Flood of Water, Flood of Food

I'm not sure what's going on here, but a large volume of water suddenly appeared in the laundry room, causing me to go into panic mode.

Washing Machine Up On Blocks

I had just arrived  home from work and Mary announced that there was water in the laundry room floor, so I rushed in and found that, indeed, there was. Mary had already shut off the washing machine (the culprit), but by then, unfortunately (or fortunately?), the cat litter on the floor had soaked it up and had formed a thick mud.

It took a while to clean all the water off the floor; and then it was necessary to find out the actual source of the problem. So I put blocks under the washing machine in order to help pinpoint the leak, thinking that it was probably coming from underneath, then turned it on to see what would happen.

And the source of the leak turned out to be the little soap dispenser thing at the top of the machine. The one in which the detergents and softeners and additives are poured. Apparently something got in there that plugged up the drain so when the water rushed in to carry the detergent(s) down into the main part of the machine, it back-flowed up and over the dispenser, down the front of the machine, and onto the floor.

Naturally, whatever it was that was blocking the dispenser drain quickly disappeared so that I was unable to repeat the problem. And I tried for nearly an hour.

I really hate when that happens. It leaves me with a sour taste of uncertainty and doubt. And fear that it will suddenly happen in the middle of the night when we are all in bed, since we sometimes set it to go off in the early morning hours.

It wouldn't be so bad if the laundry room was completely water-proof; but there are a couple holes in the floor where the gas lines from the basement come up, and I'm not too keen on the idea of water finding its way over to those holes and cascading like a fountain down through the walls I've so carefully built down there.

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Meanwhile, Mary has been busy cooking and baking again. We had a crockpot dinner tonight.

Dinner is Served!

As part of dinner tonight, her latest experiment was creating breadsticks from pastry dough. They were a lot thinner and crispier than I was expecting, but they tasted great! The only problem is that they disappear too quickly.

Turning Flat Pastry Into Yummy Breadsticks

These Won't Last Long -- Trust Me!

Pentacost

Cheryl is always cognizant of church-related things. By this, I don't mean that she's up-to-date on all the latest events going on at our local fellowship; I mean, she knows the things that were going on in the Early Church and finds ways to remind us all of those things.

Take, for example, today's little project: The Church Birthday Cake.

As it says in the Bible:

When the day of Pentacost came, they were all together in one place. Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting. They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them. All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them.

and then, after Peter's sermon,

Those who accepted his message were baptized, and about three thousand were added to their number that day.

Our small group Bible study group was having a make-up work-day over at the house of one of the members (who needed some yard work done), so Cheryl decided to make a birthday cake for the church so that we could have a party afterward!

Happy Birthday, Church!

My favorite thing about this cake is that she added little M&M candies above the triangle decorations along the side -- like "tongues of fire" above the heads of the disciples!! She's such a Bible nerd (a title which she proudly carries).

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Mary is really getting into this baking thing, too. Not quite sure why, but I'm not complaining. Today she decided to make some fresh bread

Mary's Fresh Bread

which looks very yummy and I can't wait to start carving it up -- and then she started making this roulade (from the French 'rouler', to roll) which will shortly be filled with some kind of sweet creamy frosting and then 'rolled up' so that I can cut it and eat it. All.

Unfinished Roulade

I'd like to get a picture of it after it's all finished, but it might not last that long...

The Mother of My Children

Mother's Day Cake by Mary Meyer

She's not my mother, but she is the mother of my children, and that means she's put up with a lot more than my mother ever had to, including living with me far longer -- almost twenty-six years! And she was willing to bring four new people onto the planet, to feed them and clothe them and raise them as best she could, praying all the time that they would become the best they can be. And she was willing to invest a lot of time and effort into creating a home for us all, which included not only the emotional and spiritual aspects but also an incredible amount of hard work on the physical infrastructure.

"Her children rise and call her blessed --"

Most moms are not truly appreciated for what they have done until the children have gone off into the world and found out how really hard it is to be one. This is not something one can hold against the children; they are oftentimes so wrapped up in their own novel experiences that they can't see much past the end of their nose, and everything that happens is so new and different and confusing. But when they finally get a chance to take a breath and turn around and see where they have come from, and who it was that helped them along the way, and how much they really learned from their mothers -- is there any way to truly express that gratitude? It seems so trivial to just wish her a Happy Mother's Day; surely she should be granted a longer period of time to bathe in the shower of blessings from those who have been given so much! But there is never enough time or sufficient words to express what we wish to say, and suddenly the world has moved on and we are whisked away by our other cares and concerns, and mothers, with a sigh and a resolute smile, get back to work.

For those of us who will never experience motherhood, we are doubly grateful for the woman who has managed to split her time between caring for her young progeny and caring for the Old Child who spends his entire day not being there, then comes home expecting to be pampered and soothed and listened to and fed like some spoiled brat who showed up at the house thirty years ago and still doesn't have enough sense to wipe his feet when he comes through the door. We are in awe of her patience, her skills, her style, her beauty (both inner and outer); and we look forward to the day when she is finally given the recognition she deserves by the people who have benefited so much from all that she has done.

"Many women do noble things, but you surpass them all."

Mother Mine

My mother likes to play with tools and tractors and gadgets and machinery and that's probably why she became a nurse because they have so many cool toys in the hospitals, all those stethoscopes and otoscopes and oscilloscopes and sphygmomanometers and electrocardiograms and things. But she's also handy with common ordinary household carpentry tools (see proof below) and can hold a board like nobody's business! Because she takes the word 'helpmeet' seriously and has always been ready to help her husband at a moment's notice.

Mom and Judy working on the floor of our house in Atwater

She's always loved kids, which explains why she worked for so many years in the maternity department of the hospital, making sure that those kids coming into the world had the best welcome and the best care ever. Certainly her own got the full benefits of her attention!

Mom with one of her many children.

I really appreciate that she didn't smother her children by trying to do everything for them, but allowed us to take on responsibilities for ourselves so that we didn't become dependent on others to get things done. And she expected a lot from us, both intellectually and physically, whether it was keeping up our grades or getting jobs in high school or helping out around the house with chores. 

I tried to get a close-up but the picture was just too fuzzy!

It had a great affect on me when I was in that 'looking for a life-partner' stage of my life. It is said that men are unconsciously looking for someone like their mother (or someone exactly opposite, depending on the relationship) and there was a lot to that for me. My ideal woman was independent, energetic, creative, a good teacher (especially at church), and always willing to pick up a hammer and work beside her husband, just like my mom. And that's exactly the way it worked!

Happy Mother's Day, Mom!