When news happens next door.

Hi all, Pat Davids here.

Last week I had the privilege of seeing our city’s SWAT team in action. On our street! It isn’t as thrilling as you might think.

The signs were all there that something was going wrong in the house down the block. I didn’t know them except to wave. They kept such a pretty yard and I stopped to tell the young man that once. I’m glad I did, but I wish I had done more.

At the start of the summer their once nice yard became overgrown, the trash started piling up. We speculated on the reason, of course. The economy is bad here, too. Did they lose their jobs or was the house being repossessed? My husband is the one who notices what cars are parked on the street and who they belong to. I can’t tell a Ford from a Fiat. He told me the young man’s car was there only once or twice a week now.

Someone mowed the front yard one day and I thought, good, thing are better, but they weren’t. The young couple was in the process of an ugly divorce. One evening it all became too much. They started fight that resulted in a domestic disturbance call, which became a hostage situation and then a police standoff. While the young man barricaded himself in his once lovely little home and threatened to kill himself, the SWAT team surrounded the place, made the neighbors get inside and stopped all the traffic.

We didn’t know what was going on at the time, just that police is heavy gear with big guns had taken control of our neighborhood. We only learned the sad facts later. Thankfully the young man gave himself up and no one was hurt. I pray he’s getting the help he needs.

I know dramas like this plays out all over the world, but it was so sad to see it happen directly across the street from the neighborhood church. With help so close, God's two children never reached out for it. How sad is that?

Home Improvement Part II

Merrillee here. The above photo is the mess in our master bathroom. And this looks better than it did ten days weeks ago when there was no tile in the shower at all.

About a month ago, Leann posted photos of her newly remodeled closet with everything neatly in its place--a joy to behold. She posted because a week earlier I had posted a photo of the new tile in our guest bathroom, which was part of a major home improvement that included new tile in all the baths and new carpet throughout the house. Would you believe that six weeks later this project is not done? Yes, my house is still in chaos and looks nothing like Leann's neat, neat closet.

While they were finishing the tile in our master bath, they discovered a leak in the shower stall. We weren't going to replace the tile in there because of the expense, but the leak made it necessary. When we got the estimate, we were right about the expense--twice as much as replacing the tile in two and half baths. But we are thankful that we caught the leak, or it could have been worse. We picked out the tile for the shower stall, then discovered that half of it was back ordered. Since the old tile had been torn out, that left the studs exposed and insulation raining down from the attic.

When our carpet finally arrived, they did install it in the two guest bedrooms, family room and living room. Since we both work from our home, we saved our office until the weekend when my husband wouldn't be working. Our office is the bonus room over the garage, and we have a lot of stuff in it. We had to break down the two computers and attached printers, etc. We had to remove files and books from the bookcases and closet. Believe me, this was a major undertaking. Putting it all back together was a whole day's project. I'm still not through sorting my stuff. I've been discarding things as I sort and taking a vow not to collect so much. We'll see how that goes. I'm a saver, not a thrower. Thankfully, my husband is a thrower, unlike my parents who were both pack rats. I guess I come by it naturally.

Because of the mess, we're waiting until the tile work is done to install the carpet in the master bedroom. After six weeks, we are getting very used to sleeping in one of the guest rooms. We are still on hold because they miscounted the number of tiles and had to order more. Of course, the tile that was supposed to be here on Tuesday or Wednesday was misrouted and wound up in Miami. Murphy's law strikes again.

Maybe by the next time I post, this project will be done. Have you ever had a project or event that didn't go quite as planned? Tell us about it.

Replacing old tile and carpet

The photo above is the new tile in one of my bathrooms. I'm glad to replace the old tile, but the process is not convenient. Nearly twenty years ago, we bought a house when we moved from Georgia to Massachusetts. I disliked the tile foyer and had it replaced almost as soon as we moved in. I didn't know how messy replacing tile can be--dust and grime everywhere.

We've owned our current house for ten years, and the carpet is looking worn. So after months of looking and looking, I finally found some carpet I like. But before we put in the new carpet, I wanted to replace the tile in our bathrooms. I've hated it ever since we moved in, even though I was the one who picked it out. I knew the process would be messy, but I had forgotten how messy.

A fine film of dust has settled on almost every surface in my house. We did put sheets over everything in the master bedroom before they tore up the tile in the master bath. The sheets are still there. We'll see whether they did any good once the tile job is complete. The dust even filtered inside the drawers and cabinets. I've been cleaning all day--wiping down walls, dusting, vacuuming and washing. I've hardly made a dent in the mess. Maybe by the time the carpet that we ordered arrives, I'll have the house in order.

Surely the carpet installation won't be as messy. Have you ever done any remodeling and had a big mess? Tell us about it.

Merrillee