Bill and Sheila Re-Decorate

Sheila and I's "big" Christmas present this year is a kitchen re-do.  It's been going on for three days now.  Our tiny kitchen is a giant tangle of air compressors, power tools, paint, brushes and rollers, drop cloths and building materials.

We are working around the schedule of our incredibly patient contractor, Bret Keathley, a family friend and one of my former Sunday School kids.  Bret is incredibly talented in this area.  He worked with us to squeeze every square inch possible out of the tiny 1940's designed space.

We paint and do the little stuff in shifts before Bret comes in and after he leaves for the day.  My faithful friend Tom Brock is helping me paint.  

It's actually been quite an adventure.  I wouldn't have it any other way.  It means more when you have a relationship with the people doing the work and have some sweat in the project yourself.

One of these days when we are gone, maybe our daughter Michelle will look at that kitchen and remember that our friend Bret built those cabinets.  And maybe she will tell little Ben that her grandfather and his number one coffee drinking buddy, Tom Brock,  painted everything while sitting on stools and listening to old time radio programs from an MP3 player. 

Those are the things that tie you to a place and make it more than address with a roof over it.