Alleluia!

 He is Risen as He said. Alleluia!

What consolations I have received this Easter season! For the first time in many years I did not suffer from scrupulosity. I am usually plagued the most around Christmas and Easter. This year, just peace. I am not sure what has made the difference besides gentle, good confessors over time. Not much else has changed. But I am very grateful.

About two weeks ago our snow finally stopped. It was then that I remembered that I still had a bag of unblessed palms out on our deck. When I opened it up they were still pliable and had no mold. Before dumping them in the compost pile I decided to give the Palmeto rose one last exasperated try. Lois Maciej taught this rose in her class, and I have spent lots of time watching Youtube videos on how to do it. Still, I had noever been able to figure it out. I watched  this video one more time, and then sat on the deck to practice. Ran back to watch the video a few more times, and then back out to practice. Finally something clicked, and I got it. I recognized that certain folds should always run paralell to other folds. That was all I needed to know. I've got both muscle memory and verbal cues locked into place. Looking forward to using it next Palm Sunday. I am so glad. So cool.

Akin to palm weaving is napin folding, and I am happy to say that I added the butterfly fold to my repertoire. 

I am re-doing my kitchen. I was unsure where to start on the project, and which way I wanted to go. Originally we thought that we would just have the lower cupboards and the counters replaced. I wanted to do it myself, but Husband was not very enthused. He wanted stain again, and that is much harder to match than paint. Then we thought that if we do cupboards, we may as well put in a space for a dishwasher to increase the market value of our house. But then I would lose all my drawer space. That limited our options. So I started making phone calls and checking on Angi. Then Steve from Minnesota Home Improvement came over last week and gave me some good suggestions. Now I wait estimates on cupboards and counters. For the sake of comparison I am getting one for custom cabinets, and one for ready-built. But my inclination is for custom built. I have my cabinet color, style and crown picked out. I know where I want drawers and where I will want cabinets. We will get rid of our railing along the steps and replace that with drywall and cabinets. When I get a cabinet timeline nailded down we can start on the drywall and electrical work in the middle room, which will become our new dining room. Very exciting. I plan on getting a dining table large enough to accommodate family and friends. 

The sun is out and our weather is beautiful. Time to go pull quack grass.