the mud and we all stay safe.

I still don't have the computer hooked up at the new house, so my only emails come from work.

Looking forward to updating with good moving news on Monday

Monday, December 15, 2008

We are a week away!






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December 13th 2008








We are about a week away from moving into our new "old" house. I've uploaded some photos from the weekend that show our newly sanded and finished floors on the second floor, as well as the furniture that was given to us by Bethanie in Jacob's room, and the work we accomplished on the first floor. We are now at the point where we have basically done what we can to get ready to move in. There are certainly details that we need to finish, but, they are small enough for us to finish once we live in the house. The washer and dryer are picked out, the tub faucet is going in today, hopefully the master bed will be moved in tonight (I have actually enjoyed the sofa the past month when scott is working, more than the bed) and we have to clear everything off the first floor because the country stripper is comin' back tomorrow! He does floors.....I know what you guys are thinking. Saturday is the big move........and we know we have friends and family who are helping and are so thankfull for them! This week will be a busy one for us as it's the last full week of school for the kids.......
Tonight-clear out the first floor
Tuesday night-Jakes' chorus concert
Wednesday night-Order a moving truck, get groceries for the move and for emma's brownie party
Thursday night-Emma has brownies and a party
Friday night-run around like a chicken with my head cut off, but before I do that we have to visit the new school with the kids
Saturday we move
Sunday we need to visit Santa, he doesn't know we moved yet!
Monday is the last full day of school
Tuesday I am going to school with the kids.....and I'm taking tissues

Monday, December 8, 2008

Weekend Accomplishments






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December 7th 2008








This weekend was spent trying to get the second floor paint finished. I only had one day to work due to our annual shopping trip with my sisters and my dad, something he likes to do to make sure he picks all the right gifts for his grandkids. We had a blast, but, I was a little discouraged by not being able to work on the house Saturday.
Sunday I worked hard getting the hallway of the second floor done, Scott rolled the paint while I did the cut in. My uncle showed up and he fixed the master bedroom trim work, looks so much better. I think he will show up more this week to fix the trim in the other bedrooms as well. We have until Wednesday night to get everything painted, cleaned up and moved off the second floor so the floor guy can come make the floors look really pretty on Thursday. Tonight we will get a second coat on the hallway walls as well as a second coat on Jacob's ceiling and walls, and my uncle will work on trim work.
We also managed to loosen up that goofy stove in the kitchen, so now that can come out and the electrician can wire for the new one. Forgot about the rangehood, have to work on that next.
Jacob and Emma got a ton more of the floor out in the kitchen, will have to move the refrigerator to the porch tonight so we can finish the kitchen floor tonight.
I'm sure I'll have more pics to share later in the week.

Friday, December 5, 2008

We have a moving date!

Scott and I think we have come up with a moving date, so now we need your help. Helping us move would be awesome , we will not turn anyone away, but we need your help in a more spiritual matter. If you could all continue praying for this whole transition, we would be so thankfull. The move itself is overwhelming, but we have other things involved in this move, and they are 10 and 7, yup, Jacob and Emma need your prayers and continued support right now as we prepare to take this very large leap.
I know my kids pretty well, heck, I'm their mom, I can easily sense when something is off, and I know that something is way off, and it has alot to do with our move, and the change of schools. It probably doesn't help to have their mom just as upset about the change of schools as they are, but, it's really hard to say goodbye to such an awesome school.....
The kids need your prayers, that they will not be so stressed over the whole thing, that their anxieties will be calmed down and that they will just enjoy the entire experience and have an open outlook on what our future will bring.
Some prayers for nice weather on the 20th will also be apreciated, I can totally see a snow storm approaching that weekend, if it came Sunday it wouldn't bother me, but Saturday, come on!
We will keep everyone updated on the progress we are making, but the way it looks now, the 17th our floors should be done so that we can walk on them, which means the 20th is still a go!
Send us a note if you want to help.

