Mark had an appointment at the VA in Green Bay today, so we took advantage of the opportunity to run some errands and do some shopping down there.  

Green Bay frozen over

On the way down, I took this shot of Green Bay in the distance.  You can see it’s completely frozen over!

We have another remodeling project this year.  Last fall, our main bathroom started to decay.

A square cut out of the floor and plastic over the tiles in the shower

We had felt a soft spot in the floor near the tub for a while, but finally the tile on top of it collapsed.  Mark cut out this square and discovered that there are two layers of wood under the floor.  What you see here is the plywood layer.  On top of that was pressed board and it was wet and soft, so Mark cut it out.

Also, one day as we were taking a shower, the tiles started falling down around us.  Mark had to put plastic up to hold them in and protect the wall behind them from getting wet.  We knew we were going to have to address these issues when we came back, so I have been saving money toward that end.

In Green Bay today, we bought a new tub, a 20-gallon water heater (because it takes forever for the water in the bathroom to heat up), and some cedar planks to go up around the tub instead of tile.  Last year, at the Habitat For Humanity store, we had bought a new counter top with two sinks in it.  We need to get new flooring, but that will need to wait for another paycheck.

Also, we found out that the plumber is scheduled two weeks out because of the blizzard last weekend, so Mark bought the parts to try to fix our water problem in the house himself.  He’s got his work cut out for him, and he hasn’t even started working yet!

Clients have already been calling him to schedule de-winterizations, and Mark will be starting his business on May 1st.  With all that Mark has on his plate, please be praying for strength for him!