Renovations

I've been here in Poland for over a week and a half now and we've been able to knock out several details. The apartment we are renting is in very good condition with the exception of the flooring and the bathroom. We worked out a deal with the landlord where I will pay for the renovation and they will discount our rent for six months. What you see here is the new flooring in our living room. We've run into a snag for flooring the entryway. The concrete is so uneven that they can't guarantee the floor. I guess we're going to find out if you can by quickcrete in Poland?!?

With Poland joining the EU, trade has opened up for them, so many of their skilled laborers are currently in Ireland, Germany, and France. There they can work for much more money. This has made it difficult to find someone to do our renovations. I know some of you are saying "why not do it yourself?" If you are thinking that you should really keep your comments to yourself. Also, if you can't fix it with duct tape--I can't fix it, in addition, labor is extremely cheap. After a week of looking for a tradesman to do the bathroom remodel we had given up hope. However, Wednesday we got a call from a member at the church in Siedlce who had the name of an acquaintance that had just returned from working in Germany. He began the bathroom work on Friday. Ben and I have been very impressed up to this point.

Some of you know that our plan for the last several months has been for me to come to Poland, ahead of the rest of the family, to work on lining up a house, car, etc. . . At best I never thought I'd be able to do what we've done in the last two weeks. I attribute that to your prayers. Ginger and I greatly value your friendship and spiritual support.

On another note, I believe that's two updates in one week, which is how many times we updated our website in a year and a half. So let the skeptics be silenced and in the words of Emeril "BAM!"