Monday, December 1, 2008

Weekend work continues






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November 30th








We managed to get alot done this weekend, my body is telling me to stop, I've never hurt this much in my life, but I will press on, it has to get done!
The entire second floor is primed....Two bedrooms are practically done and the third was started yesterday with the first coat of color. The first floor living room which consists of two rooms is starting to get painted, the color we picked looks really nice and I managed to find some black friday deals for curtains in both the living room and kitchen, SCORE!
The two 10 year olds painted the laundry room last night, first coat, they did an awesome job.
My sister got the first coat on jakes room and zach and I finished the priming of the hallway and doors.
We are trying to get all the painting done before the people come to finish the floors on both levels. We know there will be patching and such to do after the painting being that the electrician decided to not show for an entire week! But I'm over that now and I'm gonna keep going.
The floor is almost out of the kitchen, that sucker is hard to pull out, let me tell ya, and when someone is taking it out, everyone else in the house has to wear ear plugs cause it's so loud.
Hopefully I'll have more to show ya by the weekend.

Thanksgiving 2008






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Thanksgiving 2008








Thanksgiving was spent at my parents house this year, it usually is, we had Scott's dad over as well to share in the festivities with us. Mom went all out as usual, turkey, ham, homeade stuffing (20lbs of it) asparagus, sweet potatoes, corn, cranberry sauce, homeade fruit salad, rolls and it goes on. When we were done eating, we helped clean up and then we started a new tradition, we helped pop pop set up his Christmas decorations. This usually ends up being something that we try to do one weekend before christmas, but, I thought it be best to do it when everyone was together. It went so well, we have to continue the tradition. When we were done decorating, it was time for desert! That was fun, and yummy! After that we relaxed, and then we all headed home, we had a 3am wake up to go shopping the next day!

Wednesday, November 26, 2008

Happy Thanksgiving!

I wanted to wish all of my friends and family a very Happy Thanksgiving. I know, it's Wednesday, but with the schedule I've been keeping I just know I won't find the time to do this tomorrow.

I have to be honest and say that I really didn't think we would be at the spot we are today, November 26th. I am very blessed to have the friends and family that we have, who have made it possible for us to proceed with our new house and with the work that has to be done.

There are days when I am so tired, I don't want to roll out of bed, but I have two kids counting on me to make their lunch! I have to get up and get going, go to work and then count on Scott to handle the cottage while I work on the house. I have friends who call and say "can we come paint" and my heart is full, it just makes me so happy to know that I do have people in my life I can count on, who are as honest as they can be. These are the little things that I am thankfull for today and will always be thankfull for.

It's when your in the time constraint that we are in, that you have to be thankfull for these wonderfull people.......and for the freedoms that we have in this country.
Thank you to all of you, and you all know who you are.

Monday, November 24, 2008

The weekend work


We got an ok amount of work done this weekend. Two bedrooms have been primed, more of the kitchen floor came out, and more walls have been repaired.

Thursday, November 20, 2008

Paint

We have finally picked paint. After numerous trips to Lowes for sample chips and cans..........We have picked paint.
I'll post pictures of the paint chips, but let me tell ya, the colors are way off in the pictures, so for now, you can look at the chips and criticize our choices.......and then when it's done and I post pics of the finished rooms you can eat your words! How does that sound? LOL, just kidding, we went with very natural earthy spicy colors..............

In the Kitchen, since we have so many windows, we figured we could go a little darker on the walls
Walls Lyndhurst Stone
Trim Autumn Surprise and Mark Twain House Brown


In the two rooms that will consist of a living room and an extension of that living room, with pocket doors and tons of intricate original molding and trim we picked
walls Homestead Resort Pumpkin
Trim Molera Garden Ochre
Doors and more trim Grecian Olive


In the laundry room, otherwise known as the porch with all the windows...we went with
walls Homestead Resort Olive
window trim Desert Grass
and we picked a neat indoor/outdoor carpet to go with


For the master bedroom we went away from the pumpkin that is in our room now to something a bit more manly......but I really wanted to do blues and browns...so this is what we got
walls Silver Fox
windows and trim Moon Shade
And I put a sample of our bedroom fabric in the picture as well

