Greetings from balmy North Idaho!!! Ok, so that might not have been the exact truth. It was balmy just a few days ago – in the seventies down in town and almost to seventy up the mountain here. Grass was turning green and we only had a couple little piles of snow left. But, as I said, that was a few days ago. Now this morning we woke up to snow on the ground and all over the trees! It’s supposed to be cooler here for a few days and then warm back up to seventy once again. I am trying to take advantage of this cooler weather and do all the things I should be doing inside so that when it warms up I can be outside guilt-free!
And since it has been so very long since I sent you all an update, I decided today would be a good time. My floors have been mopped and are drying. The children already dragged their bicycles into the garage and have started on popsicles in the basement. So there shouldn’t be much to keep me from getting this email sent! We hope.
From the subject title in this email, you can presume that life is finally returning to normal. It’s not normal as it was before. Instead, we have a new normal.
Lowell and Ken put their heads together a couple weeks ago and came up with a different version of how Panhandle Nail Benders is going to be run. A couple summers ago, they had extra time on their hands and had built a small shed, even adding a few extras such as wiring and a couple windows. The shed has been sitting on one of Ken’s lots down at the 3-mile junction (those of you that have been here probably know where that is). They have decided that since Lowell still has severe footdrop, still walks with a limp, and cannot strap on a nailbag yet, he is going to be the “office man”. They painted the shed (now called the office) and put down a remnant of carpet so now they all have a place to meet in the mornings before going off to their various jobs. And Lowell has an office down in town where he can figure estimates, meet with customers, and run supplies to the guys on the jobsite.
The extremely good benefit of this is that Lowell now has a QUIET place to work. He had been trying to work on estimates and customer phone calls here in our office at home. But for some odd reason, it took him longer to get anything done. Considering the fact that little kiddos would realize they needed the scotch tape out of the office, or they were in desperate need of a paper airplane (which Daddy is the only one who makes them right – Mommy’s planes have crashed one too many times).
I think this idea to move Lowell’s office down to town was sent from God. At least it feels that way now that I have my house back!! Just kidding. I enjoyed having Lowell home, but there comes a time when we both need to not see each other for more than a few hours at a time. Absence makes the heart grow fonder! We love Daddy more when we we’ve had a few hours deficiency of him, and he loves us all more when he’s had a few quiet moments to himself. Besides, it just feels normal to have him leave for work and the kids go running to meet him when he comes home again at 5:00.
Those of you that know Ken, Lowell’s business partner, also know that he is more quiet than what Lowell is. This situation fits them both to a T. Ken would much rather leave all the PR and meeting with customers to Lowell. And Lowell is not physically able to climb a roof right now. So for this summer, and possibly much longer, Lowell is the head of PNB and Ken is the back of PNB. God surely came before us when we decided to move here and prepared Ken and Rebecca to be in business with us. They have stood by us this past year without complaining one single time. We are so humbled and someday we hope to repay them.
Well, that about sums up the goings-on here in Idaho for the past month. I’ve been trying to decorate Lowell’s office, get some spring cleaning done, rake my yard, and be a mom and wife. Oh, yeah, and we’re also learning Spanish! Ted Byler is teaching a beginner’s spanish class at church. So . . . “Hasta luego!” See you later!
In Him,
The Idaho Grabers
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