Sleep, shopping, Brittany’s dog worries, Maggie and Aaron

I was supposed to go to church last night for the second night of the conference but I laid down on the couch at 5 pm thinking I would nap for an hour. I woke up at 8:25. I just changed and went to bed. Surprisingly I slept to the alarm this morning. I have made some adjustments to my alarm and am getting up later now. The alarm is set for 4:15 a.m.; getting lazy in my old age.


Mama is coming home today. They all went shopping yesterday and spent a bundle on cabinets and fixtures for the mobile home. One of the drawbacks to the home set up is the lack of storage – including very small closets. To remedy that Grandpa and Grandma bought some cabinets to expand their storage. I have no idea what; I just know that gaining storage was the idea behind the purchases.

I would ask Mama to describe them to me but it usually does not work; something gets lost in translation. It is like asking me to describe a pair of shoes to Mama. Our frame of reference is totally different and what I describe is not what she envisions. I will just wait to see the additions when I get back to Bowie.

Rain is predicted for today in both Bowie and Amarillo. Last night we did get some rain here and whenever that happens it is a blessing. I have yet to see any accumulation of water in the playa lakes I pass going between Borger and Amarillo. They have been dry for over a year now and I am curious to see what it would take to refill them. If the five inches we got last week does not start the process, I am thinking it will take a hurricane sized storm to do it; not the best way to accomplish anything.

Brittany wants Mama to take on her little dog to house break it. I think she is having trouble with the apartment complex due to the age of the dog. She tells us they do not permit dogs less than one year of age. That’s a strange rule. I guess they do not like to house break dogs either. I can understand some of their concerns when I think about how careless some people are and what a mess is often left behind in a vacated apartment. Brittany does not fall into that category but they cannot tell that about any particular person – hence the rule. She wants to meet half way to give us the dog but I do not know if Mama and I are up to it this weekend.

Maggie is worried about the very thing she has been pining for for over two months now; Aaron’s return. I do not know what it is like to be separated for that amount of time, then try to blend two separate lives together for a brief interval knowing that the separation is coming again. Maggie has developed a happy life independent of her husband – from necessity. It is not that she does not want him in that life, he is simply not there. Aaron, on the other hand, has had no life other than the boat for the same amount of time. So, does he try to fit into her life where he can or try to develop some life of his own where she can become a part of that?

It is a difficult balancing act for both of them – especially Maggie because she has to be open and receptive to her husband for the time they have together, but she cannot live only for that. Aaron, on the other hand, as the husband and leader in the home, must adapt to the regimen she lives with day to day while applying his direction and leadership to the home. They are still very young and fortunately Maggie has gotten some very good council lately. I am not sure what council Aaron gets from the crew he lives with, but I do not think it would be the same as Maggie is getting. We will see if the principles she has learned lately translate into practice as they are together for whatever time the Coast Guard allows.

Monday is the day. (Subject to change without notice.)