This picture is the perfect example of the picture just being way off....it will look much better when it's painted

Wednesday, November 12, 2008

The work continues


Where do I start? OK, We spent last weekend spackling all the cracks and dings and odd things in the walls of the house. We have realized that these are 100 year old walls, not your typical drywall type of wall, so we will fix the really bad stuff and enjoy the uniqueness of what we have. Thursday and Friday of this week we will be sanding the kids rooms and preparing them for primer and then paint this weekend.
Still have some major faults to fix in our bedroom but we should get to the painting of that next week.
Our electrician should hopefully be done with the second floor at the end of this week, cross your fingers and toes.
We started removing the floor in the kitchen so we could see what we had in terms of having them sanded.......they are too far gone.....we picked out 12" tiles and will have my brothers help to get a new floor installed in about two weeks.
Last night we bought the kids paint and we got samples for the living room, office and kitchen. By this morning we had already changed our mind with the living room office area....LOL, we do that, it's not always fun but I think we settled on what we want the look and feel of the house to have, so we added a third color.....just more work, but, who's up for painting? Give me a call!
I went over some of the writing that I could make out on the walls and took some better pics, I'll post them as well.
I think that's it for now, enjoy the pictures.

Tuesday, November 4, 2008

Please VOTE today!


Today is the one day in history where your vote can make a difference. My vote is going to John McCain, for many reasons, but one of the biggest reasons right now is the fact that my family has worked very hard to build the business that currently supports us financially. In two years this business will be in my family for 100 years. That's a legacy, it's a legacy that I don't want to have taken away by the first black president. My family has given to charities, churches, organizations to help the poor for years on end, probably more than I think we should, because we do this alot and I sometimes wonder if it's appreciated. My concern is, this is my choice, I don't think anyone should be told they have to give to someone because that someone is just to darn lazy to get off their duff and get a job or find some help for their family. We have too many people who sit by and expect a hand out, and that is something I do not support. The welfare system in this country is so over ridden with people who do nothing but take advantage of it, that there is nothing left for those who need it. That's why my vote is going to John McCain, he is someone I can trust.

Monday, November 3, 2008

Pressing On!

We got a little more done on the house this weekend. All of the wall paper is off! That's an accomplishment, let me tell ya. I still have some glue to get off the walls in Jacob's room but other than that, were ready to sand and spackle.
The electrician started last week and it puts a smile on my face to know that this is getting done and I am just a little closer each day to moving in. This weekend we will start repairing cracks and filling holes and fixing ceilings with spackle, 5 gallons of spackle might I add.
The tin has been ordered for the ceiling in the kitchen and the fan came Friday.
The wood stove has been doing an awesome job of keeping us toasty while we work, and we can totally feel how well it will do once all the ceiling fans are in and we have a few heat vents in the floor, what a difference that will make.
I'm hoping my camera cooperates with me this weekend so I can take some pictures.

Friday, October 24, 2008

The Weekend is HERE!

I love the weekend, it means I have my kids and my husband by me all the time and I'm not bored in the office. I plan to get alot done this weekend at the house, we only have a little bit of wall paper to get down and then were ready to sand and repair the walls. My electrician was suppose to start this week but I think he got lost........The wood stove has been doing really well to heat up the house, can't wait till we are there full time and the house is nice and toasty.
Tonight we are filling treat bags for our annual Halloween night outreach with church. I always love the time I get to spend with people from church so I'm looking forward to relaxing and just enjoying the time tonight.

Monday, October 20, 2008

Dad's 68th birthday



Friday night we took a break from the house stuff and had a birthday celebration for Pop Pop. The kids get so excited when they know they get to celebrate a birthday and hang out with their cousins. We had alot of fun, especially when it came to lighting all 68 candles, I think we lost a few......Afterwards the kids were so incredibly hyper that we sent them out to play in the dark, but that turned into hide and seek with the big and little kids. That was fun and the kids wished it would have lasted longer but we knew we needed a good nights rest to get back to work on the house the next day.

