September 1 Labor Day

Monday:  Our travels being over (sadly), I would say that my brother certainly put in some strenuous hours of labor on this 2025 Labor Day. He had actually done some preliminary work Friday morning before we left for the north country; but today was the REAL work.

We had purchased this new kitchen sink faucet over at Menard's Friday morning; but David, knowing this job could take more than 20 minutes (!!) decided to wait to install it until today (so as not to impede us leaving Friday). What he discovered, once he had gotten under my sink, was that certain pipes did not correspond to what we had purchased--it was basically because I live in a MOBILE HOME (a glorified trailer) and almost every connector/pipe/outlet is just a little bit different than in a real house. So we drove over to Lowe's to see what could be done about the problem. David knew exactly what was needed, and eventually the Lowe's guy figured it out too and we purchased a connector that worked! YAY!

Here is David installing the new faucet. It has a sprayer on it! I've always wanted one of these!!

The thing about my brother David that you have to know is this: (1) He actually ENJOYS doing home improvement projects, and (2) He is very good at doing them! Oh ... also ... he makes doing these projects FUN ... because he happens to be a very fun person.

David had asked me to make a "list" of needed projects ... kind of a "TO DO" list prior to him coming. I knew our time was limited, so I kept it brief and fairly simple. Last year when David was here, he power washed my house--well--most of it anyway. It's a long story, but the power washer got water-logged from washing Ruthanne and Terry's house, and when David came back to finishing the second half of my house, the crazy thing would NOT turn on. BUT TODAY? It worked just fine! I had basically just asked David to see if he could get the power washer working again; but since it was working, David power washed the other half of my house. Look how nice and clean it is!

It makes such a difference to have clean siding, doesn't it? This side of the house was really really dirty!

Also, I asked David to trim my front bushes (that had never been trimmed since they were put in over 5 years ago) ... so he trimmed them right down to the bottom. He assures me that they will grow back, and I haven't got a single reason not to believe him!

My finished kitchen sink! It works wonderfully! I LOVE IT!

Oh! Also, we got this under-the-cupboard light that's super cool--it doesn't have any light bulbs! I forget what makes it work, but it has a little charger that plugs into the wall and it just stays charged. I love being able to see better in my kitchen now. YAY!

AND ... this is my new shower head in my bathroom. I cannot believe the difference this makes! I had absolutely zero water pressure with my old shower head. David showed me it was because it was completely clogged (because of our hard water out here at Leisure Village). Anyway, this shower head is powerful! It feels wonderful! I am ecstatic about it!

Today was "zero day"--which is what Jesse's kids used to call the last day I would be there with them in El Paso before having to return home to Grand Rapids. I could feel it deep in my gut that David was leaving in just a few hours; and when would we enjoy time together again?

I had thought about just fixing us a simple lunch of sandwiches and chips; but after how long and hard David had worked all morning, I suggested that I take him out to lunch instead! So that's what we did--it was a later lunch because we did this on the way to the airport. We ate at Russ's and had their juicy and delicious fried chicken and onion rings--a somewhat fitting reward (but not nearly enough) for David's gifts of service and love to me.