NOT ME, HIM

  So I got a new Aussie Event grill a couple weeks ago and assembled it but it has been in the garage.  I was saving it to use this week-end when Robyn's dad and step mom came in town.  We were also joined by Robyn's brother and his family and this new grill has a lot of burner space which we were gonna need.
  Well Friday after work I pulled the new grill out to the patio and took the old one to the garage.  (Anyone need a rusty, broken down, half working, old grill?)  I took the propane tank off and noticed it was feeling near empty so I ran up to the gas station to do an exchange.  I got home with the new tank and hooked it up but when I turned on the gas it hissed out loudly.  I disconnected and reconnected the grill several times with the same results.  I compared the connection to my old grill and noticed they were very different.  I thought maybe it was missing a piece.
  I know that a law was passed in the United States several years ago requiring all grill connections to be universal, but this grill is an Aussie.  So here it was, Friday night and I had alot of company coming the next day.  I started to panic.  I called the 800 number on the owners manual but it was a recording telling me the hours that they would be open.  I called Menards, where I got the grill on clearance, and they told me to bring in the connector and they would see what they could do.
  I got to Menards and they couldn't find anymore of the Aussie grills.  It could only happen to a Griswald I told myself.  Then an employee spotted a box way up on a rack so they climbed up and ripped open the box.  It was a real struggle but after a while they pulled out the gas connector and...  it was exactly like the one I had.  Then a thought occured to me.  Maybe it wasn't a problem with the grill, maybe it was the new propane tank.  I exchanged tanks and of course it worked perfectly, but now I had no time to do the rest of the chores Robyn had lined up for me.  (Maybe I faked the whole episode to get out of work)

Saturday morning our guests arrived.  And this crowd is why I needed a new grill.

Suzy and John waiting for the fun to happen

Robyn's brother Mike and me chillaxin

Robyn wants to show Stacie how to juggle

Our niece Mercedes

Our niece Morgan (she's a bit of a ham)

Canyon and Hai wondering about lunch

As I look back on these pictures I imagine a cast for a new sitcom.   We could call it Week-end at Griswalds.

John and Mike made fun of my new grill because it dosen't have a lid, but that's the way they do it down under, put another steak on the barbi mate.  We played some yard games and had some fun.  The neighbor's dogs crawled under the fence and joined in on the party.  I think I heard Bosely and Bullit make fun of my grill too.

Bosely and Bullit cause a rucus

But all in all it was a pretty fun and relaxing week end.

Monday rolled around and it was back to work.  We installed the Pumpkin colored kitchen countertops, and they matched the copper range hood really well.

stunning

Unfortunately, I made one piece of backsplash an inch too long so we had to take that piece back to the shop for repairs.  The next day we went to install the bathroom sink we made to fit on the cabinets that I had fabricated.  Saddly, I slid the piece across a rock in the truck causing an unsightly blemish, so we had to take it back to the shop for repairs also.  My Griswald like week was beginning to get me down.

I found myself in a funk and was having trouble getting over it.

The following day we demolded another intregal sink I designed for a client.  Chris worked his magic on it and it is ready to be sealed.  It is a shallow bowl that drains to the front.  The faucet will come out of the wall.  It's very unusual.  We used a black concrete with mirror aggregate.  Here is a pic so far..

it has a 9" apron on the front and side

I needed something to go well.

Thursday I took a road trip.  We drove to Paton (pronounced Pay-ton) to template a job.  If you don't know where Paton is, you just go to the middle of nowhere and look to your left and there it is.  I was suprised to see this magnificant house in the middle of a farm field.  Check it out...

A couple million, at least?

It is still under construction so I went in to check it out.  All the trimwork is being done in imported Austrailian wormy chestnut.  It is beautiful wood.  They are milling all the trim on site.  Being a trim carpenter myself I was truely amazed.  Here are a couple pics of some of the woodwork being done.

part of the wine cellar... incredible

And of course being a bartender also I had to have a pic of the hand crafted bar..

I think it needs a concrete top

But the job I was there to template was outside, by the pond.

the little patio out back

We are putting a fiber optic lighted cap on the wall next to the pond.  It's about 40' long.  I laid out clear plexi glass on top of the brick wall and traced it.  Sounds simple enough but the wind was blowing about 35 to 40 miles per hour and it was difficult to keep the plexi from going air borne.  Once back to the shop I began forming the caps.  It is a little complicated but it's going to be very cool when done.

not as easy as it looks

  You know, struggling with my grill frustrated me.  I was asking, why me?  Why now?   Then making mistakes on a couple of installs had me feeling like a failure.  And seeing that awesome house, where they are importing all that expensive wood made me wish I had that kind of money and ask why not me?
  It's ironic that my friend came into the bar last Tuesday night (the one who had thoughts of suicide) and was looking for prayers.  He was having trouble dealing with fears.  It just so happened that the study our small group is doing, the last few days of my daily devotional and the the past two services at church are all dealing with these issues.  They are issues that we all fight with on a daily basis.
  I prayed for my friend to realize that all his fears are the devil's handiwork.  I asked that he would see Jesus' love for him and know the confidence that the Lord puts in him. Then I told him that all the worries, anxieties and fears he was feeling are only being manifested because he chooses to do so.  At that point I realized that I was dragging myself down that same path.
  I was frustrated because my grill was causing me problems when I should be thankful that I can afford to buy a fancy new grill.  And because I made a couple mistakes on installs certainly dosen't make me a failure.  As a matter of fact I am involved in work that is one of the primier concrete countertop manufacturers in Iowa, and maybe nationally.  I am good at what I do.  Thank you God.  And as for wishing for the money that others have?  Just because someone has truck loads of money dosen't make them happy.  God has provided me with all that I need.  That dosen't mean I can't have nice things, it only means that happiness isn't in what I own, it is in who God made me.  I am His masterpiece, and so are you.  He made us the way we are and he has a purpose for who he made.  When we realize that God loves us as we are, it dosen't matter what others think.  I wouldn't trade my wonderful life for all the millions that home owner has.

God does provide for those who love him.

If God makes this so beautiful, why wouldn't he make us more so?

Peace

Dan