Friday, October 17, 2008

The Weekend is HERE

I am so happy the weekend is here, it's been such a crazy week. This weekend won't be slow, that's for sure, but it will be spent with family, and to me that's what counts the most.
Tonight we are suprising my dad with a birthday party, the kids are so excited, they love spending time with their grandparents.
Tomorrow we will spend a little time at the new house, then will have to leave for one of Jacob's soccer games (hopefully this one he will score in like he did two weeks ago, it really lifted his spirits) Then Saturday night is the Halloween parade in Emmaus, my kids love it cause it happens at dark time as they put it.

Sunday is church, and then we will head back to the house to fire up the new wood stove and "cure" it, we also have some folks stopping by to pick up the old metal and appliances.

Wednesday, October 15, 2008

The Original Brookside Rd. Homestead



Thanks to Cousin Kim for emailing us the photos above. As many of you know, Scott is a history nut, and that's putting it mildly. When I opened my email to find these photos of the house that Scott and I just purchased, I cried. This, I knew, would make Scott's day. I was right, we scrambled to get ready for school today because Scott was so into explaining the photos to Jacob this morning. The history that we are finding in every nook and cranny of this house is overwhelming, for Scott and I and for the kids.
The past few years Nana Pearl just hasn't been up to remembering different things that Scott would wonder about, so uncovering items like these photos and the notes on the walls when we take down wall paper is so much fun and really puts this whole house purchase into perspective for us. Jacob and Emma never had the chance to get to know their Nana, Nana Sheila, so we relied on Nana Pearl and her memories to enlighten our children.
We learned this week that Jacob will be sleeping in what use to be his Nana Sheila's bedroom (I think I got that right) That alone put a huge smile on his little face.

Monday, October 13, 2008

First Weekend of work

This was our first weekend to be able to work on our new house, we went full throttle and didn't stop. Luckily we had my two nephews who worked really hard! My dad stopped in and gave us some direction as well, so that's always good. I put some pics together to show you what we worked on.

  • Our first mission was to remove the drop ceiling in the kitchen...ACCOMPLISHED
  • Our second mission was to remove the wall in the kitchen...ACCOMPLISHED
  • Then the boys just went nuts and started removing very old wall paper from the bedrooms














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October 11th 2008







Friday, October 10, 2008

The Work Has Begun


So it's day two of homeownership and the work is starting. My great hubby has been hauling wood over to the new house in preparation for our new soapstone wood stove that will be installed on Monday. He has really been working hard and I must give him credit for all his efforts.
Today started some plumbing work, getting water to the outside of the house and repairing some very leaky faucets and such. This weekend we will really get into cleaning some things out and starting the hard work.

Thursday, October 9, 2008

We finally did it!


We purchased our very first house last night. The entire ordeal was stressful, alot of work, and just not something I plan to do again for the next 30 or more years. I am very satisfied with the end result and we are all anxious to get to work on the house so we can be moved in by christmas. If you read my blog, or what I call my rantings, on a regular basis, you should see a link to my husbands blog. Scott's blog will be a more in depth written layout of all we are doing as we do it. We will have photos of before and after work and more. My blog is more of a frustrated and frazzled housewife blog...........but it's enjoyable at that! right? Anyway, I know many of you have kept us in prayer for a very long time as we started this process a long time ago, so now it's time to say THANK YOU to all of you, and you all know who you are, for keeping us focused and for continuing to offer support and encouragement as we got very discouraged at times and just were not sure how this all would go.

Wednesday, October 8, 2008

Is this the day?

So far, it's the day, it's early afternoon and so far everything is on track for settlement tonight. I'm trying not to get tooo excited, cause I'm one of those people who thinks if you get ahead of yourself, it will all fall apart.

I'll be sure to update tomorrow morning if in fact today was the day.

Tuesday, September 30, 2008

Exhausting couple of days

The past few days have been somewhat exhausting for us. From making sure we have every piece of paper signed, to transactions at the bank, to bank paperwork, to decisions being agreed upon and then not agreed upon, it's been a roller coaster of events. Events that I would really like to drink away and never look at again.

