Tuesday I was relieved to find out that my dad was strong enough to have surgery, and he was in pretty good spirits.  When I talked to him on the phone he said he wasn't sure what the doctor gave him.  I let him know that it didn't matter what the doc gave him as long as he was feeling no pain.  He had the operation and everything went great.  He would be going home Wednesday.  Thank you to all who prayed.  God is good.

Tuesday night I had to bartend.  The joint wasn't jumping.

I saved you a seat

When I went home that night it was winter...

tis the season

I opted out of shoveling Wednesday morning because it was supposed to be warmer the rest of the week and I figured it would be melted by the week end.

Wednesday we did a big install at work.  We put the hearth in first because it was easiest.  It has the appearance of floating and they will light the underside with hidden rope lights.

gonna look cool lit up

Then we did the kitchen.  It is the one with the concrete legs I blogged about.  The client wanted two different colors.  In these pics you can see how the pieces all fit together, tetrus style.

sleek lines

They will put dark wood under the island to match the cabinets and then tile around the legs.  This one was peticularly hard to template.  It had to be very precise.

unique design

Wednesday night we had our small group.  We studied about judgment of others and forgiveness.  It is difficult to not be judgemental when someone does something that bothers us.  I used to have horrible road rage.  In my opinion everyone didn't know how to drive, except me.  As I have come to know Christ and studied his word I have slowly begun to fix that. (Robyn will tell you I still suffer a little)

I do think now about why the other driver may have cut me off or sped by with total disregard for other drivers.  Maybe he is trying to get to the hospital because his daughter was in a bad car wreck, or he may be late for a meeting that could determine weather or not he gets to keep his job.  What ever the reason, it is not my place to judge him. (Robyn will tell you I still judge a little)  In Jesus' own words, "let he who is with out sin cast the first stone."  Forgiveness is the key.  As hard as it may be to forgive someone who hurt or betrayed you, it is the thing to do.    In the book of Mark it says, 'but when you're praying, first forgive anyone you are holding a grudge against, so that your Father in heaven will forgive your sins'.

That's powerful stuff, besides holding a grudge only hinders you, not the one who hurt you.  I'm working on forgiveness. (Robyn will tell you... actually she will probably agree with that one)

Thursday at work we formed up a master bathroom sink that goes with the kitchen we installed.  I inlayed some tile that will match the client's backsplash.

glued in place

Thursday night we had our first fire in the fireplace for the season.  This is one of the only things I like about cold weather.

toasty

My brother Steve stopped by on his way back from visiting Dad.  He stopped at a candy manufacturer in Sioux City called Palmer Candies.  They make Twin Bings there.  If you never had one they are awesome.  Cherry nougat covered in chocolate and crushed nuts.  You can find them everywhere.  During the tour of the factory he bought a box of extras, or mistakes.  He got about 10 pounds of Twin Bings for 10 bucks.  He generously gave me a bag to take to work.

Twin Bings and wine,  yum

Friday I worked on the rather large forms for the bar in Paton, Iowa.

another difficult form...

...plus two of these

There was some confusion about the fiber optic cable placement so I went up to Paton to get some adjustments taken care of.  While I was there I saw this fountain in front of the house.

They may want to shut it down for the winter

Friday I stopped at Dahls for lunch.  I asked the lady working if I could take her picture for my blog.

say cheese sticks

It must have befuddled her because when I went to the register to check out there was no price on my meal.  I asked if that meant I got it free.  The answer was no, but she gave me a big discount.  My meal only cost $3.  Cool!

Saturday Robyn and I went to Point of Grace church to volunteer.  They were hosting a Meals from the Heartland packaging.  There were people from several area churches as well as scouts and sport teams.  I think we put together over 65,000 meals.  Here are some pics from the day..

thats a lot of hair nets

Robyn and Dee Dee

Robyn gets in on the action

Afterwards I had a guy coming over to buy my broken hot tub.  I listed it on Craigslist and sold it in a week.

Robyn's not to happy about the tub being gone

I'm ok with it

Sunday after church I took the remaining patio furniture and stored it for the winter.

Calvin has no chairs to pee on

Then we took our dirty dog up to the showers.  As you can see, he looks concerned.

He don't look fat 

Monday it was back to work.  We popped out the master bath with the tile inlays and polished it up.

Thats PRETTY

then put a second coat of sealer on the powder room sink for the same client.

WOW!

Then I continued working on the bar for Paton Iowa.  Here is a foam cap I am building.  I took the pic because it looks like a pink ribbon for breast cancer.  I thought my sister deb, a survivor of breast cancer, would appreciate it.

love ya debbie

Well the big Monday night football game is getting ready to start.  Vikings against Packers.  This will be the first chance I've gotten to see the rookie QB play for the Vikings.  Go Vikes!  

Thanks again for your prayers for my mom and dad.  God really does hear us.

Peace

Dan