We think we are about a week away from one of the biggest events in our lives, except for the birth of both of our kids , this one is a biggie.

For those of you who know us and know the struggle we have been through in trying to acquire this house, we ask for your continued prayers as we take this final stretch...........If you find us stressed, cranky and just not at all pleasant, you know why.

Monday, September 22, 2008

I love IT!


Today is the first day of my favorite time of year, Autumn! I am so glad summer is over, you can only eat so many hot dogs and hamburgers and swim so much in your life that it's just time for pumpkins and gourds and leaves and cider, yum! I'm praying that this is the beginning of a stress free fall............fingers are crossed and prayers are being prayed that all of this house stuff now moves quickly so we can get in and get settled.

Friday, September 19, 2008

It's Friday!

And this crazy week will finally come to an end. I did something this morning that may or may not come back to bite me. I drove to work.... I know, probably shouldn't be driving until I see the doctor on Tuesday, but man is my family going crazy this week. I've been shuffled around by Scott to work and home every day, I can see how tired he is. We have had some sort of school function every night this week except tonight, and now my kids want to go to a football game! UGH......

We still have no word on the house and whether or not the estate attorney will work with our current agreement, all of which is in line, the dots are marked the t's are crossed and everything is fine, except for this darn attorney.

I just want something to pan out for us this week, something to fall in line with what we need done. Why won't it work?

Thursday, September 18, 2008

Jacob's Baptism video

Well I promised this video two weeks ago, then ended up having my emergency surgery and never got around to it, so here it is, it's a short video but it's precious to me. This is my 10 year old Jacob being baptized by our pastor, Robert Daneker in the pool at Waldheim Park.

Friday, September 12, 2008

My wild week

What can I say, my week was a bit crazy this week. Started Monday with little Emma needing to see the doctor, so I worked a half day. Tuesday morning about 2am I was stricken with severe stomach pain, though it was a stomach bug, I was wrong. By Wednesday at 2am I was in the ER and being admitted. Turns out my gallbladder turned against me and it had to come out! By Wednesday afternoon it was out and I was feeling so much better. Thursday by 2 I was home and I am now being pampered by my husband. Need a couple days to recover and I can't drive until the 24th but I think I will make it through.

Monday, September 8, 2008

A cleansing

Yesterday, September 7th, my Jacob was baptized. It melts my heart to write about it because to me it is such a special event, and what makes it even more special is it was his decision, without any prodding from Mom and Dad, he made the decision, he talked to us, and we mentioned it to our pastor.

Scott and I had Jacob baptized when he was a baby. That was our decision as parents, that we wanted him baptized in the church, one of the places where we spend much of our time and where we believe our extended family lives.

The unique part of this baptism yesterday was, Jacob was baptized by the same Pastor who baptized him as an infant, yet a different church. So this was my little "Verification from God" that we are in the right place, this is the church home where God sees us making a difference, these are genuine, unique people, who care, who show real compassion and love and who show all of those things to my kids, to Scott and I and to the people around them. This is finally our home.

I'm going to try to post a video later of the actual baptism, I thought it was pretty neat.

Friday, September 5, 2008

The Anxiety is killing me at this point


The documents to buy the house have finally been seen by the attorney for the estate and let me say this in the nicest way I can without using bad words. If the attorney were a spider, I would step on him in a flash!


He is making this transition very difficult...................and that is honestly all I can say right now cause I'm mad.

Wednesday, September 3, 2008

First day of school


Has finally come and I can't be more excited. The summer had it's ups and downs and shuffling the kids back and forth and making sure they were not too bored just got very tiresome. All in all I put some of the blame on the kids, they did NOT want to participate in anything this summer. Jacob could have done two or three soccer camps and Emma had tons of opportunities for girl scout type stuff but they both chose to not do anything.

It feels good to get back in the swing of school, to know that they are both safe in their classroom, that Jacob won't be calling me a million times on my cell, although the I Love You's will be missed every time he says goodbye.

We are beginning our soccer practice tonight with Jacob, it's the last practice before the first game on Saturday, it's not our fault, the coaches never called. Typical disorganization.

The house settlement is probably pushed off a week or so, seems the mortgage folks didn't get the proper paperwork to the right people and now we are stalled until it's reviewed, irks me alot and I lost a bunch of sleep over it last night. I think I'm on my 3rd cup of coffee already just trying to make it through the day.

The one good thing I did for the day was had two meals all ready in the fridge to pop in the oven when we get home from school and work today. Jacob requested meatloaf tonight so he had something to look forward to today. I have never made meatloaf, he experienced it at his Aunt Teri's house, so of course I had to go to Teri to find out how she made it cause I already know I never liked my moms meatloaf. Hope he likes it tonight.

Tuesday, August 26, 2008

10 Years Old!



Today is the day my little (11 lb 1 oz) Jacob turns 10. Of course I'm still awake, folding wash, rolling coins, doing dishes, just the stuff that moms are suppose to do but I enjoyed a homemade birthday cake with my boy instead kind of stuff. I can't believe this little guy is now in the double digits.

From Jacob's very quirky "wiggles" to his curiosity that just won't let up, this kid is my pride and joy. This little guy makes me happy to be alive. We can talk and talk and talk and we will go through subject after subject, but he enjoys just talking with his mom.

It's been some very fun 10 years and I'm looking forward to 10 more.

Friday, August 22, 2008

End of the week

And lots of things got accomplished this week. I'm exhausted and just want some time to relax!
Still waiting to hear about some final things with the house purchase, the inspection is done, the electrical contractor will be submitting his bid soon to redo the house. We have cleaned up the house just a little, anything having to do with a cat has been tossed! It's somewhat weird to be in a house that still has remnants of a very long life lived in this house. We find photos of family when they were very young and try to figure out who everyone is.
The school situation has been dealt with and we feel so much better knowing that we have our kids in such a caring and nurturing school. I can't say enough good things about this school and my heart aches knowing I only get to enjoy this school for a little while longer. The Principle and staff at this school is just so involved and they are there for us around every corner.
Other areas of our life have been somewhat stressful and we are working to make things much less stressful. One weight has been lifted off my shoulders and I must say, I feel so good about the decision, there is no turning back!
Watch for more updates coming soon, or as soon as we know something!

Wednesday, August 20, 2008

On The First Day.....

He inspected. And it turns out things are in pretty good shape. My nerves have settled a bit knowing that we really are buying a solid house and that with just a little elbow grease we will have a home we can enjoy for a very long time and I can actually say we will be settled.

The really nervous part comes today, when the electrician shows up and we tell him all the things that are wrong and NEED to be fixed before we can even begin painting or moving in. I'm a little nervous about this one.

I'm trying so hard to just hand this worry over to God and let him take care of it instead of always stressing about these things. This has been the hardest thing for me to do this year, to not stress and to just realize what everyone has been telling me, hand this over to God and let him carry the burden, I know he already has..........but I have to continue to have faith that he will continue to carry that burden.

So if your looking for anything to add to your prayer list, you can add the Schneck's. That we continue to have faith that this whole process will work out, that we won't stress continually and we can just trust that this is the Lord's plan for us and with a little faith, we can have less stress.

Tuesday, August 19, 2008

In the (NEW) Beginning

There was a family of four, and an almost 100 year old house...........now the fun begins.
Today officially starts our future full of appointments at the house we are planning to purchase. We start this morning a tad bit fear full, only because we have no idea what this house inspection will turn up, being that it is a 100 year old house.

We plan to spend a few hours with the inspector today, tomorrow we plan to spend an hour or so with an electrician, buttering his hand to see just how low that new electrical service will cost us.

The next few days entail dealing with the gas company, schools, appraisals, security and it goes on and on and on.

I'm looking forward to that day where I can sit on my back porch, watch the cars and sip my coffee, but until then, we press on, with the hope that as long as we put our faith and trust in God, we have no worries, I'm giving them all to him and I know he will bring me through this, with my cup of coffee still warm.